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Canadians abroad: November 4-10, 2005


DJT

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quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

Stalteri is criticized because he plays effective but not attractive soccer. The strange thing is that he is getting this criticism in Germany and England where many of the players have a style similar to Stalteri. If he was playing in Spain I might understand the criticism more. The German and English fans criticizing him should realize that just because they have Brazilians and Argentines playing in their leagues it doesn't mean their own players play beautiful soccer.

Exactly. Because players like Danny Mills, Paul Konchesky, Chris Powell and even Gary Neville are just poetry in motion, aren't they?

In yesterday's game, of the four fullbacks, Stalteri was the most solid. Sure Gardner was adventureous but he was often exposed on the right flank. Lee was just god-awful, something Jol must have agreed with because he took him off for Keane despite Lee being more adventurous offensively (plus his goal attempt was beyond humourous) than Stalteri. I can't even remember the name of Bolton's young Irish fullback, but he'd have me screaming for Nickey Hunt back if I was a Bolton fan.

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Guest Jeffery S.
quote:Originally posted by Grizzly

Stalteri is criticized because he plays effective but not attractive soccer. The strange thing is that he is getting this criticism in Germany and England where many of the players have a style similar to Stalteri. If he was playing in Spain I might understand the criticism more. The German and English fans criticizing him should realize that just because they have Brazilians and Argentines playing in their leagues it doesn't mean their own players play beautiful soccer.

I know there is that image of Spain, but I think he would fit in perfectly well here. The vast majority of teams need reliable defenders that can handle the critical situations (top strikers, set plays), work well with the rest of the defence, are dedicated. Perhaps what would irk folks is if he was not effective passing into the midfield, moving the ball around the defence to keep control, playing back to the keeper. But even then not everyone is strong in this in your average Spanish defence.

Okay, I don't see Stalteri as a player for certain top teams in Spain, but for the 2nd group -Sevilla, Betis, Depor, Villareal- why not?

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Andre Hainault is currently trialing with Derby County according to the BBC:

Rams take closer look at Hainault

Derby manager Phil Brown feels trialist Andre Hainault did quite well in the reserves 2-0 win against Mansfield.

Hainault, 19, is a Canadian Under-20 international but is unattached and looking for a new club.

Brown told BBC Radio Derby: "The conditions weren't conducive to any sort of good football and the ball was in the air a lot of the time.

"You had to battle in the wind and he did reasonably well. We'll have another look at him in a game next week."

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/teams/d/derby_county/4420680.stm

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quote:Originally posted by Jeffrey S.

I know there is that image of Spain, but I think he would fit in perfectly well here. The vast majority of teams need reliable defenders that can handle the critical situations (top strikers, set plays), work well with the rest of the defence, are dedicated. Perhaps what would irk folks is if he was not effective passing into the midfield, moving the ball around the defence to keep control, playing back to the keeper. But even then not everyone is strong in this in your average Spanish defence.

Okay, I don't see Stalteri as a player for certain top teams in Spain, but for the 2nd group -Sevilla, Betis, Depor, Villareal- why not?

That is the thing, he has been moving the ball around quite well, although perhaps a bit conservatively. He routinely hits either the centre halve playing behind him, or the midfielder dropping back with his passes. He occasionally goes back to his keeper, or up the sideline to his rightside midfielder (although I think he could do this more often). His crosses have been generally pretty good, although he has muffed a couple as well (but is more or less on par with any of the Tottenham players in this regard).

His weakness as a back is his feet, which are not particularly quick so he can get beaten off the dribble. However, I have not yet seen him beaten where he has not first forced the opponent into a poor attacking position, or to make 3 or 4 moves prior to beatening him, which buys the rest of the Tottenham defence a chance to get settled. As a result, the moves go for naught. Martin Jol likes him because he manages distance and time very well, which I think are the key elements of defending. He also gets stuck in and is a bit of a hard man on a team that is quite soft aside from Davids and the two centre halves (although both King and Dawson seem soft for a Centre Half). On the LH side, Lee is quite brilliant in attacking, but is frequently caught up field or skinned on the first move, which puts everyone else under a lot of pressure... Perhaps most revealing that in all four of the Tottenham games I've seen on the tube, 2/3's to 3/4's of the opposition attacks are down the side defended by someone not named Stalteri. From what I have seen he is an above average rightback in the Premier League, not the best, and probably not a target for Chelsea or Arsenal but still capable. Which I guess is essentially what Jeffrey is saying about Spain.

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Guest Jeffery S.

On Nov 4 Marco Bras played 90 as Pampilhosa beat Sporting Pombal 2-1 in the Portuguese third tier. I don't think they played this weekend, but could be wrong, my sources come out late.

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