Orion wrote:
Scipio Africanus wrote:
Orion wrote:
Musa is not world class. Did you see how many touches he had to take before shooting for the 2nd goal against Iceland? Better defenders would have caught him up before he could shoot.
Obi and Moses are the only world-class players we have. Moses is a mixed bag for SE because sometimes he plays with passion, like against Cameroon, and other times he doesn't seem too interested. Obi, on the other hand, is past his prime but still better than the players we're currently producing in midfield. Would anyone swap him with Joel or Onazi?
We need to go back to the grassroots and devise a better system for producing talented players if we're really serious about winning on the world stage. France, Spain, Germany, England (just recently) all had to go back to the drawing board when their performance dropped off. The likes of Henry, Anelka, Gallas, Ozil, Muller, Kroos etc all came from strategic systems to generate better talent. We're seeing some of the England boys coming through now.
Quite apart from he topic of whether Musa is world class or not, the extra touches he took showed an unnatural degree of self control and composure in front of goal. Each touch wrong footed a player on the opposing team and left him with what looked like an easy finish.
You're only saying that because he scored against weak defenders. Better quality defenders would have closed him down fast and blocked the shot. What separates the good from the average is not just control and composure but the speed of execution while being composed. Remember, at the highest levels the defenders are also very talented ballers and they close you down very quickly. Imagine Gotze's goal in the 2014 WC final. We're talking of milliseconds to control the ball and shoot if not the defender gets there.
This is the first time someone has referred to Icelandic defenders as weak defenders. Go back and check their qualifying record where they topped a group including the Croatia that is now beating everyone for fun. They had a very stingy defense. That is what they do. They defend very well.
Argentina with Messi, Aguero, Higuain and di Maria could only score one against them, but scored two against us.
Anyway, every game is different. Every situation in every game is different. Sometimes, depending on the situation, a striker needs to release a quick shot to score. Another time, facing the same defenders, you have to take a few extra touches. There is no one correct way of scoring a goal. It all depends on the situation, and your mastery of space, time and technique. Your decisions as a striker will be ultimately judged with the most important question. Did you score or not? Musa did. I wish Ighalo (and Moses, with all his bird killing shots) showed even half the composure that Musa did, and took his time to take extra touches when required.