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Current Player Mark Harris
- Thread starter Northstandboy
- Start date
oufc1991
Well-known member
Scarlett offers so much more of a goal threat , Harris is either fouling his man or getting caught offside he’s so frustrating to watch
bigboyoufc
The Shortlist Whisperer
A new striker in january will be inevitable with his form like this,
Strange names I see on the list in foreign leagues include
Shota Fujio
Manprit Sarkaria
Strange names I see on the list in foreign leagues include
Shota Fujio
Manprit Sarkaria
christenedinjericho
Active member
This is Harris's ninth game without a goal. He has another 10 to go before he equals last seasons 19 game drought and he's well on unfortunately to equal this damming record. Time to bench him now as he can't be offside from the dug outs...can he?
Now on to Goodwin.
What are we actually waiting for?
Is this guy just drop dead rubbish or what - as he couldn't even get on today in a game we were effortlessly losing?
In the end we saw that Goodwin didn't get on the pitch - or was it Goodtiming Will to avoid the lambasting and fall outs?
Personally, I'd like to see man leave 'gchq' and start on Tuesday evening without the anonymous stigma start to life he's had at OUFC.
COYY'S
WokinghamYellow
Well-known member
Scarlett has wrestled Harris shirt off him
Oufcrealist
Well-known member
How about Pike is his name also on 'ze list'?
MarkG
Well-known member
named in the Wales squad for matches against Turkey and Iceland
www.walesonline.co.uk
Craig Bellamy announces Wales squad as Leeds Utd and Cardiff City stars return
The Wales boss has named his 26-player squad for the upcoming double-header against Turkey and Iceland
www.walesonline.co.uk
Surprised at some criticism of him.
Sure he has had one of his poorer spells ( not unlike last season), not helped by the lack of pace in the team and the service.
Somebody suggested he has been 'really really bad' for some time
It doesn't take long for some to turn on the players pretty quickly
Sure he has had one of his poorer spells ( not unlike last season), not helped by the lack of pace in the team and the service.
Somebody suggested he has been 'really really bad' for some time
It doesn't take long for some to turn on the players pretty quickly
I came here to say that I felt like Mark Harris was struggling to adapt to the Championship, as it seemed to me he'd been less effective winning the ball, holding it up and winning free kicks, and was being out-muscled by defenders and unjustly penalised by referees.
With Yellows Forum being such a notoriously reasoned and evidence-based debating arena, I thought I'd check that the stats backed up my eyes, and needless to say I have no idea what I'm talking about!
He's won a much higher percentage of his duels than last year (34.1% v 25.9%), and a slightly higher percentage of his aerial duels (16% v 15.8%). And while he has conceded more free kicks per 90 minutes (1.33 v 1.15), he's actually won more than twice as many free kicks per 90 than he did last season - 1.16 v 0.55.
His shots and shots on target per 90 minutes are both down (the former by 0.3 per game, the latter by just 0.03) so while he's having fewer shots, his shot accuracy has remained pretty consistent with last year, and his goals to expected goals is very similar to last year too - so no noticeable decline in that area either.
No idea what this means in the grand scheme of things (are we going to Harris earlier in the build-up in the absence of speedy wingers? Is he operating deeper as a result, and so getting into fewer goal-scoring positions?), but just thought I'd share some of my slight surprise at finding that what I thought was happening, isn't.
(Stats from Fotmob)
With Yellows Forum being such a notoriously reasoned and evidence-based debating arena, I thought I'd check that the stats backed up my eyes, and needless to say I have no idea what I'm talking about!
He's won a much higher percentage of his duels than last year (34.1% v 25.9%), and a slightly higher percentage of his aerial duels (16% v 15.8%). And while he has conceded more free kicks per 90 minutes (1.33 v 1.15), he's actually won more than twice as many free kicks per 90 than he did last season - 1.16 v 0.55.
His shots and shots on target per 90 minutes are both down (the former by 0.3 per game, the latter by just 0.03) so while he's having fewer shots, his shot accuracy has remained pretty consistent with last year, and his goals to expected goals is very similar to last year too - so no noticeable decline in that area either.
No idea what this means in the grand scheme of things (are we going to Harris earlier in the build-up in the absence of speedy wingers? Is he operating deeper as a result, and so getting into fewer goal-scoring positions?), but just thought I'd share some of my slight surprise at finding that what I thought was happening, isn't.
(Stats from Fotmob)
Littlemore Local
Active member
Kieffer Moore: Wales suffer striker blow for Nations League games
Striker Kieffer Moore is out of Wales' Nations League games against Turkey and Iceland.
www.bbc.co.uk
The mighty Aldo
Well-known member
Thanks for the stats but Harris is our no9
When I think of the players we have had playing in the main striking position he wouldn’t make our top 20
The reason for this is simple he is not a natural goalscorer
.
Don’t get me wrong about him there are parts of his game that are very good and he never gives less than 100 per cent
But in the box is where it counts and for me his awareness of where the ball will come in and that split second anticipation for a good goal scorer is not there. He never seems to get across the defender when the ball is played in
Good example is the chance v Swanse he could see that a cross was coming in and it was being pulled back, he can’t be off side so anticipate it and move six inches further forward he would then not be stretching and would have had a simple tap in.
Of course if he was any good at the things I e mentioned he would have been a regular in Cardiffs side
If you could combine the Harris work rate with the nous of Marty Taylor we’d have a great player
IsleofWightYellow
Well-known member
Just from the eye test, Harris doesn’t look at all right in recent games. He’s not moving right, he’s just clearly off in some way. It’s like he’s carrying a knock or an illness or something. Or is that just what being out of form does to you?
I don't disagree with any of this. The point I was making wasn't 'he's great, get off his back', it's that I thought he'd deteriorated in the positive aspects he offers us, when he actually hasn't.
However, what we need to accept (maybe accept is the wrong word. Understand may be better) is that players who can do all of the things Harris does well - his work rate off the ball, the way he occupies opposition centre backs, the free-kicks he wins to get us up the pitch - and who are natural goal scorers are few and far between. And because of that they are, in all likelihood, far, far beyond our means at the moment.
As a long-term League One club that's been newly promoted to the Championship, our playing squad will be one with quite a bit of compromise in it, whether we like it or not.
If Placheta, Dembele and Philips were in the match day squad for 40 games each a season, if Ruben had another yard of pace out of the blocks, if Elliot Moore could stride with purpose into midfield with the ball at his feet, we'd be a top table Championship side.
If we replaced Harris with a natural goal-scorer we could realistically afford, we might score a few more goals, but we'd be much more vulnerable to teams cutting through that first line of defence, because you'd likely be sacrificing Harris's insatiable desire and work rate off the ball.
Des's job is to get the most out of the players he's got, playing to their strengths and negating their flaws wherever possible. For example, last year we played with high wingers and two 10s because Harris's goals alone weren't going to be enough and we needed to add to the attacking threat he posed.
Should we be looking at ways to improve? Always. And I'm absolutely sure we are doing that. But barring the odd freak, these improvements will likely be by small increments. We aren't going to go from Mark Harris to Kai Havertz in one signing.
It's no coincidence that Scarlett and Nelson - the two players we have on loan from the Premier League - have looked so impressive of late. They raise the ceiling of our squad, and are clearly very, very good players. However, you won't be able to prise them away from their parent clubs for less than multiples of millions of pounds.
The things Harris can't do - or anyone, for that matter - shouldn't necessarily detract from the things he can do. Every player in our squad has his limitations, but every player in our squad also has a lot of qualities to bring.
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It’s not my business, however I do know his partner has been away for just under a month on work. I wonder if that has something to do with it?
Lost Marbles
Active member
Men can go off the rails while their partner's away (I should know!) Even if it's nothing more serious than staying up too late playing computer games, it's still going to affect how he performs.
billyturleyscurlywurly
Well-known member
A goal for Wales this international break would ideal.
Witneyoldfella
Active member
A goal for us would also be nice .....
dickwalton1964
Well-known member
Yes, indeed. Sod Wales.
Big Ron
Well-known member
Yes, that's generally my view of most things Welsh - but anything that could give him some confidence is good with me!
