Liverpool FC Forum

by **SouthCoastShankly** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 4:57 pm

I've just been on the website and noticed the '39 questions with Djibril Cisse' article. A light-hearted interview, but what surprised me is that he reckons he can run the 100m in under 11s.

33. You are one of the fastest footballers in the world. Did you ever consider becoming a sprinter?

"Yeah. When I started in football, it was football or athletics. I chose football."

34. Have you got a fastest time for the 100 metres?

"No, maybe it's less than 11 seconds or something."

Now I don't think even michael owen in his younger days could run the 100m in under 11s. If this is the case why aren't we exploiting this pace in the way we used to when Owen was at the club?

It seems a shame to not use such a vital asset

by **Garymac** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:07 pm

Its not that simple to just use someones pace. Take a look at Saturday, Cisse drifted out wide and we did use his pace and we did use it to exploit the opposition, but there is one thing you havent mentioned, its one thing being fast, its another being quality, Gerrard gives him the simpliest one on one u could imagine, Cisse blasts the ball at the keeper, then looks round to see who he could blame. Then out wide he gets pass after pass after pass but hes just not good enough with the ball, off it hes class and we do exploit teams but with it, it borders on the embarrasing at times.

His decision making is dreadful, and hence why he shouldnt be put out wide, even when Crouch got in a wide position for the 1 time on saturday he just played the ball to Gerrard on the edge of the box. And Zenden when he come on played some fantastic balls in the box and caused havoc of 2 of them.

So dont say we dont use it when we do, its just its hard to use someones pace in a central position when most teams play so deep against us.

Its not Cisses pace thats the problem, its his ability. Hes fast and can hit a ball sweetly, but a 14 million pound striker should have a lot more in there locker.

by **stoney** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:14 pm

Didn't you notice that we were exploiting Cisses pace with that through ball from Gerrard in our last match where Cisse missed.

Are you saying then that you want us to go back into the old days of houllier where we defended with about 8 men deep then when we got possession started playing long balls to owen? We are exploiting Cisses pace because as you can see he's always trying to spring the offside trap. When Cisse can time him runs better and spring the trap like he did expertly against Villa and not end up being offside so much, you'll see his pace beig used in full effect.

Hopefully he wont be gone by that time.

by **neil** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:19 pm

imagine gonzales keeping up with him and say being in a position to take a square ball from cisse when he is in a similar situation to that of the villa match.

by **woof woof !** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 5:57 pm

Garymac wrote:Take a look at Saturday, Cisse drifted out wide and we did use his pace and we did use it to exploit the opposition, but there is one thing you havent mentioned, its one thing being fast, its another being quality,

He maybe fast Gmac , but he would have needed to be ridin' a bloody motorbke to make anything of many of the balls that were played in his direction .

While we're at it , yeah , he fired straight at the keeper when he should have scored , name me a striker who hasn't done that .

He's not the finished article but right now he's the best striker we've got .

by **115-1073096938** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 6:31 pm

Should have been a sprinter, he's not a footballer.

I can do the 100 meters in about 12.5 seconds, had i had good training i could have been quicker still, but its a different thing on a football pitch. Sissy has pace in the game to burn the problem is, he himself doesn't know how to use it.

Owen in his younger days and even now does. If you have pace and intelligent movement you're half way there. Sissy has pace, and pace only.

by **Sabre** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:24 pm

IMHO Cisse is a good player. But can he exploit his pace in Liverpool?

To answer that, you should ask first how the opposition plays against Liverpool. Does Wigan play more cautious against Liverpool than against WBA? Probably they do. And it's certainly difficult to make good use of a player who's main feature is Speed when you are playing against a team that has 9 men behind the ball every moment.

I'm pretty sure though, that Cisse would make a good work in nowadays Olympique Lyonaisse, this counter attack football fits much better this excellent player IMHO.

Ah and about the Owen bit, he has more than SPeed. He's smart, he's better finisher and he's movements in the area are far better that CIsse's. Where as I consider Cisse good player, I consider Owen world class.

Sabre

P.S. Ooops, after second read I realise garymac has explained better my points. SO I just agree him

by **ivor_the_injun** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:38 pm

I think he's possibly too fast for his own good. He's got excellent sprinting technique, and any sprint coach will tell you that making yourself as compact as possible, relaxing and minimising the stress on your body while you're running is the best way to make the best of your running ability.

Unfortunately, this just doesn't fit in with how a footballer should play when he's running for the ball. By the time he's got to it, he's still head down in sprinting mode, so his leg muscles and feet are travelling at top speed, which will in turn make them feel light. It's so, so difficult to make meaningful touches with a football when you're running like that, and inevitably his first touch will either be under or overcooked. Plus obviously he's looking at the ground anyway so he's also blissfully unaware of who's where around him.

An example of something not dissimilar is with someone like Jonathan Edwards towards the end of his career in the triple jump. Even in his late 30s he was getting faster and stronger through sprint and weight training, but it was making his distances suffer. He was running so fast that he couldn't get himself in the right positions at the right time, and was over-rotating. My guess is that Cisse has the same problem. People see his pace as such an asset that he's inevitably working on it probably more than he's working on his touch, his shooting and his passing. And all three suffer as a result.

by **Alonso14** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 7:41 pm

stu_the_red wrote:Should have been a sprinter, he's not a footballer.

I can do the 100 meters in about 12.5 seconds, had i had good training i could have been quicker still, but its a different thing on a football pitch. Sissy has pace in the game to burn the problem is, he himself doesn't know how to use it.

Owen in his younger days and even now does. If you have pace and intelligent movement you're half way there. Sissy has pace, and pace only.

Spot on. Even though Michael couldnt often beat a player he could get into a position where he could recieve the ball in behind him. Cisse cant seem to do either.

The movement and finshing owen provides is the difference, and these two attributes are what ultimatly spearates the men from the boys.

by **stmichael** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:00 pm

cisse and baros are both very similar in that they both play very much on instinct. as soon as they have time and have to make decisions, they go to pieces.

by **Garymac** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 8:15 pm

woof woof ! wrote:
Garymac wrote:Take a look at Saturday, Cisse drifted out wide and we did use his pace and we did use it to exploit the opposition, but there is one thing you havent mentioned, its one thing being fast, its another being quality,

He maybe fast Gmac , but he would have needed to be ridin' a bloody motorbke to make anything of many of the balls that were played in his direction .

While we're at it , yeah , he fired straight at the keeper when he should have scored , name me a striker who hasn't done that .

He's not the finished article but right now he's the best striker we've got .

Woof, he did get the service on Saturday, but he didnt use the ball as well as he should, like i said cisse is probably better off the ball than on it, he gets in great positions and makes great runs but doesnt use the ball as well as he should.

You are right in saying hes are best option upfront, by a mile, all i was saying is that we have made use of his pace, i mean how many of his goals this season have been all his own work??

Cisse has a lot of things missing from his game but he does have one thing, time, and given the right coaching and his own will to listen and improve, he could become a hell of a player.

Fact is though, when Cisse scores its ok, but when he doesnt score he looks bad, what im trying to say is look at morientes against west ham, he worked his b0llocks off and just lacked a goal. Then Crouch against villa, caused problems won a pen and had a certain goal blocked. If Cisse doesnt score, its very rare he provides anything else much......good thing is we havent said that much recently!

Cisse will cause as many a debate as goals he will score......which will hopefully be lots!

by **drummerphil** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:26 pm

He isnt very quick tonight hes on the bench :laugh:

Eurosport live now......France v Costa Rica......costa rica 1 nil up......Anelka starting first game for 3 years

by **A.B.** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 9:39 pm

We are exploiting his pace, we did it against Villa. When we did it successfuly, Cisse came one on one with the keeper and missed a clear goal opportunity. Whose fault is that? His or the teams?

I think it's his, his poor technique let him down not us not taking advantage of his pace. He has no technique

by **drummerphil** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:05 pm

Cisse scores the 2nd goal for France tonight in a 3-2 win against Costa Rica.........Anelka getting the first,Henry the winner

by **welsh wizzard** » Wed Nov 09, 2005 11:49 pm

Got to agree with you there stu. Cisse has pace and pace only, his technique is dreadfull. I just don't see him improving on that The likes of Henry and owen have it all round, technique, pace, and know when to make that darting run. Cisse is nowhere near them, and probably never will be. All this and a 14m price tag on his shoulders is unreal. Never is he worth that money. But Houllier thought he was like he did with, diouf, diao, etc. Some money well wasted there, total of 29m. Need i say more.......

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Cisse - fastest player in the squad - Why aren't we exploiting his pace?

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