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Zaliukas v Pressley


Jambo-Chappy

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Absolutely. Being a "hammerthrower" never stopped Colin Hendry winning the Premiership and excelling at that level.

 

Which is coming up for 20 years ago.

 

Football has evolved.

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Chad Sexington

Which is coming up for 20 years ago.

 

Football has evolved.

 

Correct.

 

Football here is held back by trumpets who think putting your head where other folk wont put their feet is the true measure of a footballer.

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I prefer my footballers to actually be able to play football.

 

Zal wins on that front, as Pressley was all heart, no technique.

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Correct.

 

Football here is held back by trumpets who think putting your head where other folk wont put their feet is the true measure of a footballer.

 

Correct - its very sad.

 

The groans from the stands as a player knocks the ball to the side or heaven forbid back the way. Someone who looks at Barry Ferguson and does not understand what a bloody good player he was.

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Pros -

Both club legends,

both great captains,

both very good football players and defenders,

both cup winners,

both had long successful spells and considered "mr hearts" during their time at the club.

Can't choose between them.

 

Cons -

They both have them

zaliukas was a bit shit at first and prone to the odd howler, pressley was not spectacular at first and did have the chest pumping incident

 

but anyone who refused to recognise pressleys ability or commitment to our club over 8 years because of one stupid incident is just being fickle

and anyone who still refuses to recognise zals contribution in recent years due to his early 'bombscare' tag is through nothing more than pigheaded stubborness

 

websters still the better centre half though

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I can't remember a Hearts player who has improved as much as Zaliukas has.

 

On the form of the last year or so he's up there with the best centre halfs of the last 30 years to wear the maroon jersey. Players like Levein and McLaren and Webster. On his overall Hearts career obviously not at their level, but the last year he has been excellent.

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Which is coming up for 20 years ago.

 

Football has evolved.

 

Fair enough, that was 95 but Hendry was a top Premier League centre-half between 93 and 98 and Pressley was at his peak for us between 01 and 06 so very much a relevant comparison.

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Fair enough, that was 95 but Hendry was a top Premier League centre-half between 93 and 98 and Pressley was at his peak for us between 01 and 06 so very much a relevant comparison.

 

 

 

The point was that if you put Hendry of 1995 - 1998 in the EPL now, he would not be the success he was due to what is asked from CH''s these days. You could put him in the SPL now and he would be just fine - which does not say a lot for the SPL, or the mentality we unfortunately have up here.

 

So in England, the "hammer thrower" days are kind of gone.

 

Worth noting that by the time Hendry had gone to Rangers, he was pretty much a busted flush (no pun intended)

 

Robbo told a very interesting story about Hendry a while back on the radio. After being with a Scotland squad Hendry was in, he was speaking to a fellow Scotland player about how great Hendry was at last ditch challenges, throwing his body at the ball and putting the head where others never put their feet. The player replied that whilst that was true, the reason he has to do that is because he cannot read a game and his positioning is so poor.

 

Football thankfully has evolved, unfortunately for Scotland though we are still stuck in a time warp (and I include fans in that)

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To add to that point, GA, my mate was telling me the other day about a Xabi Alonso interview he'd read in which he said he could never understand why tackling was valued in the British game. He said he'd never even been taught how to tackle growing up, because it was the sign of a poor player who didn't know where to position himself.

 

He was basically saying that tackling is looked down on by top nations, and that says it all tbh.

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The point was that if you put Hendry of 1995 - 1998 in the EPL now, he would not be the success he was due to what is asked from CH''s these days. You could put him in the SPL now and he would be just fine - which does not say a lot for the SPL, or the mentality we unfortunately have up here.

 

So in England, the "hammer thrower" days are kind of gone.

 

Worth noting that by the time Hendry had gone to Rangers, he was pretty much a busted flush (no pun intended)

 

Robbo told a very interesting story about Hendry a while back on the radio. After being with a Scotland squad Hendry was in, he was speaking to a fellow Scotland player about how great Hendry was at last ditch challenges, throwing his body at the ball and putting the head where others never put their feet. The player replied that whilst that was true, the reason he has to do that is because he cannot read a game and his positioning is so poor.

 

Football thankfully has evolved, unfortunately for Scotland though we are still stuck in a time warp (and I include fans in that)

 

Yeah, you're right it has progressed for the better.

 

Just feel it's unfair to criticise Pressley for being a robust centre-half when 10-15 years ago those types of defenders were very successful and that was the main part of his career.

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To add to that point, GA, my mate was telling me the other day about a Xabi Alonso interview he'd read in which he said he could never understand why tackling was valued in the British game. He said he'd never even been taught how to tackle growing up, because it was the sign of a poor player who didn't know where to position himself.

 

He was basically saying that tackling is looked down on by top nations, and that says it all tbh.

 

Says it all, Tommy.

 

The Secret Footballer made a great point in his book. Mentions that when teams are knocking it about, purposely going back and to see the side etc, they are taking a breather - while the fans get restless and are shouting for the ball to go forward and more often than not the ball given away.

 

As David Pleat used to tell us on ITV, whoever has the ball is the master.

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My mate had been reading the Secret Footballer and that's how the conversation came up. Definitely going to give that a spin on the turntables when I get the chance.

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To add to that point, GA, my mate was telling me the other day about a Xabi Alonso interview he'd read in which he said he could never understand why tackling was valued in the British game. He said he'd never even been taught how to tackle growing up, because it was the sign of a poor player who didn't know where to position himself.

 

He was basically saying that tackling is looked down on by top nations, and that says it all tbh.

 

Tackling will always be part of the British game. First thing I was taught as a youngster was how to tackle and header. I was a centre half and that's what I was good at. Give me a ball at my feet and tell me to run with it and I looked completely retarded.

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Tackling will always be part of the British game. First thing I was taught as a youngster was how to tackle and header. I was a centre half and that's what I was good at. Give me a ball at my feet and tell me to run with it and I looked completely retarded.

 

First thing I was told was to pull my socks up over my shin pads and get my hair cut.

 

I rebelled and the rest is history.

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Tackling will always be part of the British game. First thing I was taught as a youngster was how to tackle and header. I was a centre half and that's what I was good at. Give me a ball at my feet and tell me to run with it and I looked completely retarded.

 

 

That's the problem. First thing you should have been taught is to control and pass the ball before then moving on to other things

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Tackling will always be part of the British game. First thing I was taught as a youngster was how to tackle and header. I was a centre half and that's what I was good at. Give me a ball at my feet and tell me to run with it and I looked completely retarded.

 

 

I know you were a centre back, Nat, you never needed to tell me given your love for them :lol:

 

I played full back at schools level and I got taught tackling and getting rid of it quickly first myself. Should it always be a part of the game though? Just because it is, doesn't mean it must be. Our national side is dog shit, we are failing to produce technical players who can flourish at the very top level, our domestic game is awful. We'll always struggle to compete with the best, but doggedly sticking to the past isn't helping anyone just now. That's the way we've always done it should be the last reason on our lips tbh.

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That's the problem. First thing you should have been taught is to control and pass the ball before then moving on to other things

 

Think things are definitely changing, whic is good.

 

My school works with the SFA coaching network and some of the Scotland Schoolboys and Schoolgirls come to train our players every week.

 

The two hour session focuses on passing, dribbling, ball control, shooting and then games. No tackling is taught and at the age of 11/12 it shouldn't be a priority.

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N Lincs Jambo

C O N S P I R A C Y !

 

Yeah you might be right...just bear in mind though that we are talking about the team which has generated a thread on here with almost 46,000 replies so far and is still charged with having cheated the rest of Scottish football for nigh on 11 years with their EBTs and dual contracts. So really don't think that conspiracy might be too wide of the mark..... I accept you may differ though....

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N Lincs Jambo

His time with Wigan was error strewn. He did have injuries, but if he was that good for them, he would have been in the side and not binned at first opportunity I would imagine.

 

Edit: Conspiracy or not

 

I suspected then, suspect now, and always will suspect that commercial interests ended Webby's Wigan career, not his ability. It can't be easy moving into a higher standard league with new team mates and week in week out better opponents. I know I would have felt pretty angry at only getting 3 games plus one as sub, winning all four and still being binned......

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Today's game certainly showed us that it's Webster who gets Zaliukas through the games. :lol:

 

I seriously worry for us without our captain.

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I suspected then, suspect now, and always will suspect that commercial interests ended Webby's Wigan career, not his ability. It can't be easy moving into a higher standard league with new team mates and week in week out better opponents. I know I would have felt pretty angry at only getting 3 games plus one as sub, winning all four and still being binned......

 

 

No way either of us will ever know, but from the other viewpoint, he was binned and you would think if he was showing it in training or on the park, Wigan would have used him more.

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Today's game certainly showed us that it's Webster who gets Zaliukas through the games. :lol:

 

I seriously worry for us without our captain.

 

Worry is an understatement. I'm just thankful Dundee are so shit we can't get relegated.

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N Lincs Jambo

Today's game certainly showed us that it's Webster who gets Zaliukas through the games. :lol:

 

I seriously worry for us without our captain.

 

I agree about our captain. He's been great for us and most recently as part of an excellent CB partnership. We've lost Gowser, Grainger and now big Zal. We are gonna struggle till the end of the season and I can only hope the young lads step up to the plate....however being young they are gonna make mistakes.

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N Lincs Jambo

No way either of us will ever know, but from the other viewpoint, he was binned and you would think if he was showing it in training or on the park, Wigan would have used him more.

 

You're right, we won't know and that's something that will always p!ss fans off. Whether you're Hearts, Wigan, whatever it turned out a nightmare for him and there were no winners in this

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Today's game certainly showed us that it's Webster who gets Zaliukas through the games. :lol:

 

I seriously worry for us without our captain.

 

We didn't half miss him today. Perfect case in point being the 2nd goal, or the first - Dylan should have met it. Zal would most likely have got rid on both occasions.

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Today's game certainly showed us that it's Webster who gets Zaliukas through the games. :lol:

 

I seriously worry for us without our captain.

 

But but but

 

Webster is the real leader and easily the best player. :facepalm:

 

 

Yet again a Hearts side without Zali is rudderless and useless.

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