match thread (image) [FT] Rangers 7 - 1 Motherwell (Arfield 8', 61', Tavernier 35' pen, Morelos 38', Middleton 59', Grezda 68', 75')

[buster. 4,808]

The hard, fast and whipped-in accurate delivery from corners is almost essential in modern-day football. More especially in those games that goals are difficult to come by.

 

Seems as though an 18 year old Middleton sees this and is prepared to work hard on this aspect of his game in his own time. 

 

A good attitude makes his progression in the game much more likely.

[der Berliner 3,245]

18 minutes ago, Frankie said:

Middleton and Halliday's set pieces have offered some difference from Tav's norm.

 

Generally I'd like to see us have a bit more imagination from them but two goals from corners the other day isn't bad going.

 

His defending aside, this has been the major disappointment in Tavernier's performances these last two seasons. He does whip in some decent crosses (on the run) from the middle of the park, but corners and free-kicks have been a real let-down. Captain or not, if he can't perform better from direct free-kicks than what you would expect from a rugby chap, it is time for others to step into that role. In fact, you wonder what sort of free-kicks Middleton may hit, given the power and precision of his corners.

 

Another thing ... we generally have that strange tendency to play free-kicks around the half-way line quickly and short, rather than long and nearer to the area of the opposition. On Sunday, we did it quite a few times and usually played the ball to a player who had someone steaming down his neck and instantly put us on the back foot. From our own free-kick ,,,

[ian1964 10,413]

31 minutes ago, buster. said:

The hard, fast and whipped-in accurate delivery from corners is almost essential in modern-day football. More especially in those games that goals are difficult to come by.

 

Seems as though an 18 year old Middleton sees this and is prepared to work hard on this aspect of his game in his own time. 

 

A good attitude makes his progression in the game much more likely.

The manager has already said he is delighted with the extra work Middleton puts in after training and has to drag him of the training ground

[DMAA 3,603]

A proper set piece taker is worth a lot of points in a season in my opinion. How many times in recent seasons have we been chasing a goal and we can’t even put a ball in the opposition box?

 

Gerrard should think long and hard before removing a corner taking specialist from the starting lineup. 

[craig 5,195]

16 minutes ago, DMAA said:

A proper set piece taker is worth a lot of points in a season in my opinion. How many times in recent seasons have we been chasing a goal and we can’t even put a ball in the opposition box?

 

Gerrard should think long and hard before removing a corner taking specialist from the starting lineup. 

For me, this part of a player's game should be a given.  It isn't hard to hit a ball into the box the way Middleton does.... even I have scored straight from a corner before - and that whilst still being pished from the Saturday night.

 

The funny thing is - Kent was taking the corners earlier in the season and his corners were decent (though not quite as good as Middleton's) and t hen for some reason Tav was given them all and they badly went downhill.

 

If the only thing a player is good at is being a corner specialist then I wouldn't have him in my team.  Young Middleton deserves more game time - however, he is VERY NAIVE off the ball when asked to be disciplined defensively.  But he will get better at that for sure.

[MacK1950 2,231]

17 minutes ago, DMAA said:

Gerrard should think long and hard before removing a corner taking specialist from the starting lineup.

As I posted before regarding corners I remember Kent taking corners from both sides using either foot so can't understand why SG has full-backs running half the pitch to take them.

[buster. 4,808]

1 hour ago, DMAA said:

A proper set piece taker is worth a lot of points in a season in my opinion. How many times in recent seasons have we been chasing a goal and we can’t even put a ball in the opposition box?

 

Gerrard should think long and hard before removing a corner taking specialist from the starting lineup. 

But for the excellent last minute corner delivery at Motherwell, we'd currently be top of the league.

 

 

I think you have to create more than one option regards taking a decent corner.

 

#PractisePractisePractise

Edited November 13, 2018 by buster.

[BEARGER 1,829]

 

Motherwell fan vlog from Saturday, 19 mins &  9 secs you will never get back.?

[DMAA 3,603]

5 hours ago, craig said:

For me, this part of a player's game should be a given.  It isn't hard to hit a ball into the box the way Middleton does

It’s just a fact that it isn’t a given though. Our corner taking has been really poor all season. Some players are specialists and the rest are inconsistent at best. 

 

There’s a good reason why Kent hasn’t been taking corners, his corners weren’t anywhere near good enough. Only a small percentage were decent. 

 

 

[JFK-1 1,671]

7 hours ago, buster. said:

But for the excellent last minute corner delivery at Motherwell, we'd currently be top of the league.

I experience a degree of disappointment every time I think of those and other carelessly dropped points. But at the same time it encourages me that we can work that out and win this league.

 

I tell myself that we're only 12 games into a 38 game marathon and that we still heaven't peaked with what's an almost entirely new squad and management team. And who knows. The January window may find us the final piece of the jigsaw.