Nice touch for a big man...but enough of what that air hostess said about him. For me he's ahead of Carroll for England especially with Rooney missing for the first two Euro 2012 matches as we're short of strikers anyway. Has quite a bit of international experience scored some goals at that level, works hard, good link up play and will never let you down. Good player in my opinion
I don't get why one goal has to be better than another. I also don't get why Crouch is being called a donkey.
I agree that he does not have the pace to make him a credible England starter, but he would add value to most teams. His scoring/ assist record at all of his clubs is respectable, if not amazing (except at international level, which either means he is very, very lucky - a good thing - or that he gets the exact service he requires at that level).
He certainly works as part of a classic front-two pairing, although I agree, he doesn't have the lay-off ability of Shearer/ Sheringham or even Heskey. That's the biggest shame for Crouch, IMO.
However his gangly nature provide two massive drawbacks - the one Johnboy referred to, as in players hitting the ball up to him too much, and the other is a little more frustrating - referees, particular international refs, give an awful lot of a free kicks against him, or ignore him when he's fouled. It's not his fault, but it is an issue.
@JiMMY he gets most fouls given against him because he simply can't jump or head a ball and uses his arms to clamber all over opponents.
He does cause confusion & problems in the box as defenders fear his presence, but he's hardly your expert at knocking balls back down into the box with his head.
I would've thought if anything, Danny Graham may be a better exponent of that & Carroll, although his general lack of all round form discounts him.
With the way the England team are heading, I'd expect players like Sturridge, Welbeck etc to be better equipped to spearhead the attack, but the lack of goals from English strikers this season is a concern.
Personally I don't rate him at all. Everyone bangs on about his goal ratio for England but if you actually look at it more closely you'll see he only thrives against lower ranked teams, who generally will have poor defences anyway. Last time I checked, and I'll admit that was a while ago, Peter Crouch had never scored an England goal against a team that was ranked above England by FIFA.
That being said, he does indeed have an excellent record against 'lesser' teams at International level so it may well be worthwhile playing him for games against such teams. But when we're up against someone decent you simply have to pick someone else!
I've only just discovered his podcast thing and I must admit I'm hooked at the moment. Ive got some catching up to do and the novelty might wear off though. I used to like listening to him when he was doing a stint on Radio X about a year or so ago. Good taste in music.
Comments
I agree that he does not have the pace to make him a credible England starter, but he would add value to most teams. His scoring/ assist record at all of his clubs is respectable, if not amazing (except at international level, which either means he is very, very lucky - a good thing - or that he gets the exact service he requires at that level).
He certainly works as part of a classic front-two pairing, although I agree, he doesn't have the lay-off ability of Shearer/ Sheringham or even Heskey. That's the biggest shame for Crouch, IMO.
However his gangly nature provide two massive drawbacks - the one Johnboy referred to, as in players hitting the ball up to him too much, and the other is a little more frustrating - referees, particular international refs, give an awful lot of a free kicks against him, or ignore him when he's fouled. It's not his fault, but it is an issue.
He does cause confusion & problems in the box as defenders fear his presence, but he's hardly your expert at knocking balls back down into the box with his head.
I would've thought if anything, Danny Graham may be a better exponent of that & Carroll, although his general lack of all round form discounts him.
With the way the England team are heading, I'd expect players like Sturridge, Welbeck etc to be better equipped to spearhead the attack, but the lack of goals from English strikers this season is a concern.
That being said, he does indeed have an excellent record against 'lesser' teams at International level so it may well be worthwhile playing him for games against such teams. But when we're up against someone decent you simply have to pick someone else!
I would have Grant Holt in front of him all day.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p07dm4zs
Wouldnt be surprised to see him on I'm a Celeb one day
If she needs to seek solace somewhere, she knows where to find me.
Maybe running out of a bit of steam in season 2 but it's very funny and interesting at the same time
That was the inspiration behind him naming his new baby Divock Samrat Crouch
#passthepod