Little Shrimp wrote:Excellent performance from Oliver tonight. The criticism of him from our fans has been overly harsh.
During his time with us he was one of the best players in the league for winning aerial duels (stats posted on D3D4 at the time). The only problem was we were so timid and defensive we never had anybody around him to pick up on the knockdowns/loose balls and make the most of the space he created.
For me, his main let down was first touch/hold up play which is something Stockton is great at, and ultimately suits us better. Oliver is excellent at winning aerial duels and occupying defenders though and works very well for Northampton as they actually have players around him to make the most of it.
His most consistent and productive performances for us came when he was up top with Collins and had somebody to run off him.
RapidShrimp wrote:Little Shrimp wrote:Excellent performance from Oliver tonight. The criticism of him from our fans has been overly harsh.
During his time with us he was one of the best players in the league for winning aerial duels (stats posted on D3D4 at the time). The only problem was we were so timid and defensive we never had anybody around him to pick up on the knockdowns/loose balls and make the most of the space he created.
For me, his main let down was first touch/hold up play which is something Stockton is great at, and ultimately suits us better. Oliver is excellent at winning aerial duels and occupying defenders though and works very well for Northampton as they actually have players around him to make the most of it.
His most consistent and productive performances for us came when he was up top with Collins and had somebody to run off him.
Are you sure about that comment? He was absolutely woeful and the 2017/18 Vadaine Oliver was very fairly criticised - he couldn’t win a header, he couldn’t trap a ball, and couldn’t create a chance for others, let alone score one... I think we were very fair with our criticism at the time. Probably the worst individual season I’ve seen by a consistent starter - especially when he was our main/only attacking outlet in most games.
I do agree though about the system we played him in - often playing him upfront on his own was a beyond stupid decision (considering he’s now succeeding in a 442) and sometimes a change of manager makes all the difference! And fair play to him for moving closer to his family and finding some consistency at another league club.
I also agree about his form late on in his final season - he was out injured for quite a while and then Bennett took his place but Vadaine soon started to produce some decent performances that warranted another chance in the football league - almost like he was playing for a contract
thedoc wrote: if he was in Derek Adams' current team, he would be scoring goals like there's no tomorrow.
redrobo wrote:My thanks to the Doc for correcting the guy's name......
fulwoodshrimp wrote:I thought Vadaine Oliver had poor control when he played for us. His first touch was awful and although he won lots of aerial battles, his direction of headers tended to be very wayward. His goal last night was good but he missed a fairly easy header later skying it over the bar. He is the sort of player that will have the occasional good game but overall lacks consistency. I thought in some games for us he didn't look interested and motivated and I remember York fans said similar when he left them. He is a luxury that you can afford in a good team but very much cannot be afforded in a team like ours struggling to keep afloat.
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