Ferguson is back in the Hunt

devilish

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You dont get it if you get a chance to score you score or miss. Doesnt matter where you do it.
I disagree. I mean you need to take in consideration the quality youre playing against. Its easier to score goals against Redcafe XI rather then Manchester United. ;)
 
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Ruud is one of the finest finishers in modern football. He had been netting goals for fun with five different clubs in three different leagues (+ CL) and both at club and international level. Questioning his record is ridiculous.
No one has questioned it...

Returning to Huntelaar I feel that the boy has great potential. Stating that, while his goals stats are impressive at least at local level, I dont think he is at Ruud's level yet. At Huntelaar's age Ruud was already scoring goals for fun both at CL level and national level.
Klaas has achieved more at younger age in the Dutch league in much weaker sides than Ruud ever was in. Also Ruud never scored goals for fun for the National team at that age either...Fact is till Klaas moves to a bigger club. People will doubt what he can do as compared to Ruud. It's only fair.
 

devilish

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Bullshit , we talking about clinical finishers here, doesnt matter if you playing Milan or Milwall~!!
I disagree. If youre playing against a good team then the spaces will be tighter, the pressure higher and there will be better marking. It is easier to score against Milwall then Milan.
 

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Bullshit , we talking about clinical finishers here, doesnt matter if you playing Milan or Milwall~!!
It does actually. Playing against better defenders gives you less time and space in the box and playing against world-class keepers is a far better test of a players finishing ability.

Any player who has scored as many CL goals as Ruud is, by definition, one of the best finishers out there. Football isn't like some computer simulation where players get allocated a "Finishing Score" out of 100 and you can say Huntelaar has a score of 92 and Ruud 87.

The way to decide if a players is a great finisher is to count their goals and take into account the opposition. Which is why Ruud is as good as anyone out there. The jury is still out on Huntelaar until he transfers his potential onto a bigger stage.
 

Sonny1972

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No one has questioned it...

Klaas has achieved more at younger age in the Dutch league in much weaker sides than Ruud ever was in. Also Ruud never scored goals for fun for the National team at that age either...Fact is till Klaas moves to a bigger club. People will doubt what he can do as compared to Ruud. It's only fair.


Ruud was 25 when he moved to Manchester and start scoring goals right away . You can't say that Ruud improved big time since he moved to the PL!!
 

devilish

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No one has questioned it...

Klaas has achieved more at younger age in the Dutch league in much weaker sides than Ruud ever was in. Also Ruud never scored goals for fun for the National team at that age either...Fact is till Klaas moves to a bigger club. People will doubt what he can do as compared to Ruud. It's only fair.
Ruud was already scoring loads of goals both at international (5 goals in 9 matches) and CL level (9 goals in 15 matches). Huntelaar havent done that yet. Im not saying that Huntelaar is a bad player or that we shouldnt buy him. All Im saying that he is not as good as a 24 - 25 yr old Ruud yet.
 

devilish

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Sigh , we are talking about finishing ...not about creating a chance.
So you think that you would be able to score the same amount of goals no matter whose marking you up?
 
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Ruud was 25 when he moved to Manchester and start scoring goals right away . You can't say that Ruud improved big time since he moved to the PL!!
I'm not saying that. Ruud moved when he was class already. Which is my point. I was only picking holes in his arguments for Ruud over Klaas. That Ruud scored for fun at International level, when they strangely rarely picked him earlier on, and that he used to scored for fun in the Champions League at that age, which was mainly down to being in the competition often due to the strength of PSV at the time. Which is way above the level of Klaas' Ajax. Who can hardly win the league...
 

Sonny1972

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We were talking about finishing a chance , at the moment you get a chance to score you already got rid of the guy who marks you . Or am i wrong here???


PS

Whatever Huntelaar is a great striker but at the moment not even half as good as Ruud. I see him play every week.
 
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Ruud was already scoring loads of goals both at international (5 goals in 9 matches) and CL level (9 goals in 15 matches). Huntelaar havent done that yet. Im not saying that Huntelaar is a bad player or that we shouldnt buy him. All Im saying that he is not as good as a 24 - 25 yr old Ruud yet.
As a finisher for me he is better. His league totals in a weaker Ajax side are as good as what Ruud had in a stronger a PSV side. Plus Ruud scored 7 goals in 7 appearances because he was playing in one of the most creative international sides of the last decade plus. The current Ducth side with the selfish Robben and RVP providing supply for the strikers is poor in comparison. Also don't forget Klaas has rarely scored in the champions league because Ajax hardly stay or get there...But as an overall player. He is not as good as Ruud was, I agree.
 
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Er... I think you'll find that's due to a chronic back injury.
Nah..it's actually due to other factors mainly ...like settling in..culture shock..and La liga not being as easy a league as most make out...than just injury...give Henry a few months injury free..to settle in...then he will come good I'm sure
 
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Well Huntelaar is cold as ice and scores goals from any angle. But right now Huntelaar can't even walk in Ruuds shadow.
Fair enough. Can't argue with that. Who between the two do you think has the more variety of finishing though?

And why hasn't Holland ever thought of playing 4-4-2 with them 2 upfront?:confused:
 
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Well Van Basten will play 4-4-2 , at least thats what he said on tv after a chat with a few Dutch players. But i hope it will be Ruud and Robin . About more variety of finishing ?? Huntelaar no doubt !!
Yes. I'm glad to hear that he is going 4-4-2. :D I agree with the other two issues as well. Ruud-RVP is :drool:able. While Huntelaar's variety is :eek:. I haven't seen the like in a long time..
 

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Makes me wonder what the players in holland dream of. As in which country do they wish to play in? Club-wise.
 

devilish

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As a finisher for me he is better. His league totals in a weaker Ajax side are as good as what Ruud had in a stronger a PSV side. Plus Ruud scored 7 goals in 7 appearances because he was playing in one of the most creative international sides of the last decade plus. The currnet ducth side with the selfish Robben and RVP pirding supply for the strikers is ple in comparison. Also don't forget Klaas has rarely scored in the champions league because Ajax hardly stay or get there...But as an overall player. He is not as good as Ruud was, I agree.
Ruud is a goal machine, capable of scoring at all levels, in 3 different leagues. Klaas has yet to show that he is capable of doing that. Stating that while I do rate him, I think its unfair to compare him with one of the best strikers our team had ever had. He is still 24. Let him be himself.
 

devilish

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Good . Kezmann then comes not into the equation, since Klaas is a better player then he. but I see what you meant. It made plenty of sense.
I think Im being misunderstood here. My points are

a) Its a fact that the quality in Dutch football is inferior to the EPL
b) Its also a fact that usually players coming from Dutch football tend to do pretty well expecially in England
c) Stating that, there had been exception to the cases. Players like Kezman and Kuyt for example.

To conclude while I do rate Huntelaar he is not a safe bet as Ruud is.
 

Sonny1972

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I think Im being misunderstood here. My points are

a) Its a fact that the quality in Dutch football is inferior to the EPL
b) Its also a fact that usually players coming from Dutch football tend to do pretty well expecially in England
c) Stating that, there had been exception to the cases. Players like Kezman and Kuyt for example.

To conclude while I do rate Huntelaar he is not a safe bet as Ruud is.




Hmmmm and how was Ruud a safe bet when he moved to United ?? After all he came from the same shitty league as Huntelaar??
 

devilish

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Hmmmm and how was Ruud a safe bet when he moved to United ?? After all he came from the same shitty league as Huntelaar??
He was a safer bet because

a) he was already scoring goals on all fronts which include at international and CL level.

b) Dutch football was at a much better level then it is now.

c) Ruud had less competition for a Manchester United first team place then Huntelaar would have now.

d) Ruud was considered as the missing piece of a puzzle and the team was built around him. If we sign huntelaar he will have to adapt in a team built around a style of football different to what he is used to.
 

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Sigh , we are talking about finishing ...not about creating a chance.
I think you are wrong here.

With a superior defence/goalkeeper, there is less margin for error to score the goal.

For example, two identical chances up against Millwall and up against Milan,

A striker against Millwall would have more angles they could hit the ball at as the keeper/defenders would not have the quality to anticipate/react to the shot as well as the Milan defenders/keeper would.

In short, unless Huntelaar hits the ball in exactly the same spot 100% of the time against either opposition (ie the 'unstoppable' shots) there would be a difference if he was up against higher quality opposition
 

Sonny1972

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I think you are wrong here.

With a superior defence/goalkeeper, there is less margin for error to score the goal.

For example, two identical chances up against Millwall and up against Milan,

A striker against Millwall would have more angles they could hit the ball at as the keeper/defenders would not have the quality to anticipate/react to the shot as well as the Milan defenders/keeper would.

In short, unless Huntelaar hits the ball in exactly the same spot 100% of the time against either opposition (ie the 'unstoppable' shots) there would be a difference if he was up against higher quality opposition



Sigh forget it ok !! We are talking about finishing a chance you get !! We are not talking about creating a chance!!!
 

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Sigh forget it ok !! We are talking about finishing a chance you get !! We are not talking about creating a chance!!!
In a way he's right. It would generally be slightly more difficult to finish against a better team, as there is a higher likelihood that a defender will be in a position to block it or will be putting you under immediate pressure as you strike the ball, therefore limiting your options more than you'd get against a weaker side. Plus the keeper would generally be better and harder to pass. It wouldn't make a big difference, but it is slightly harder in the big leagues.
 

Chapster

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And this is where the confusion seems to lie. Many, if not most, seem to be including at least some of the build-up play when they talk about a players finishing ability. Whereas you, I and Chief are saying that the build-up play has all been done and it's simply when you go to strike the ball.


In a way he's right. It would generally be slightly more difficult to finish against a better team, as there is a higher likelihood that a defender will be in a position to block it or will be putting you under immediate pressure as you strike the ball, therefore limiting your options more than you'd get against a weaker side. Plus the keeper would generally be better and harder to pass. It wouldn't make a big difference, but it is slightly harder in the big leagues.
I'm glad someone got what I was getting at

Despite all this I still would rather Rossi. Sure he's of similar stature to the rest of our strikers (barring saha) but the way our play has evolved we don't need the tall aerial presence upfront as much.

+ getting rossi back would show that if you are young and good enough you can make it at united.

althought I do get the need for variety...
 
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I think Im being misunderstood here. My points are

a) Its a fact that the quality in Dutch football is inferior to the EPL
b) Its also a fact that usually players coming from Dutch football tend to do pretty well expecially in England
c) Stating that, there had been exception to the cases. Players like Kezman and Kuyt for example.

To conclude while I do rate Huntelaar he is not a safe bet as Ruud is.
That is all understood and duly noted. You must also note however That Ruud wasn't a the safest bet either before he arrived at United. Klaas has that same unknown and untested quality like Ruud pre United. But for my money his records are better. He has to just move now, to a better level of domestic competition. To prove where he really lies as a talent. I do hope we don't let Chelsea get him.