hawaii Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Just watched the game highlights on the beeb website and it just reinforced what I saw on Saturday at the match. Why can't our players control the ball with their first touch? Maybe it's down to the training they have been forced to put up with this season, but as professional footballers you would hope that their first touch would be slightly better than that of a sunday pub team player. OK, it was a nothing game on Saturday, but 5 or 6 goals on Saturday would have been nice Hopefully Mr Frail will have the main culprits in Wallace, Chesney & Glen in tomorrow working on their first touch and finishing. PS - Don't mean to have a go at any of the players - just constructive criticism Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
turnkey1874 Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 it seems to me like they don't want to spend too much time with the ball in their possession and are keen to pass it quickly on Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MackaysCentreSpot Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Just watched the game highlights on the beeb website and it just reinforced what I saw on Saturday at the match. Why can't our players control the ball with their first touch? Maybe it's down to the training they have been forced to put up with this season, but as professional footballers you would hope that their first touch would be slightly better than that of a sunday pub team player. OK, it was a nothing game on Saturday, but 5 or 6 goals on Saturday would have been nice Hopefully Mr Frail will have the main culprits in Wallace, Chesney & Glen in tomorrow working on their first touch and finishing. PS - Don't mean to have a go at any of the players - just constructive criticism You missed out the main culprit of this lack of control and that was Clum. 3 times he was in on goal on sat if he had been able to control the ball but on all 3 occassions his first touch was dire and the chance was lost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan Gosling Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Just watched the game highlights on the beeb website and it just reinforced what I saw on Saturday at the match. Why can't our players control the ball with their first touch? Maybe it's down to the training they have been forced to put up with this season, but as professional footballers you would hope that their first touch would be slightly better than that of a sunday pub team player. OK, it was a nothing game on Saturday, but 5 or 6 goals on Saturday would have been nice Hopefully Mr Frail will have the main culprits in Wallace, Chesney & Glen in tomorrow working on their first touch and finishing. PS - Don't mean to have a go at any of the players - just constructive criticism You want Glen to work on his first touch and finishing? Did you watch all the highlights? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawaii Posted April 27, 2008 Author Share Posted April 27, 2008 You missed out the main culprit of this lack of control and that was Clum. 3 times he was in on goal on sat if he had been able to control the ball but on all 3 occassions his first touch was dire and the chance was lost. Totally forgot about Clum - probably cos NONE of his attempts made it onto the beeb highlights package Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawaii Posted April 27, 2008 Author Share Posted April 27, 2008 You want Glen to work on his first touch and finishing? Did you watch all the highlights? Saw his first touch and finish in the first half where better control would have set him up for an easy finish instead of a poor touch leading him to blaze it over the bar. Also saw his first touch for his goal which wasn't the best either. Ain't picking on the lad though - all our players have a poor first touch for professional footballers apart from probably Ruben. I remember watching Vincent Guerin playing for Hearts - now he had a first touch!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cade Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Whatever we do in training is clearly not working. Our players are unfit, can't control a football and are lacking in any kind of tactical awareness. It's almost comical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawaii Posted April 27, 2008 Author Share Posted April 27, 2008 A good first touch allows a player to not bother watching the ball coming to him, and can instead look to see what opposition players are closing him down and what team mates he can pass to. Look at Berbatov at Spurs or Scholes at Man Utd to see what a first touch should be. Hearts have a top class training facility, but if the players are just turning up for two hours a day physical conditioning then our coaching staff should be getting the sack. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ray Winstone Posted April 27, 2008 Share Posted April 27, 2008 Clum's second touch is a tackle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dagger Is Back Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Maybe its a downside to great training facilities. Kids train on flat astroturf pitches and not rutted/hard/soggy normal pitches i.e. real pitches they use on a Saturday. Maybe they need to get down to Jack Kane Centre and see how they get on down there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest JamboRobbo Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Hearts have a top class training facility, but if the players are just turning up for two hours a day physical conditioning then our coaching staff should be getting the sack. Spot on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hans von Luck Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Totally forgot about Clum - probably cos NONE of his attempts made it onto the beeb highlights package Clum's first touch is a tackle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bil Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Maybe its a downside to great training facilities. Kids train on flat astroturf pitches and not rutted/hard/soggy normal pitches i.e. real pitches they use on a Saturday. Maybe they need to get down to Jack Kane Centre and see how they get on down there. I read somewhere recently that Brazilian clubs deliberately keep one pitch in really bad condition as it helps the youngsters to develop good ball control when the ball's bouncing about unpredictably. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy Walker Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 I read somewhere recently that Brazilian clubs deliberately keep one pitch in really bad condition as it helps the youngsters to develop good ball control when the ball's bouncing about unpredictably. with Gretna out of the way we'll be training at Fir Park then ? Best TW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hungry Heart Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 I'll tell you who's touch has improved amazingly, and we all knew he had it - Miko's. Much praise has been heaped on the youngsters of late (and rightly so, they need our encouragement) but that doesn't change the fact that, for me at least, Miko has been our most consistent performer in our unbeaten run. Starting from St. Mirren away he's been outstanding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dagger Is Back Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 I read somewhere recently that Brazilian clubs deliberately keep one pitch in really bad condition as it helps the youngsters to develop good ball control when the ball's bouncing about unpredictably. Doesn't surprise me that. When I was a kid playing football you played on all kinds of surfaces and some of the games we played really tested your skills to the full. Mind you I'm still crap and couldn't trap a bag of cemeent with my good foot! Kids get it on a plate these days. Flat surfaces, indoor training with no rain/wind to worry about and then we turf them out into the real world on a Saturday and wonder why they find things different? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sandyseymour Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Doesn't surprise me that. When I was a kid playing football you played on all kinds of surfaces and some of the games we played really tested your skills to the full. Mind you I'm still crap and couldn't trap a bag of cemeent with my good foot! Kids get it on a plate these days. Flat surfaces, indoor training with no rain/wind to worry about and then we turf them out into the real world on a Saturday and wonder why they find things different? First touch by above those mentioned in this thread was indeed poor but it won't improve by practising on so called real turf. Practice, practice, practice will improve first touch. Having said it was a relief to see some decent crosses from corners at last....Well done Ruben and Miko Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawaii Posted April 28, 2008 Author Share Posted April 28, 2008 Is it any wonder that the Man Utd kids have all gone onto become good players as they all started to copy Cantona and stay behind after training had finished to work on their skills?? If it was good enough for Cantona then surely every Hearts player should be working for an extra couple of hours a day instead of lowering their golf handicap, practising their cue action or chucking half their wages at the bookies. If I was Frail I would have watched the players for a week to see who would stay behind and improve their skills. After one week I would be having a quiet word with the captain to ask him why the Hearts players think they are better than Cantona and don't need to work on any part of their game after training. If it still didn't improve then they would be forced into it. Lets face facts here, most Hearts fans would say that our players could work on corners, free kicks and first touch as a bare minimum. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tasavallan Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 I read somewhere recently that Brazilian clubs deliberately keep one pitch in really bad condition as it helps the youngsters to develop good ball control when the ball's bouncing about unpredictably. Then West Lothian is well suited. Pitches are agricultural in quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lambojambo Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 I think the problem is that they have been modelling themselves on a Hearts Legend.................. .......shaggy hair, long throw, cute name...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chad Sexington Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Maybe our players first touch is a bit poor...but I hear our star jumps are at Olympic standard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hagar the Horrible Posted April 28, 2008 Share Posted April 28, 2008 Clums first touch goes further than i can kick it? He could not trap a bag of cement? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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