United players with unexpected attributes

[Bergen Blade]

Players have their strengths and weaknesses most of which are obvious for everybody and helps categorise them. But occasionally you notice certain little things about a player's game that he does surprisingly well. Some examples:

• Billy Sharp's ability to get crosses in. Sometimes even fast, tricky wingers struggle to get a cross in all game, with the opposition's full back blocking every effort. Sharp has little pace, is no dribbler, yet very often he manages to get his crosses past his marker, like his assist for our third goal yesterday.
• Keith Gillespie's ability in the air. I think this was something we found out about in his second season with us, in the Premiership. Despite not being the tallest he regularly had the beating of his full back in the air. We used him as a target for goal kicks, but also as an attacking weapon.
• Trianos Dellas technical ability. Think he's our tallest ever player, but he was more impressive with the ball at feet than in the air
• Harry Maguire's runs on the ball. A bit similar to Dellas in stature, Maguire was also good on the ball and as he grew in confidence he realised how he could help us create chances by advancing on the ball from centre half.
• Brian Deane's crossing ability - Another big guy who usually was expected to be on the end of crosses, but he also ran the channels well and was able to put good crosses in with both feet.
• Gary Naysmith's ability to cope as a full back without being able to run - Looked like he was running in water up to his waistline, but was usually untroubled defensively
• Alan Wright being able to play centre half - one of our smallest ever players was tried at centre half by Warnock and he did quite well, surprisingly good in the air and positioning himself well.

Who's got more examples?

 

[Fulwood Blade]

TC at being a twat...........................................................Terry Curran that is

UTB

 

[gavtheblade]

Paul McGrath.
The ability to get man of the match without even kicking a football.

 

[Tyler Durden]

Phil Jagielkas goalkeeping skills were a nice surprise.

 

[Kozzy_is_my_Dad]

George Long's ability to impersonate a goalkeeper.

Nosworthy's ability to outwit opponents (teammates, and himself) by disguising the direction of his headers. Thanks largely to his 50p shaped bonce.

 

[Silent Blade]

Alan Woodward's goalkeeping skills. Only conceded 1 goal (which was an unfortunate own goal) in his 157 minutes as an emergency keeper

 

[Alfreton14Blade]

Jordan Stewart's ...

Nope, sorry, nothing.

 

[FTPE]

Vas Borbokis with his set pieces?
Quality for any player, let alone a defender.
Billy does put some cracking balls in too you're right.

 

[silverfox]

Joe Bolton....the ability to scare the opposition by just looking at them.

Ps add Billy tightshirt!

 

[Fiery Blade]

Players have their strengths and weaknesses most of which are obvious for everybody and helps categorise them. But occasionally you notice certain little things about a player's game that he does surprisingly well. Some examples:

• Billy Sharp's ability to get crosses in. Sometimes even fast, tricky wingers struggle to get a cross in all game, with the opposition's full back blocking every effort. Sharp has little pace, is no dribbler, yet very often he manages to get his crosses past his marker, like his assist for our third goal yesterday.
• Keith Gillespie's ability in the air. I think this was something we found out about in his second season with us, in the Premiership. Despite not being the tallest he regularly had the beating of his full back in the air. We used him as a target for goal kicks, but also as an attacking weapon.
• Trianos Dellas technical ability. Think he's our tallest ever player, but he was more impressive with the ball at feet than in the air
• Harry Maguire's runs on the ball. A bit similar to Dellas in stature, Maguire was also good on the ball and as he grew in confidence he realised how he could help us create chances by advancing on the ball from centre half.
• Brian Deane's crossing ability - Another big guy who usually was expected to be on the end of crosses, but he also ran the channels well and was able to put good crosses in with both feet.
• Gary Naysmith's ability to cope as a full back without being able to run - Looked like he was running in water up to his waistline, but was usually untroubled defensively
• Alan Wright being able to play centre half - one of our smallest ever players was tried at centre half by Warnock and he did quite well, surprisingly good in the air and positioning himself well.

Who's got more examples?

At 'An Evening with' last week Dave Bassett said that the thing that caught his eye when watching Deane at Doncaster was his ability to cross a ball better than most traditional wingers and that was a determining factor in him splashing out £30k for what in Joe Kinnears' opinion was an 'ordinary centre forward'

 

[Tyler Durden]

Conor Sammons ability to make himself 3ft tall whenever a high ball came in.

Dean Hammonds ability to make himself scarce when any ball was near.

 

[Pollingtonblade]

Players have their strengths and weaknesses most of which are obvious for everybody and helps categorise them. But occasionally you notice certain little things about a player's game that he does surprisingly well. Some examples:

• Billy Sharp's ability to get crosses in. Sometimes even fast, tricky wingers struggle to get a cross in all game, with the opposition's full back blocking every effort. Sharp has little pace, is no dribbler, yet very often he manages to get his crosses past his marker, like his assist for our third goal yesterday.
• Keith Gillespie's ability in the air. I think this was something we found out about in his second season with us, in the Premiership. Despite not being the tallest he regularly had the beating of his full back in the air. We used him as a target for goal kicks, but also as an attacking weapon.
• Trianos Dellas technical ability. Think he's our tallest ever player, but he was more impressive with the ball at feet than in the air
• Harry Maguire's runs on the ball. A bit similar to Dellas in stature, Maguire was also good on the ball and as he grew in confidence he realised how he could help us create chances by advancing on the ball from centre half.
• Brian Deane's crossing ability - Another big guy who usually was expected to be on the end of crosses, but he also ran the channels well and was able to put good crosses in with both feet.
• Gary Naysmith's ability to cope as a full back without being able to run - Looked like he was running in water up to his waistline, but was usually untroubled defensively
• Alan Wright being able to play centre half - one of our smallest ever players was tried at centre half by Warnock and he did quite well, surprisingly good in the air and positioning himself well.

Who's got more examples?

As Sharp was preparing to cross yesterday I said to my brother that's what Deane used to do and you wish he could reach his own crosses.

 

[bornablade]

Jock Bryson and Gil Reece's ability in the air.
Harry Maguire long range passing ability.
I would like to add Steve Simonson's ability from the penalty spot. Unfortunately I can't.

 

[INTERUNITED]

Dean Hammond's ability to make the manager think he was doing a lot of work, whilst the fans could see he was doing fuck all.

 

[andy m]

Mick Doyles ability to walk like a Cockney

 

[1973Blade]

Gordon Cowans ability to always be in space even though he could barely run

 

[Ricky]

Basham's occasional skill and nifty footwork.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Coutts ability to play 95 minutes if he wants.

Must say Ched surprised me just as much in the last year of his contract. He hardly broke into a sweat for the first two years and nor did Coutts!!

Just saying like!!

 

[Woodwardfan]

Gordon Cowans ability to always be in space even though he could barely run

Was that unexpected?

 

[blade67]

Tony agana played the saxophone

 

[Woodwardfan]

Mel Rees' capabilty tp perform heroics when he must have been at some stage of his terminal illness.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Paddy Kenny who was a sound keeper until he got to the Premier League when he was a liability.

John Hope similarly but that was not "unexpected" in fairness.

 

[PeterNdlovu081]

Wayne Allison was blisteringly fast when he got going.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Chris Wilder to become a quality manager.

Alex Sabella too.

 

[Bert]

As Sharp was preparing to cross yesterday I said to my brother that's what Deane used to do and you wish he could reach his own crosses.

Bert was telling someone at the match yesterday that Deane was a great winger.

 

[Woodwardfan]

Alan Birchenall became a key man at Leicester City, commercial areas.

MBE for charitable work, Freedom of Leicester and an honarary Law Degree at University of Leicester.

Club ambassador these days, very nice caper too!!

 

[Barney]

Don't know about ex-players but I can think of a few attributes for Nigel Adkins.

 

[GrayBlade]

Basham's occasional skill and nifty footwork.

You mean his 'Yaya' moments?

 

[Woodwardfan]

Joe Shaw - 5.8" ? in a day when centre forwards were battering rams on licence.

Never exposed and most of the time he had a titchy keeper behind him, Hodgy. Absolute class the pair of them.

 

[TBW57]

Stewart Houston was so essential to the US space programme that the Apollo 13 crew rang him up to tell him they had a problem.

Bob Booker is to literature what Nobel was to science.