I got news again: I've translated and posted a Clint Mathis report by the local press paper "NP" on my website: http://www.hannover96.biz/ Have fun...
thanx wolverine. he does indeed need to start scoring again. but he is still providing good opportunities to his teammates. and he is doing better on defense.
The description of Mathis should sound familiar to metros supporters.Clint can go for games and make you wonder why you ever thought he was so good,then suddenly go on a brilliant run of form and be a worldbeater.The indiscipline in committing card prone offenses is also familiar.This comes from his frusration and I think getting over excited. Thanks again Wolverine.
All strikers are usually pretty "streaky" but Clint is about the streakiest player I've ever seen- when's he hot he's really hot, but he can go cold for long stretches. I think he'll break out of it, like he usually does...just a question of when.
A game of inches. If his near misses had gone in, maybe there would be no criticism. And he looked pretty good when he got the ball - nice first touch, productive passes - but I can see what Lienen meant when he said that Clint needed to "show himself more." Understandable if he was tired from working harder on defense, but in the second half, he didn't make any runs into the box after laying the ball off to teammates.
Funny thing about Clint is he actually does hustle a bit coming back on defense, he just doesn't seem to make many good supporting offensive runs. He's very good at controlling the ball and making good passes for his teammates, but then he doesn't make good runs to support the flow. Hannover was often too spread out in the midfield and some good supporting runs through the middle would really help them out. He only seems to make a run when he sees an opening toward goal. If he could make his typically good passes when he gets the ball and move forward to give the receiver another option, he'd be much more effective and could have a much bigger influence on the game.
Now, somebody tell Mathis. Somebody who can hold his attention. I think Rebecca Loos is finished baby-sitting for the Beckhams...
It a combination of things right now: (1) Lienen demands more defensive effort- so Clint is more tired, focused on that end (in Clint's way) (2) The line-up is more defense oriented, for example, this guy Dubrowski (sp?) a mostly a defensive stopper type, vs. before Clint would play along side Kupnovic (sp?), who had better offensive skills (3) Clint's had some bad luck: Two crossbars on shots...and he's had a few good passes that coulda-shoulda been assists go awry (Mo Idassou just latest example) (4) Scoring 4 goals every 5 games was an incredible pace that he could not possibly keep up. (5) And he's in a bit of a slump....
JRI I agree, but I also think we must remember Clint is a midfielder and not a forward. He is just not going to get the goals all the time. There have been several times over the last few weeks where not only has he come close to scoring , but as you said, the opportunities he has provided for his teammates to score. It will be interesting how Clint will adopt to a more defensive posture for the rest of the season. Clintha always had great vision--though he needs to recalibrate that vision for more of the field. Agreed that he needs to work on his off the ball runs.
(Clint is a midfielder) LOL. Great point. It makes a HUGE difference. Despite the 'dry spell', 4 g 2 assists for this number of games is STILL competitive among the better midfielders in the BL. My friend Wolfie loves to toot the horn of D'Alessandro of Wolfsburg (capped by Argentina). He's 'supposed' to be a class above Mathis, according to Wolfie. Well, last I checked, during the same time frame as Clint, D'Alessandro has 1 g and 3 assists- and Wolfburg looking to sign him to a contract until 2010. Also, Hannover has done better than Wolfsburg during that period, so all in all, Clint done fine- he needs to finish strong though (just to re-establish the great reputation he got at the beginning, secure promotion, and put in unequivocally in Lienen's head that he is 'the man'.
with Arena as well. Do you think Clint would thrive more in a 3-4-3, leaving more of the defensive work to others?
How old is he? 26? Do we really think he's going to change his game now? He's a natural and when naturals get stuck in a rut they find it very hard to get out. Clint may regret his actions 20 years from now but for right now, I would bet he is in the process of his behavior.
He's has got no other opportunities. And I think he will. If he doesn't work harder for the team in the defensive way (more runs, and showing himself) there will be changes. At the moment the only thing that counts is to survive in the "Bundesliga". We have seen, before Mathis came, nice "Hurra Fussball" (4-3-3 offensive) with Rangnick. Nice games, but many losses. That sucked. Now with Lienen they are working in the defense for the points. With Rangnick we would had lost that Bremen game 0:5. But I still think Clint will do it. Be patiened, he will score again...!!! What do you people think about Steven Cherundolo's performance. He has been great in the last games. Nobody really got noticed that he improved his game more and more (on bigsoccer). Just want to know, what you are thinking?
--I've definitely been quite impressed with Cherundolo. He seems much more confident and it seems as if he's reading the game better. He even appears more effective going forward into attack.
Dolo has been much better than I expected and I was happy to see his kicker rating. He's working out to be a fine outside back. He is fast enough to cover for most mistakes, plays well near the goal box, can receive the ball wide and either dribble the ball inside or put in a cross good enough to be respected. I was particularly impressed with how well he ran the trap, recovered when things didn't work out then made a good play under the pressure of being caught. It's hard to find defenders that can do that for 90 minutes without getting too tired or stressed then screwing up. Maybe Dolo likes playing for a coach that promotes character and hard work over scoring a number of goals. He has certainly risen to the occasion. I've also been pleasantly surprised with the American, Bocanegra. He too has surprised me, in his case, with how well he puts in English style crosses (over a crowd and drop just forward of the penalty arc). Before the last World Cup defense was a problem for the US but things are looking up.
Wolverine is right, under Rangnick Hanover would lost Breman 0:5. Remember the team lost every game even when Clint scored, because their defence was poor under Rangnick. The game against Breman ended as a draw which probably was what Lienen asked the team to achieve. Not allowing any goal from no.1 team from league table Breman is a major achievement for Hanover! IMO under Rangnick Dolo was probably the only defender who played smart and effectively Am so glad to see Dolo excels under Lienen. After re-organizing defence, Lienen will tackle the midfield stratedy which hopfully will help Clint to score.
Yes, but there aren't many coaches who will 'tilt' team to favor one players' weaknesses/strengths anymore. I don't expect Lienen or Arena either (would be shocked, actualy). Mostly, for esprit de corps, they want EVERYONE TO WORK, EVERYONE TO CONTRIBUTE on both sides. I guess Lienen would have HATED Valderrama...
You are probably right, but I was hoping for an exception. But as somewhat pointed out above Cher does not get enough credit. Stating the obvious here, but his game has definitely improved under Lienen. Hell of a game last Saturday. Anybody know how his crosses are? There is always talk of moving Steve up to RM on the US NAts, but obviously Hannover and BA do not see it that way. Maybe they envision him doing overlaps on the midfielders. I guess what I am asking is how dangerous is Steve going forward? You just can never get this type of information on the matchtracker
Why fault Clint? Hannover has been on a roll and the US upset of Poland in Poland was shocking. In the 2 big results v WB and v Poland which had a 7 game win streak and was playing at home, Clint played center mid for most of the games. So he doesn't score? But the team did well. Now if Clint could just learn to clap his hands to the crowd when he gets yanked from a game it would show a little class.
It's right up there with prioritizing modalities. Anyway, make that "in the process of justifying his behavior" . . . . .