Inside Look at Liverpool FC's Training.

[lebron 423]

Downing "doesn't have pace" is what some people were saying. They will of course maintain this line no matter what, no doubt "clarifying" that what they meant was the ability to do the 100 metres in under 10 seconds.

 

I just think that people are a bit underwhelmed, seeing as this summer was the first time (in a while) it seemed we had serious money to spend, and neither of the players we've got are "edge of the seat" players. They are solid and unspectacular. Adam might have that little extra, but the flaws in other parts of his game are pretty big, so a lot of people do not see him as a first-teamer.

 

Hard to tell who we could have gotten. I just hope that on our next "upgrade" the players we are after will bring some more pace into our squad, as it's probably the slowest in the league.:(

 

PS! Forgot one important player in my Top 5 - Pepe:whistle:

[Wor Horse 11]

Well then Stevie has lost more of his pace than I thought. When are those stats from btw? At his peak I think there were few players in the Prem quicker than Stevie at full pelt.

 

I never implied that Downing is slow, but he isn't very quick either, especially for a winger. I guess that's why a lot of people were sceptical to him as our big signing on the left this summer. Let's face it, Kuyt and Downing on either wing won't scare the life out of many fullbacks. I think Downing is a pretty good player btw, I just think that with our severe lack of pace in our squad we would have benefitted more from having someone like Lennon or A. Young, headless chickens or not. Unless Suarez plays, the better teams will pretty much park their defensive line on the midway line, knowing that we won't be able to hurt them in behind:-(.

 

PS! I understand that the players mentioned were not available, so I have no big regrets (although we were forced to overpay quite a bit).

 

Downing is quicker than Young. Who's incredibly over-rated I might add.

 

He also shits all over Young and Lennon as footballers.

[WhiskeyJar 424]

Lebron you just head in a video showing our fitness coach stating that Downing is faster than Johnson and Gerrard not to mention Suarez.

 

He has got pace.

[Deepz 1]

Not sure if he is considered as a full part of the first team squad but i reckon Jack Robinson is quicker than them all. Remember the sprint he had with Walcott?

 

‪Walcott vs JACK ROBINSON‬‏ - YouTube

[Roy the Rover 0]

Agreed. No big surprises, Dirk being the fittest player in the squad least so. A bit worrying that he thinks Downing will be our fastest player, tells the story of our snail-like squad I suppose...

 

I would think the quick-list (over say 20 yards) reads like this when everyone's fit:

 

 

Johnson

Gerrard

Kelly

Downing

Suarez

 

You underestimate Luis Suarez's pace. I honestly think he's our quickest player, followed by Downing and Johnson.

[lebron 423]

You underestimate Luis Suarez's pace. I honestly think he's our quickest player, followed by Downing and Johnson.

 

Maybe. He's more quick in the turn (and over a few yards) than over medium distances though. Most of our players are slow over both short and medium distances tbf:-(

 

And Downing is not quicker than Ashley Young over any amount of distance, despite him being no slouch. I don't need no opta stats to tell me that. We have a criminally slow squad, I just hope we can get the best out of it by playing to our strenghts and working like madmen (a year off from European football) might be good in that respect.

 

Agree with the other comments about Young/Lennon vs Downing. I just think it would make opponents a bit more worried having a speed merchant in our side, making them drop a few yards back. Off topic here, but one of the reasons Adam had such a great start to last year were the runs (and pace) of Blackpool's front three/two. Imagine Adam playing a killer pass to one of our wide players:whoops:

[Unrighteous 952]

You underestimate Luis Suarez's pace. I honestly think he's our quickest player, followed by Downing and Johnson.

 

Both Luis Suarez and Stu change speeds/directions really well. I always thought Downing was slow, but turned well/went from zero to sprint really well... however... He seems to be fast on the run, too.

[Unrighteous 952]

Maybe. He's more quick in the turn (and over a few yards) than over medium distances though. Most of our players are slow over both short and medium distances tbf:-(

 

And Downing is not quicker than Ashley Young over any amount of distance, despite him being no slouch. I don't need no opta stats to tell me that. We have a criminally slow squad, I just hope we can get the best out of it by playing to our strenghts and working like madmen (a year off from European football) might be good in that respect.

 

Agree with the other comments about Young/Lennon vs Downing. I just think it would make opponents a bit more worried having a speed merchant in our side, making them drop a few yards back. Off topic here, but one of the reasons Adam had such a great start to last year were the runs (and pace) of Blackpool's front three/two. Imagine Adam playing a killer pass to one of our wide players:whoops:

 

You realize that a front three of Downing, Carroll, and Suarez... makes our 'wide' players Downing and Suarez, right? The guys that we want to have the football.

[zigackly 621]

It's quite amusing when one of our fitness coaches states Downing is the quickest player in the squad and people refuse to believe him because it clashes with their preconceptions about the player.

[Guest davelfc]

Zig everyone knows that the laws of science do not apply on the field of play and that Downing will be at least 50% slower in the replays.

[Unrighteous 952]

It's quite amusing when one of our fitness coaches states Downing is the quickest player in the squad and people refuse to believe him because it clashes with their preconceptions about the player.

 

Colour me corrected. I had an argument about Downing's pace with LFD at the beginning of the summer. He's right. I'm wrong.

[fowler_god_9 15]

I'm QUICKER than all of them slow mofo's!!!

[Trumo 14,195]

I'm QUICKER than all of them slow mofo's!!!

 

I'm quicker than most slow players.

[Unrighteous 952]

I'm QUICKER than all of them slow mofo's!!!

 

The Jon Snow response?

[fowler_god_9 15]

The Jon Snow response?

 

I'm quicker than most slow players.

 

Well, my name is Usain and I'm from Jamaica. In my spare time, when I'm not on here lurking, I sprint lightning fast. You guys were so obsessed with who was the quickest so I just thought I would mention that I'm superduper unnaturally fast.

 

By the way, I think Downing is fast enough, not like me though, but fast enough to get by his opponent to make a delivery or a shot and I think that is what matters. We've had some quick players in the past, but none of them was able to use their pace to get a decent end product. It's no point in being quick if you can't handle the ball or have the ability to make smart movements.

[Zippy 0]

Our fitness coach says hes the fastest in the squad, Houllier says his pace is phenomenal, Kyle Walker says he struggles to overlap him at times, his youth coach Dave Parnaby talks about one of his main assets being genuine pace yet some people wont believe he has pace - strange!

[silverlining 35]

Our fitness coach says hes the fastest in the squad, Houllier says his pace is phenomenal, Kyle Walker says he struggles to overlap him at times, his youth coach Dave Parnaby talks about one of his main assets being genuine pace yet some people wont believe he has pace - strange!

 

He's never looked that quick to me

[Zippy 0]

He's never looked that quick to me

 

Same here - I used to think he was slow to be honest but if enough good judges regard him as fast then he probably is. I imagine what it might be is that his acceleration isn't particularly quick but when he gets going he is really fast, obviously I am just speculating there on why so many people myself included thought he lacked pace.

[lebron 423]

It's quite amusing when one of our fitness coaches states Downing is the quickest player in the squad and people refuse to believe him because it clashes with their preconceptions about the player.

 

"He's probably going to be the quickest that we got" doesn't exactly sound bullet-proof though:-).

 

Going a bit off topic this, my point wasn't that Downing was slow, it was that we desperately need more pace in the team/squad, and while buying Downing is a step in the right direction, we need more of it.

 

You won't see Downing bursting past defenders down the wing either. Whether that's down to lack of confidence/dribbling ability or pace I'll let others be the judge of...

[The Party Boy 49]

Someone find a video of that goal he scored for Middlesbrough at Anfield. He looked lightning on that one. I think Torres bagged a hat trick in that game.

[lebron 423]

Lebron you just head in a video showing our fitness coach stating that Downing is faster than Johnson and Gerrard not to mention Suarez.

 

He has got pace.

 

First of all he doesn't say that. He's saying "he's probably going to be the quickest we got". Then he mentions Johnson is pretty quick. I also stated in my post that my gripe with this wasn't that Downing was slow. It just shows that we as a squad have very little pace. Whether Johnson, Kelly, Downing or Suarez are the quickest doesn't really matter, none of them are super-quick. Our only player with really breathtaking speed is unfortunately on the wane and constantly injured:(.

 

Second of all, there are several ways of measuring speed...