MSP said:
Someone mentioned van persie.. I find his corners and crosses better than his finishing. He's not specially clinical finisher at all but his corners and crosses are quality.
This has been my pet hobby horse for years now. United are the ultimate percentages team, with corners and crossing serving as a constant get out of jail free card for them, whenever they're playing shit. 20 headed goals this season, including 5 for that midget Evra, tells its own story. Van Persie is just the latest in a long line of individuals to be drilled at Carrington to within an inch of their lives (although in his case, he has the necessary technique down naturally) in the art of hitting whipped, flat, vicious in swinging deliveries that take away all of a defender's natural advantages. And because the deliveries are so accurate, hit across the edge of the 6 yard box, their forwards are able to gamble endlessly as to where the ball will end up, before it's even been hit. Beckham, Giggs, Olsen, Ronaldo, Valencia, Young, Evra, Rooney, even Gary fucking Neville, they could all do it in their sleep. I actually think though that Van Persie is the best of the lot. His corners in particular are pure evil, tantamount to shots in the way they arc back in and dip.
I don't necessarily advocate City trying to emulate united's playing style, but even if we prefer not to play with wingers, I don't see why we should eschew the tactic altogether. City's crossing has actually improved this season, but it's still a sick joke compared to many of our competitors. Kolarov is probably our only natural exponent of the art, although Milner has shown signs of having the technique required, but Silva, Zab and Nasri specialise only in floaty shite, and don't even get me started on Clichy. One of our most consistently excellent players and yet conversely one of our most consistently awful crossers
