Stoke ratings (1 Viewer)

stupot07 said:

I agree, they are nowhere near remotely similar.

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Mucca Mad Boys said:

The important part of the sentence was ‘in some respects’. The big one is probably Eccles scoring headed goals and the way he arrives late into the box which was and an important part of Rudoni’s game last season.

To say there are similarities there is fair. Both players are executing tactical roles given by the coaching staff.

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stupot07 said:

You could say that Torp is similar, he arrives in the box late, can score headers. However he's been playing deeper this season. Still managed to score a lot of goals early doors.

Eccles headers and arriving late in the box is a brand new dimension to his game. He's great at aggressively pressing, but does look like a square peg in a round hole when he's playing in the 10.

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shmmeee said:

Not sure I agree it’s his more natural position TBH. He’s not really great at breaking up play, his talents are his eye for goal, his ability to pick a pass and his energy. I think he really suits the number ten role.

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Otis said:

It seems very clear that FL had asked Torp to play deeper when he came on. He was playing like a sweeper at times yesterday.

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Mucca Mad Boys said:

Strikes me as a tactical decision to be honest. In the second half Stoke were happy to put 10 men behind the ball all stationed in their own half. There was less space to work with.

They didn’t really have a choice either because we completely shut them down bar a lapse from a corner. Only Oxford (H) had less xG iirc.

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The Big G said:

Are u kidding me ? Were u even there? He was amazing first half, got between the lines so many times and drove us forward. He was man marked 2nd half and Stoke were alot more compact! Definitely his best game this season since he came back from injury

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Calista said:

I've always thought Eccles was terrific at nicking the ball off people.

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shmmeee said:

Fewer tackles per 90 than Rudoni this season. He’s high energy but not particularly effective defensively IMO.

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Calista said:

Fair enough, however nicking the ball isn't always a "tackle"...

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