Pav > Crouch

[defoe18]

Pav and Defoe on Tuesday night please.

:beer: Yes Please!

 

[theShiznit]

Pav (IMO) is Superior to Crouch in almost every way.
Most of Pav's managers have known that he can be on it one day and poor the next (his Spartak manager said something along the lines of 'somedays he is a world beater and others a panel beater, you just need to know which days are which and give him a kick on the bad days')

Crouch's only redeeming qualities are his, headed filcks (when the ball lands within 5ft of his starting position) his chesting, and his volleying. apart from that, his mobility is atrocious, if he takes more than 2 touches he invariably loses the ball, and when he tries to carry the ball forward it is laughable. As for his shooting (from the ground) it's like watching a kitten with a ball of wool.

People saying that he is the focal point of our attack; this is not a good thing, he is too static so defenders learn just to hang around him for the second ball (as Leeds quickly learned) and this means Defoe has to play quite close to him (to get flicks) which doesn't create space for AM's to get forward (as we saw with Pav pulling left today)
Also Pav probably linked up as well today with Defoe as Crouch & Defoe have all season with the dummied one-two for the goal.

Sadly it seems too late for Pav as i feel that bridge has been burnt already, Harry has signed Crouch how many times? and in a world cup year there is no way that Pav or Keane are going to start (regularly) ahead of (the world cup place seeking) Crouch & Defoe.

shame but i wish Pav luck where ever he ends up.

 

[nferno]

i forgot how good pav was until todays match, i admit that i was slagging him off.. but hes proved me wrong. and iv never been a crouch fan so i hope he displaces him!

 

[duffman22]

In those 20 minutes today I think Pav showed a glimpse of what he's all about and possibly what we've been missing lately. A bit of anticipation, movement and making things happen rather than waiting for them to happen. It reminded me of some of his superb cup performances last season. The problem is that he was very hit and miss last season, but he certainly deserves alongside Keane on Tuesday after todays performance. Defoe is out of form at the moment and Crouch has made us a bit 1 dimensional (not necessarily his own fault). We need to mix things up a bit as I think we've become a bit stale and far too predictable going forward over the last 3 or 4 games.

 

[walworthyid]

Its not that Crouch is a bad player it is more that he is an extremely limited player, perhaps even more so than the much maligned Darren Bent. Crouch also makes us play bad football. Pav to me is more of a spurs player and even when he is having one of his off days he will always put a chance away. I would even go as far as to say he is the best finisher we have because he can score all kinds of goals (both feet and head, tight positions etc) and he also needs fewer chances than our other strikers.

Quite why Harry has treated pav the way he has is beyond me, is he such a bad player that he can't even get on the field for us?

I like what Harry has done, but I would suggest that the cracks are beginning to appear and I sense that unless we do something of real note this season, that yet another mangerial change is not that far over the horizon!

 

[Michey]

Pav and Defoe on Tuesday night please.

You almost got it right

Pav and Keane will do it :wink:

 

[lukespurs7]

very good finisher and much more of a Spurs player than Crouch. Crouch's lack of mobility severly restricts our play and we just hit long balls which is so boring,but Pav has got more movement,pace and he is a better finisher. Crouch is a decent player but Pav definately deserves a chance, looked far more threatening than Crouch in the 20mins he was on!

 

[JUSTINSIGNAL]

This thread is so typical of this forum. The guy comes on has a few decent touches scores a goal against a league one side and all of a sudden he is a world beater and Harry hasn't got a clue. Laughable.

 

[Krafty]

I dont feel, before today, Pav has deserved to be ahead of the others. Whenever he has played he has looked average at best, unbothered and not determined at worst.

However today he looked much better. I think if he gets an early goal then it can really spark him up. If he doesnt he slips into anonyminity. However, he got his goal, made good runs off the ball, and looked like he wanted to battle with the centre backs.

Crouch has become an increasingly frustration, and its endemic of our current plight. He isnt a target man, despite his height. He cant/wont fight for the ball, gets pushed off and out jumped far too easily. When he does win a header it can go anywhere (which wouldnt be so bad but no one is running off him). His first touch is good, but rathe than do the simple too often he farts around with the ball, loses it, and we are back under the cosh.

He can be effective in the box, or from goal kicks, but we need to stop using him in our build up play.

An up-for-it Pav is a better player for me, however an up-for-it Pav is as rare as a commanding midfield display from Jenas

 

[duffman22]

This thread is so typical of this forum. The guy comes on has a few decent touches scores a goal and all of a sudden he is a world beater and Harry hasn't got a clue. Laughable.

I think the more general consensus is that Pav deserves as much of a chance as the other 3 on the basis of todays game. Defoe has been below par for a few games now, Keane hasn't impressed too much (although has been slightly better the last couple of games) and Crouch is not proving as effective as he was in some games before Xmas. I just think Harry should be picking his strikers on form, and on todays game Pav deserves a place on Tuesday. If it was Keane, Defoe or Crouch that had come on and scored they would be the first name on the teamsheet for Tuesday, no doubt.

 

[defoe18]

I think the more general consensus is that Pav deserves as much of a chance as the other 3 on the basis of todays game. Defoe has been below par for a few games now, Keane hasn't impressed too much (although has been slightly better the last couple of games) and Crouch is not proving as effective as he was in some games before Xmas. I just think Harry should be picking his strikers on form, and on todays game Pav deserves a place on Tuesday. If it was Keane, Defoe or Crouch that had come on and scored they would be the first name on the teamsheet for Tuesday, no doubt.

Spot on Duffman

"oh yeah"

 

[SuperSpurs_Ollie]

I hope todays match makes 'arry realise why Pav must be kept. He's better then Crouch, always has been. He links up the play well as shown by his goal which was awesome. He did more in 15mins then Crouch did for 75mins!

Please dont sell him.

 

[alfiespurs]

Pav is a more intelligent player then Crouch ...

 

[SelbYido]

Its not that Crouch is a bad player it is more that he is an extremely limited player, perhaps even more so than the much maligned Darren Bent. Crouch also makes us play bad football. Pav to me is more of a spurs player and even when he is having one of his off days he will always put a chance away. I would even go as far as to say he is the best finisher we have because he can score all kinds of goals (both feet and head, tight positions etc) and he also needs fewer chances than our other strikers.

Question - who is it that plays all those high balls for Crouch to knock down? Unless the answer is 'Peter Crouch', then I think you're pointing your criticism in the wrong direction. The midfield surely know that Peter Crouch has good control & hold up play on the ground but they all too often take the default/panic option of lumping it up to Crouch when playing through midfield would probably be the difficult but more rewarding option. Alternatively, Harry is directing the players to do this or, alternatively again, he isn't but the players aren't following his instructions.

Either way, to blame Peter Crouch for the way other players pass to him doesn't make any sense.

Pav? Tricky one. On one hand, he's clearly a talented player but on the other hand, he has on many occasions looked lost, disinterested & more to the point, didn't look remotely as if he would or could change the game for us. His goal against Leeds was excellent (I didn't see the other stuff he did - I was at work & both my freeview recorder & my parents were being particularly useless) but if he does stay, it would make sense to use him as I think he offers something different to our other strikers.

Dunno, it'll be interesting to see how it pans out...

 

[antiloqus]

Id like to see him start a game, unless of course we are definitely selling him as there would be little point.

 

[spurs_viola]

Very interesting to see such a pro-Pav consensus here tonight. I have been making the points about how important it was to give Pav more playing time to try and develop his partnership with Defoe which showed good potential last year, because I always believed that it is much more likely to have better team performances with Pav and Defoe than with Crouch up front. Not because it was Crouch's fault, but because wherever he played the teams invariably start resorting to long high ball too much.

So many people took great delight in throwing "you're talking crap" remarks at me and accusing me of doing his agent's work for him.

Tonight was just a good example of what he can bring to the team. It doesn't mean he is always guaranteed to do well, but it surely shows that he is a quality option to add to other strikers, especially when some of them are not being very effective.

In comparison with Crouch, Pav brings:

* Better movement on and off the ball;
* Better pace;
* Better ratio of chances taken;
* Better shot;
* More footballing intelligence;

Work rate is where Crouch may score better.
But it seems reasonable to value the above points in a forward slightly higher than the workrate.

 

[defoe18]

Pav and Crouch are totally different players!

One is a target man (height and strength etc), one is a complete forward (pace and height etc)

Defoe and Keane are similar but different, one's a poacher the other is a creative deep lying forward who can also poach.

Just find the best mix.

Atm id like to see Pav and Defoe as i think it can really work

 

[trevo]

I'd love to see Pav start ahead of Crouch. Then we could play some spurs football and bring Crouch on if that doesn't work out. Defoe played as well as his penalty today.

 

[TopSpurMan]

I have always thought that Pav was a good player and of our 4 strikers I'd rate him at 2 or 3 - defoe would be no1 for me and crouch or pav interchangeable at no2 - if anyone needs to be sold it is keane who has clearly no recovered from him boyhood dream turning into a nightmare

 

[3Dnata]

I'd start Pavs ahead of any of our Strikers at the moment.
I'd give GDS a chance too after the lameness we've seen this week.