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Thursday, September 16, 2004
Ruud van Nistelrooy
The only way I could get the text updates for the game yesterday was to sign up for manutd.com's Internet Plus (or something like that) service (which is free). In the sign up process, they ask you: who is your current favourite man u player? I had to think about it a bit, but then I realized it was obvious: Ruud. Then, I had to think, why? Statistically, he has one of the best strike rates in all of football: something like (I'm finding it hard to find the exact stats) 112 goals in 148 games for Man U, and 68 in 74 games for PSV before that. But, it's easy to criticize him: the vast majority of his goals are in the 6 yard box, of the "anyone can do that" variety. In three years at man united, he hasn't scored a single goal outside the 18-yard box. Of all the goals I've seen him score, only about three were truly spectacular.
So why do I like him so much? Simply because he makes goal-scoring look so easy. Those goals he scores that make people say "anyone can do that" look like that because he's so good. If that wasn't true, then everyone would score as many goals as he does. Why is it that he seems "luckily" to be there whenever a loose ball is by the goal? Because he's smart enough to position himself correctly on almost every play. Why are his goals so "easy"? Because he gets behind the defense so well that he doesn't need to make a difficult finish. Of course, the other component of his goal-scoring is his good finishing, which again, he makes look so easy that one wonders why everyone can't score as many as he does.
Great examples of this are found in the game against Lyon on Wed. Ruud's two second-half goals saved united from defeat. But let's look at what 4thegame's match report says about his goals: for the first, after a Ronaldo cross, "van Nistelrooy was on hand to nod it into the corner of the net"; for the second, after a deflection, "fortunately for united, the ball looped straight into the path of van Nistelrooy, who easily netted". I read this and think his goals were easy. Then I found videos of the goals on the internet, and watched what happened. For the first, he wasn't "on hand" - he had to run backwards a few yards to get to the cross, then jump and head the ball forwards (while guarded by two defenders) into the lower right corner. Heading forward after running backward is extraordnarily difficult, but he made it look so easy that all the report says is that he was "on hand" to "nod" it into the net. For the second, of the five players in the box when Ronaldo takes his shot, van Nistelrooy is the only one moving to the spot where the shot would be deflected by the keeper: it was deflected by a defender, but the result was the same: the ball "fortunately" fell to van Nistelrooy. The finish was far from easy, though again he made it look easy: a left-footed half volley against the run of the keeper. Difficult, but executed perfectly.
The other thing I really like about Ruud is how he celebrates goals. Henry, Cisse, Hasselbaink, numerous other strikers all make a big show when they score a goal, including some taunting of the opposing team. Ruud just breaks into a big smile and runs to either his team-mates or the fan section. Great stuff.
The only way I could get the text updates for the game yesterday was to sign up for manutd.com's Internet Plus (or something like that) service (which is free). In the sign up process, they ask you: who is your current favourite man u player? I had to think about it a bit, but then I realized it was obvious: Ruud. Then, I had to think, why? Statistically, he has one of the best strike rates in all of football: something like (I'm finding it hard to find the exact stats) 112 goals in 148 games for Man U, and 68 in 74 games for PSV before that. But, it's easy to criticize him: the vast majority of his goals are in the 6 yard box, of the "anyone can do that" variety. In three years at man united, he hasn't scored a single goal outside the 18-yard box. Of all the goals I've seen him score, only about three were truly spectacular.
So why do I like him so much? Simply because he makes goal-scoring look so easy. Those goals he scores that make people say "anyone can do that" look like that because he's so good. If that wasn't true, then everyone would score as many goals as he does. Why is it that he seems "luckily" to be there whenever a loose ball is by the goal? Because he's smart enough to position himself correctly on almost every play. Why are his goals so "easy"? Because he gets behind the defense so well that he doesn't need to make a difficult finish. Of course, the other component of his goal-scoring is his good finishing, which again, he makes look so easy that one wonders why everyone can't score as many as he does.
Great examples of this are found in the game against Lyon on Wed. Ruud's two second-half goals saved united from defeat. But let's look at what 4thegame's match report says about his goals: for the first, after a Ronaldo cross, "van Nistelrooy was on hand to nod it into the corner of the net"; for the second, after a deflection, "fortunately for united, the ball looped straight into the path of van Nistelrooy, who easily netted". I read this and think his goals were easy. Then I found videos of the goals on the internet, and watched what happened. For the first, he wasn't "on hand" - he had to run backwards a few yards to get to the cross, then jump and head the ball forwards (while guarded by two defenders) into the lower right corner. Heading forward after running backward is extraordnarily difficult, but he made it look so easy that all the report says is that he was "on hand" to "nod" it into the net. For the second, of the five players in the box when Ronaldo takes his shot, van Nistelrooy is the only one moving to the spot where the shot would be deflected by the keeper: it was deflected by a defender, but the result was the same: the ball "fortunately" fell to van Nistelrooy. The finish was far from easy, though again he made it look easy: a left-footed half volley against the run of the keeper. Difficult, but executed perfectly.
The other thing I really like about Ruud is how he celebrates goals. Henry, Cisse, Hasselbaink, numerous other strikers all make a big show when they score a goal, including some taunting of the opposing team. Ruud just breaks into a big smile and runs to either his team-mates or the fan section. Great stuff.
