Didier Zokora

[AngerManagement]

Thats a good clip. Really illustrates Joeys point about where players do things changing your opinion.

If Zokora had done that 20 yards higher up the pitch you would have blamed one of the many players behind him.

If on the other hand I came onto this thread and said he was great and showed a clip of that block he did against Reading, saying he needs to do that more, wouldn't everybody think I was just basing my opinion on one incident?

Where players do things on the picth also has a big effect on how big an error is, not just your opinion.

Kids are taught from a young age never to pass the ball across your own goal, therefore a misplaced pass in that area is much more important then one further up the field.

The clip is merley highlighting one example, it isnt necessiarly a representation of my view of him as a player and certainly not the sole basis for my opinion of his ability/potential.

Had you posted the clip and view you suggested in your hyperthetical scenerio I personally would not have assumed you had based your whole opinion on one incident, I would have merley thought you were using it to illustrate what you think he is capable of and overall opinion had been based on assessing his proformances as a whole over the course of last season.

I would find it hard to believe anyone would base an opinion on someone based on a single incident, especially in todays age where every supporter has access to coverage in one form or another of every game our clubs play.

 

[archiewasking]

Apparently played pretty well against Torino today. Made some tackles, longer passes not always so hot, but short passing good and accurate. I really hope and believe that Zoko Pops is going to have a great season for us.

 

[InOffMeLeftShin]

Apparently played pretty well against Torino today. Made some tackles, longer passes not always so hot, but short passing good and accurate. I really hope and believe that Zoko Pops is going to have a great season for us.

Was a Jekyll and Hyde performance from Zokora. He looked good on the ball especially in the first half and was controlling the midfield. Made a stunning sliding tackle, rather than his usual barrel roll tackle attempt which allowed us to start another attack. What I don't understand is if he can do that why the hell doesn't he do it more often and become more imposing. He needs to demand the ball more as well, our midfield is crying out for someone who wants the ball.

His positioning was better too and he was in control however, sorry but I have to do this, his defending (except for that challenge) was awful. He has such bad habits. What could have been a really top draw performance (first half) was tarnished by his indecisions. What I mean is he makes a decision to close down and he didn't fully commit to it and was stuck in no mans land. There was one which was truely comical early in the second half which could have resulted in a goal. He was stood in our box ball watching not picking up anyone, the ball ended up with a Torino guy he let the guy go, then decided to close down, then checked and did a half hearted jump and turned his back on the player as the ball was crossed in. If it wasn't for Dawson diving in front of the shot it would have been a goal.

He did get a shot on target though today! :beer:

What I am trying to say is, he has shown he can do the things required of him, such as the tackle, when he makes a decision and commits and he needs to do it more often. If he can cut out the bad habits (tracking, closing, 50/50 challenges and second ball watching) and looked to get on the ball more he actually could be a superstar. That is me kind of eating my hat after the comments I have made about him in the past. My only fear is that he is 27 and is he going to improve on the weaknesses which really are alarming considering the role he plays in the team.

Sorry if that was long winded.

 

[AngerManagement]

What I don't understand is if he can do that why the hell doesn't he do it more often and become more imposing. He needs to demand the ball more as well, our midfield is crying out for someone who wants the ball.

Hopefully his second season at the club/in the league will see a rapid rise in his overall performance, in the way Drogba improved so rapidly at Chelsea in his second year.

I really do hope it is a case of settling in and adjusting to both a new team and a new league. Because if he does become a big player and imposing figure in the middle that would have solved one of our most pressing issues we have out our team (the ease at which big teams control the middle of the park against us)

 

[Nick-TopSpursMan]

Why the hell are people posting a video of his mistake against Liverpool?

It's a bloody mistake, EVERY SINGLE FOOTBALLER MAKES THEM!

Remember when Gerrard passed the ball back to the keeper only to gift it to Henry for him to score, I suppose he must be shit aswell?

 

[PT]

Have some rep for a sensible viewpoint Nick!!

 

[londondude]

he was much improved in the torino game from last year.

 

[AngerManagement]

Why the hell are people posting a video of his mistake against Liverpool?

It's a bloody mistake, EVERY SINGLE FOOTBALLER MAKES THEM!

Remember when Gerrard passed the ball back to the keeper only to gift it to Henry for him to score, I suppose he must be shit aswell?

Obviously that remark is directed towards me seeing as it was myself who posted the clip.

Firstly I never said Zokora was shit, so I dont really understand your analagy with your Gerrard example.

Gerrard is a completely different matter then Zokora. Gerrard is established as a mainstay in his team and has proved time and time again that he is a world class player.

I could understand your remark if I had posted it and was suggesting it was empirical eveidence for him being sub standard, but this is not the case.

I clearly stated that Zokora in his first season has shown glimpses of potential in as far as he has a good engine and can make serging runs with the ball.

I added to this remark however that with the number of CM's we have at the club if he doesnt start to show more then just glimpses of potential and become more influental (improve his postioning, disterbution and breaking up of opponets attack) the he could well find himself on the side lines next term.

I posted the clip (as a single example) of the type of play he needs to eridacte from his game i.e. sloppyness and lose paces as well as lapses in concentration.

Now it is my opinion that over the course of last season Zokora was prone to many of the faults I have just listed, it stands to reason that to highlight that I would pick the most obvious example.

Im not saying he is shit, just that last term he showed more moments like that then he did Vieria esq displays. Also that imo this season will be time he needs to produce, if he does go on to become and influental player for us then great but if he starts of slow he may find himself behind the likes of Huddlestone and Boateng in the first team.

 

[hybridsoldier]

that was just a comedy goal to concede, each time the ball broke it fell to an lpool player and god only knows what robinso was doing looked like he dropped his kebab

 

[dannythomas]

I think if he gets his positioning sorted and learns to read the game a little better and maybe brushes up on his short passing I think he will be a great player in the middle, but last season his marking and positional sense was poor. I can remember so many games even when he played well when you could see th oppostions player walking past him in the gap between def and midfield and he would only try and get back once they had the ball,

Yes, if he could only learn to pass, tackle and shoot he would be a good player. Sorry to be sarcastic but a top 4 class midfielder he is not.

 

[SpurSince57]

I'm not worried about the shooting. In fact, I'm not worried about the tackling and the passing. He can do both. It's the fact that he fails to do both consistently, particularly the former, that perplexes me. Several times last season he stood and watched when a pass fell short and let an oppsition player win the loose ball. Why? What's going on? He has all the physical attributes to be the great midfielder some claim he actually is, but something is missing.

Only Ghaly annoys me more.

 

[dannythomas]

I'm not worried about the shooting. In fact, I'm not worried about the tackling and the passing. He can do both. It's the fact that he fails to do both consistently, particularly the former, that perplexes me. Several times last season he stood and watched when a pass fell short and let an oppsition player win the loose ball. Why? What's going on? He has all the physical attributes to be the great midfielder some claim he actually is, but something is missing.

Well at 27 I'm not sure he can learn to incorporate whatever that missing something is.

 

[AngerManagement]

I'm not worried about the shooting. In fact, I'm not worried about the tackling and the passing. He can do both. It's the fact that he fails to do both consistently, particularly the former, that perplexes me. Several times last season he stood and watched when a pass fell short and let an oppsition player win the loose ball. Why? What's going on? He has all the physical attributes to be the great midfielder some claim he actually is, but something is missing.

Well at 27 I'm not sure he can learn to incorporate whatever that missing something is.

We can only hope that it isnt so much something is missing from his game it is just we have still to see him adjust and click in our league/team.

Drogba's first season at Chelsea he was a laughing stock across the board. He did however have all the physical attruibutes, just for one reason or another he never really produced that first season.

Last year however he was immense, argueably the best player in the league. Must have been very close between him and ROnaldo (probally came down to Utd winning the league)

Thats why I have been saying this season is make or break for Zokora, if he clicks and improves rapidly this year (because the only thing holding him back was a season of adjusting to the new enviroment) then great

However if we are still talking about him in terms of he has these attributes but something is not quite there/right, then like you say at the age of 27 he is unlikely to suddenly aquire it (whatever IT may be)

Hopefully both he and Huddlestone will improve dramatically this year, both have shown potential but neither looked ready to be the answer to our CM problems. If they both step up their game we would have great options and competition in that all important centre of the park

 

[pagevee]

Not to single anyone out...but am I in SpursChat or Transfer Rumours?

Start a thread in SpursChat for this discussion. If I wanted to read opinions on his play I would be looking there right now.

Sorry if anyone gets offended, but that is a ridiculous amount of posts with no relevant information on a TRANSFER to be found.:bang:

 

[SpurSince57]

We've had two pieces of ITK information in a week. We're bored. If you want some transfer info, go find it.

 

[pagevee]

We've had two pieces of ITK information in a week. We're bored. If you want some transfer info, go find it.

Good point... but I don't think I will find any ITK this side of the pond.

Edited since Freddy Adu is at Benfica, therefore no revitalization. Enjoy discussing rehashed arguments...

 

[sloth]

We can only hope that it isnt so much something is missing from his game it is just we have still to see him adjust and click in our league/team.

Drogba's first season at Chelsea he was a laughing stock across the board. He did however have all the physical attruibutes, just for one reason or another he never really produced that first season.

Last year however he was immense, argueably the best player in the league. Must have been very close between him and ROnaldo (probally came down to Utd winning the league)

Thats why I have been saying this season is make or break for Zokora, if he clicks and improves rapidly this year (because the only thing holding him back was a season of adjusting to the new enviroment) then great

However if we are still talking about him in terms of he has these attributes but something is not quite there/right, then like you say at the age of 27 he is unlikely to suddenly aquire it (whatever IT may be)

Hopefully both he and Huddlestone will improve dramatically this year, both have shown potential but neither looked ready to be the answer to our CM problems. If they both step up their game we would have great options and competition in that all important centre of the park

I agree with most of that, however I don't think he had such a poor first season and so i don't think he requires a dramatic improvement.

 

[AngerManagement]

I agree with most of that, however I don't think he had such a poor first season and so i don't think he requires a dramatic improvement.

I think most supporters would agree that he wasn't that bad last term. In as far as he was not terrible and aside the odd mistake and ineffective game he played resonably well for large periods of the season.

However it would also be the general concensus that his performances were not what we needed. He was not dominate and not the midfielder required for us to compete with and break into the top 4.

That is if his level of performance from last year remains consistance with future performace levels at the club.

In that respect I feel he does have to make a marked improvement, to become a midfielder who can dominate our midfield, break up and create attacks and generally control the middle of the park and help us when the midfield battles against the teams who are strong in that area.

This year will be big, hopefully he can show what so many people see in him and produce the displays to jusitiy the 'our Vieria' tag. Time will tell.

 

[sebo_sek]

Wow he me missed controlled the ball and Liverpool scored. What about the other comedy moments in that clip....Was it Rocha who made the final assist in the end?:shrug:

Yes but then again it wasn't that difficult a shot and was by all means stoppable for Robbo. The CB pair also made a hash of it, so while Zoko's error led up to the goal, it could have been stopped later on. This film shows exactly the sort of play we need to avoid at the back - everyone, not only Zokora.

 

[Rocksuperstar]

http://www.tribalfootball.com/article.php?id=51114

yeah, yeah, if you can be bothered to click it - apparently, Smurph has attracted Leiceter who want him for their "promotion" :lol: reckawn...

£2m quoted, won't buy it til i eye it


Edit: Found out where they got it from - guess what, the Mail... AGAIN!!! :roll:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...article_id=473961&in_page_id=1779&ito=newsnow