Goal #2: 🇺🇸 HAJI WRIGHT GETS A BRACE 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/6gPos8t0D4— 🇺🇸USMNTvsHaters (@USMNTvsHaters) February 11, 2024 MOTM: HAJI WRIGHT PLAYER OF THE MATCH 😮💨🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/B7VlEz4kOr— 🇺🇸USMNTvsHaters (@USMNTvsHaters) February 11, 2024 "It was an important game for us" 🙌Haji Wright reacts after leading Coventry to victory 👇 pic.twitter.com/9glPr2n6ui— Sky Sports Football (@SkyFootball) February 11, 2024
4 consecutive double-digit league goalscoring seasons now. The disaster at Venlo feels like a very distant memory.
I like this one a lot Hi, @49ers and @Chiefs. 👋If you lads need a kicker tonight, let us know. We know a guy. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/Y90PwL3emL— Coventry City (@Coventry_City) February 11, 2024
I think you gave a legit excuse for the keeper - Wright circled that ball like he was going to go far post but last millisecond slipped it inside the near. Hard to move one way when you just have the other. Wright has finishing instincts, which includes deceiving the keeper.
Almost had a great assist just a few minutes after his second goal. Showing some slick footwork near the corner flag to get free. All of a sudden the YA striker pool is looking deep.
Dunno about that. The keeper had very little defensive cover and had to set himself to cover both posts, which is impossible. It just needed a disguised shot that was well-placed shot to beat him. Add in a decent amount of power - which it definitely had - and he was going to be beaten
If I say x shot isn't unsaveable, it's not me being all over them, rather counteracting the myth from some here a good majority of strikes one couldn't do anything about w/ anticipation & reflexes. I did the same to Sels on goals 1 and 3 yesterday. Don't know if he's expected to save either individually, but it was possible. Maybe Matt would have stopped 1, w/ both chances. I'm not even the harshest on (American) keepers here. There are several harsher. I get pushback in both directions. Which is a sign I'm striking a balance. Going back to this case, Wright manipulates the keeper well. He deserves credit. The keeper could have still won the mind battle, but it's not expected on a well executed strike out in the open. He didn't have any defenders to block to cover one side of the net & it wasn't from distance, like on some of these I see claimed as unsaveable even. He was at Wright's mercy.
His shot had xG of .10 where as you were critical of slonina over a goal with xG of .22 (unless that was xGOT stat? Which wrights had .49). didnt mean to have personal critique/commentary. Goalie got a hand on a nearpost shot and as former goalie that is saveable.
That .49 just looks at the % of shots to that spot go in. It doesn't factor Wright's deception, which I'm heaping praise on him for. That probably takes it to more like .9. The keeper would have needed to just totally ignore the fake of the standard play which would be to go far corner, or thrown his leg up as he was lunging the other direction. Technically possible, but an unreasonable ask in a one-off. Maybe if the keeper faces Wright in a similar situation, he's better equipped to make a save because it's actually a 50-50 if he guesses right. They'd both know the prior fake was thrown up. So it's another mind game if he goes back to it or not.
Watch the video again and listen to the sound as the goalie got his hand to the ball. It may not have looked like it, but that ball was hit hard, with real strength - which is not easy with the posture Haji adopted as he was about to strike the ball. That's another mind battle Haji won on top of faking a far post shot. The goalie was caught between a rock and a hard place: cover his near post as much as possible and Haji had a clearer shot to the far post; cover his far post and the near post is completely unprotected. Haji concealed his decision/waited to decide until the last second and benefited accordingly. In his shoes, I'd have gone for put-it-all-on-near-post and hoped the defender would put Haji off his far post shot or even make a block, but that's 20-20 after watching a clip several times. He had Hobson's choice and came close to pulling it off.
"Statistics are like mini-skirts, they give you ideas but hide the important things" Ebbe Skovdal - Danish coach and uncle of the Laudrup brothers
The guy Wright replaced (Viktor Gyökeres) at conventry is playing with Sporting in Portugal right now and doing quite well (now worth 45 million). They actually play quite similar. Wright could possibly have a simialr path.
Apparently Haji Wright and Callum O’Hare had a quick game of Rock, Paper, Scissors on the field to decide who should take the penalty that Wright ultimately scored on. Their manager didn't seem thrilled with that, but obviously not too upset based on how it turned out: https://www.coventrytelegraph.net/s...s/coventry-city-mark-robins-millwall-28610602 “I’m going to kill them!” joked the City boss, albeit making a serious point in his post-match press conference. Asked if City have a designated penalty taker, he added: “Umm, no, but that’s something I will do. But, for me, it’s a question of who’s confident to take the penalty. Now Callum is confident while Haji was a regular penalty taker in Turkey, so I have got no problem. But if I get involved in that then it obviously puts doubt on someone’s head, so I will let them sort it out and if they miss it then they’re in trouble aren’t they. “Thankfully they have got the wherewithal and calm heads to deal with that situation. The good thing is they both want to score. They both want to take the penalty and get on the scoresheet. Obviously we have two really decent penalty takers there but we need to be a little bit more scientific than that.” Asked if he’d rather they sorted it out amicably than arguing over it, he said: “Yes, absolutely, but they are brilliant lads and if they have sorted that out between themselves then that’s fine. I’m not going to get involved in every little micro managed decision because I don’t think that’s right, but I still want to kill them.”
I’d rather have a guy - like Wright - do more with less touches than a guy who consistently touches the ball and does nothing. Case in point vs. millwall…… 25 touches (11 inside the 18) 2 goals xG 1.38 9/11 passing 1 big chance created 1 hit woodwork 1 big chance missed 4 shots / 2 on target 0 dispossessions 9.2 FotMob rating That gents is how do a lot with a little. That’s how you maximize your touches and movement and put in an effective / productive MOTM shift.
Regardless of Coventry being promoted or not, I'd reckon Wright is ready for a top 4 league come next Fall.
I watched Gyokeres highlight last night. That guy is very good. How he trick defender, off the ball movement, capitalizing on deflection, 50-50, even how he handled challenges/tackles from defender. Haji should learn one or two things from the man
🌟 Time for @WhoScored's Team of the Week! #EFL | #SkyBetChampionship pic.twitter.com/7W6WzrVyYK— Sky Bet Championship (@SkyBetChamp) February 12, 2024 Made Team of the week
You can say that again. 16 goals and 7 assists in 19 league games, including 4 goals against the other big boys in Portugal. 4-year deal or not, Sporting are going to have difficulty keeping hold of him in the summer. A lot of difficulty.