I often hear that he "scares the opposition to death" and that "he is a game changer". Last year's Play-Off Final is usually quoted as the best example.
But I see very little end product (crosses, through balls, shots on goal). Like truffles and quail's eggs, he is a luxury that I don't really want.
I tend to agree. He shows glimpses of quality. Defenders hate players with a bit of pace running at them, but he tends to go down a little bit to easily - a trait that my missus would do well to learn.
I often hear that he "scares the opposition to death" and that "he is a game changer". Last year's Play-Off Final is usually quoted as the best example.
But I see very little end product (crosses, through balls, shots on goal). Like truffles and quail's eggs, he is a luxury that I don't really want.
Williams has the most amount of Assists in the entire squad, so not sure about "no end product."
As far as him not scoring goals, he never seems to be playing high enough up the pitch. He gets the ball deep and beats his man, drives forward, pulls defenders out of position and opens up space for other players.
Maybe in a different system he could use his acceleration to buy half a yard on the edge of the box and get a shot away, but we're obviously not using him like that.
Maybe because we make getting to the edge of the opponents box look like trying to carry an elephant up Kilimanjaro.
I often hear that he "scares the opposition to death" and that "he is a game changer". Last year's Play-Off Final is usually quoted as the best example.
But I see very little end product (crosses, through balls, shots on goal). Like truffles and quail's eggs, he is a luxury that I don't really want.
I tend to agree. He shows glimpses of quality. Defenders hate players with a bit of pace running at them, but he tends to go down a little bit to easily - a trait that my missus would do well to learn.
Williams made 5 assists in his first 5 matches at the beginning of this season.
Was it the Gallagher/Taylor factor? Or perhaps there's little off ball movement from team mates. I know he missed a big chunk of mid-season with injury, but we've seen few if any assists (or key goal involvement) since.
Why have William's assists dried up?
It was a half assist at Brum. Beautiful through ball for Doughty for him to run into the box and set up Bonne.
Williams made 5 assists in his first 5 matches at the beginning of this season.
Was it the Gallagher/Taylor factor? Or perhaps there's little off ball movement from team mates. I know he missed a big chunk of mid-season with injury, but we've seen few if any assists (or key goal involvement) since.
Why have William's assists dried up?
It was a half assist at Brum. Beautiful through ball for Doughty for him to run into the box and set up Bonne.
Also got two half assists against Barnsley as he won the two free kicks we scored from
I really want Hemed to score this season, more so than Williams. It's been a really disappointing season for Hemed as he's had injuries and fitness issues all the way through. He came back looking fit and decent after the restart though, but he still hasn't turned up with the goals we need. It's strange to think that of the four strikers we've been using since we came back, the one who played in the Premier League and has 35 career Championship goals and the two who came through Premier League academies fairly recently haven't scored and don't look like scoring, but the one who was in the National League last year is the one we're totally reliant on to put the ball in the net.
Agree he def needs to add goals to his game but can’t deny he makes things happen..
the role he played in the goal on Wednesday should not be underestimated... picking the ball up and actually running at them instead of side ways passing plus the pass was spot on!
He’s the best footballer in the team. I hope he stays after this season, no doubt with better players around him he’d have more assists and might trouble the scorers.
He’s the best footballer in the team. I hope he stays after this season, no doubt with better players around him he’d have more assists and might trouble the scorers.
I'd consider trying to keep McGeady too, felt him and Williams linked well together on Wednesday (first time they've played together for us?)
I think this goes some way to explaining our current predicament. Strange - weren't Bowyer and Jacko goalscoring midfielders in their day?!!
I agree, and Cullen's goal was a penalty!
A lot is about getting into the right place. Purrington's goal at Wembley for example was because he gambled on attacking the far post, the type of positioning Jonny should be getting into.
Down the years we've often lacked prolific strikers, but this has been compensated for by goal scoring midfielders, the likes of Pardew, Jonny Robinson, Bowyer and Nicky Bailey
I think this goes some way to explaining our current predicament. Strange - weren't Bowyer and Jacko goalscoring midfielders in their day?!!
I agree, and Cullen's goal was a penalty!
A lot is about getting into the right place. Purrington's goal at Wembley for example was because he gambled on attacking the far post, the type of positioning Jonny should be getting into.
Down the years we've often lacked prolific strikers, but this has been compensated for by goal scoring midfielders, the likes of Pardew, Jonny Robinson, Bowyer and Nicky Bailey
And don’t forget the greatest goal scoring midfielder of all in that time - Mr Johnnie Jackson.
He has more assists than anyone else in the squad despite playing less than those nearest to him. He gets fouled more than anyone else in the squad. I think there's also things stats can't measure like as an opposing defender I'd hate playing against him, his ball retention is very good and he can skip past pretty easy. Would be nice if he could add goals but he's doing a very good job for us as long as he stays fit. I've said on the match thread but I do like him linking up with Doughty overlapping on the left.
His lack of goals is a worry but he provides a type of creativity, maybe flair is the right word, that we dont really get from anyone else. The ability to actually produce something different or unexpected. We have several tidy passers but you still need that sudden burst of skill or speed to open teams up.
His dribbling ability and flair draws players to him which creates space for others. He also gets us up the pitch by beating people and winning fouls which is crucial. Every team needs ball carriers and he and Doughty are our only ones really.
His pre-assist for the goal last night was also brilliant. Williams has to start when available IMO.
Pre-assist? Bloody Hell ... how far back do we go now?
We'll be giving credit to whoever inflated the ball next.
They are a very real thing and are the reason why players like Carrick/ Xavi/ Modric etc are so highly rated. They are often the ones to play a creative pass into an attacking player who then sets up someone to score. If you only looked at said players goal/ assist stats you would come to the conclusion that they were useless.
Riiiight.
Problem is that the pre-assist (and even the assist) goes unnoticed unless a goal is scored. A player could spend the entire game setting up the hapless strikers and his (or her) stats would look woeful. Same for the pre-assist. Unless the recipient of the pre-assist goes on to create an assist, then that piece of magic goes unnoticed.
As you can tell, I'm not a great lover of this type of performance dissection and, as you rightly say @alicwkd it's wrong to judge a player by stats alone. I'm also not sure that winning a free kick should count as an assist. There's usually still quite a lot of work to be done even at that stage.
But, if you want stats, I discover that Williams has a 'shots per game' ratio of 0.3. Only Field, Matthews, Oshilaja and Solly are lower (source: whoscored.com).
Yes, he is a pest and tricky to play against. But you can let him run around for the statutory 60-70 minutes max knowing that he won't really hurt you.
His lack of goals is a worry but he provides a type of creativity, maybe flair is the right word, that we dont really get from anyone else. The ability to actually produce something different or unexpected. We have several tidy passers but you still need that sudden burst of skill or speed to open teams up.
His dribbling ability and flair draws players to him which creates space for others. He also gets us up the pitch by beating people and winning fouls which is crucial. Every team needs ball carriers and he and Doughty are our only ones really.
His pre-assist for the goal last night was also brilliant. Williams has to start when available IMO.
Pre-assist? Bloody Hell ... how far back do we go now?
We'll be giving credit to whoever inflated the ball next.
They are a very real thing and are the reason why players like Carrick/ Xavi/ Modric etc are so highly rated. They are often the ones to play a creative pass into an attacking player who then sets up someone to score. If you only looked at said players goal/ assist stats you would come to the conclusion that they were useless.
Carrick played in a different position to Jonny though, as his job was to act as the holding midfielder but also to set up attacks with his great vision and passing.
Agree he def needs to add goals to his game but can’t deny he makes things happen..
the role he played in the goal on Wednesday should not be underestimated... picking the ball up and actually running at them instead of side ways passing plus the pass was spot on!
Nope, it wasn’t a full assist, so apparently we can’t accept Williams had a good game.
Since 17/18 season
Williams 1 goal McGeady 22 goals
We already knew Williams didn’t get brought in for goals, maybe we should be looking at McGeady more and why he hasn’t managed to score yet (although I feel he’s close as is at least shooting in the last few games).
His lack of goals is a worry but he provides a type of creativity, maybe flair is the right word, that we dont really get from anyone else. The ability to actually produce something different or unexpected. We have several tidy passers but you still need that sudden burst of skill or speed to open teams up.
His dribbling ability and flair draws players to him which creates space for others. He also gets us up the pitch by beating people and winning fouls which is crucial. Every team needs ball carriers and he and Doughty are our only ones really.
His pre-assist for the goal last night was also brilliant. Williams has to start when available IMO.
Pre-assist? Bloody Hell ... how far back do we go now?
We'll be giving credit to whoever inflated the ball next.
They are a very real thing and are the reason why players like Carrick/ Xavi/ Modric etc are so highly rated. They are often the ones to play a creative pass into an attacking player who then sets up someone to score. If you only looked at said players goal/ assist stats you would come to the conclusion that they were useless.
Riiiight.
Problem is that the pre-assist (and even the assist) goes unnoticed unless a goal is scored. A player could spend the entire game setting up the hapless strikers and his (or her) stats would look woeful. Same for the pre-assist. Unless the recipient of the pre-assist goes on to create an assist, then that piece of magic goes unnoticed.
As you can tell, I'm not a great lover of this type of performance dissection and, as you rightly say @alicwkd it's wrong to judge a player by stats alone. I'm also not sure that winning a free kick should count as an assist. There's usually still quite a lot of work to be done even at that stage.
But, if you want stats, I discover that Williams has a 'shots per game' ratio of 0.3. Only Field, Matthews, Oshilaja and Solly are lower (source: whoscored.com).
Yes, he is a pest and tricky to play against. But you can let him run around for the statutory 60-70 minutes max knowing that he won't really hurt you.
I can see from your contributions to this thread that nothing will sway you from your opinion on Williams, DR. We have all had downers on players from time to time, where no one can persuade us to feel any different. But... Whether winning a free kick counts as an assist or not, it certainly "hurt[s them]" when you score from it.
Agree he def needs to add goals to his game but can’t deny he makes things happen..
the role he played in the goal on Wednesday should not be underestimated... picking the ball up and actually running at them instead of side ways passing plus the pass was spot on!
Nope, it wasn’t a full assist, so apparently we can’t accept Williams had a good game.
Since 17/18 season
Williams 1 goal McGeady 22 goals
We already knew Williams didn’t get brought in for goals, maybe we should be looking at McGeady more and why he hasn’t managed to score yet (although I feel he’s close as is at least shooting in the last few games).
Let's accept that Williams had a good game at Birmingham.
The bbc stats tell me that we had seven attempts at goal compared to Birmingham's 23. Good job Williams didn't have a 'mare then.
I agree about McGeady looking more likely at the moment. If it has to be one or the other, I'd go for McGeady, although both will let you down in the 'failed to track back' department.
Agree he def needs to add goals to his game but can’t deny he makes things happen..
the role he played in the goal on Wednesday should not be underestimated... picking the ball up and actually running at them instead of side ways passing plus the pass was spot on!
Nope, it wasn’t a full assist, so apparently we can’t accept Williams had a good game.
Since 17/18 season
Williams 1 goal McGeady 22 goals
We already knew Williams didn’t get brought in for goals, maybe we should be looking at McGeady more and why he hasn’t managed to score yet (although I feel he’s close as is at least shooting in the last few games).
Let's accept that Williams had a good game at Birmingham.
The bbc stats tell me that we had seven attempts at goal compared to Birmingham's 23. Good job Williams didn't have a 'mare then.
I agree about McGeady looking more likely at the moment. If it has to be one or the other, I'd go for McGeady, although both will let you down in the 'failed to track back' department.
Is there a stat for that?
You don't need a stat for that, you just blame Albie Morgan every time.
Comments
hope he stays - at least he cares and wants to play for us
Williams has the most amount of Assists in the entire squad, so not sure about "no end product."
As far as him not scoring goals, he never seems to be playing high enough up the pitch. He gets the ball deep and beats his man, drives forward, pulls defenders out of position and opens up space for other players.
Maybe in a different system he could use his acceleration to buy half a yard on the edge of the box and get a shot away, but we're obviously not using him like that.
Maybe because we make getting to the edge of the opponents box look like trying to carry an elephant up Kilimanjaro.
Dillon has three 1/4 assists
So and so has an 1/8th he can’t get rid of
He has done well. Was our best player against Brum.
A lot is about getting into the right place. Purrington's goal at Wembley for example was because he gambled on attacking the far post, the type of positioning Jonny should be getting into.
Down the years we've often lacked prolific strikers, but this has been compensated for by goal scoring midfielders, the likes of Pardew, Jonny Robinson, Bowyer and Nicky Bailey
I meant second. Then for a while after that there was the joke that he only scored in parks and cottages.
St James Park, Villa Park and Craven Cottage. Then he finally started to get some of the reward his underestimated contribution deserved.
Loved Big Carl.
Problem is that the pre-assist (and even the assist) goes unnoticed unless a goal is scored. A player could spend the entire game setting up the hapless strikers and his (or her) stats would look woeful. Same for the pre-assist. Unless the recipient of the pre-assist goes on to create an assist, then that piece of magic goes unnoticed.
As you can tell, I'm not a great lover of this type of performance dissection and, as you rightly say @alicwkd it's wrong to judge a player by stats alone. I'm also not sure that winning a free kick should count as an assist. There's usually still quite a lot of work to be done even at that stage.
But, if you want stats, I discover that Williams has a 'shots per game' ratio of 0.3. Only Field, Matthews, Oshilaja and Solly are lower (source: whoscored.com).
Yes, he is a pest and tricky to play against. But you can let him run around for the statutory 60-70 minutes max knowing that he won't really hurt you.
Be great if we can get him taking players on and having the odd shot.
Williams 1 goal
McGeady 22 goals
We already knew Williams didn’t get brought in for goals, maybe we should be looking at McGeady more and why he hasn’t managed to score yet (although I feel he’s close as is at least shooting in the last few games).
The bbc stats tell me that we had seven attempts at goal compared to Birmingham's 23. Good job Williams didn't have a 'mare then.
I agree about McGeady looking more likely at the moment. If it has to be one or the other, I'd go for McGeady, although both will let you down in the 'failed to track back' department.
Is there a stat for that?