SOLKSJAER HITS OUT AT SHEARER

Walesonline

Sat May 3rd

Wilfried Zaha row: Ole Gunnar Solskjaer hits back at Alan Shearer after Match of the Day slamming of Cardiff City winger

Cardiff City manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer has hit back at Alan Shearer over comments the TV pundit made about young winger Wilfried Zaha .

On Match of the Day 2, Shearer criticised the 21-year-old for his effort and commitment during the Bluebirds 4-0 defeat at Sunderland.

Zaha, who is on loan at Cardiff from Manchester United, came on at half-time after Cardiff had been reduced to 10 men following the dismissal of defender Juan Cala and Solskjaer branded Shearer’s comments ‘unfair’ and ‘hurtful.’

Zaha, who started his career Crystal Palace, became Sir Alex Ferguson’s last ever signing at United when he moved to Old Trafford for £15m. The hugely-talented wideman has struggled to make an impact and Solskjaer, whose side today take on the club where Shearer is regarded as a legend Newcastle United, said the former striker’s comment were unnecessary and insisted Zaha had worked hard at the Stadium of Light.

“Wilf is a young player and it is the first time he is in the Premier League. Being singled out like that hurts because I don’t think it’s fair,” said Solskjaer.

“If you look at the expectations of the boy who has been in the Championship and had fantastic success for Palace last year. He’s gone to Manchester United and he didn’t get enough game time and he faces a different challenge here.

“He comes on at Sunderland when we have 10 men and if you look at the statistics, he ran more than anyone else in that half. So I don’t think it is fair to single out the boy when he has run miles more than average.

“Had anyone have wanted, they could have highlighted two or three things that Wilf did great at Sunderland and they would have said look at the impact he has had. Anyone can do that in a game of football. But anyone can pick out two or three moments and say look at this.

“I didn’t think it was fair and he has a point to prove. I have spoken to him about it. Of course he’s hurt, as are his family and friends.”

Zaha arrived in Cardiff on loan back in January, but has struggled to make an impact starting just four Premier League games for the Bluebirds and failing to score a goal.

But Solskjaer insists the winger, who has two England caps, has a big future in the game and is prepared to work his socks off to improve.

“The good thing is, and Wilf probably doesn’t know, is that my apartment overlooks the training ground and on a Thursday, 5 or 6 o’clock he is there training, finishing. He is just a boy who wants to play football and prove himself,” added Solskjaer.

“Maybe he is an easy target with the big expectations because of the price tag, but he has talent and he will become a good player.

“He will have a very good career wherever he plays and hopefully for him, that’s Manchester United or Cardiff.”

shearer said it how he saw it,and i think he was right....but just my opinion..

Shearer is spot on, great that wilf ran a lot but aside from that he did bugger all. He's been a diabolical signing aside from his performance against Norwich and Southampton.

We'd expect Ole to come out and defend his player, that's what you do if you want to keep his head up. However Shearer is correct.

Sort of 50/50 on this even though I dont rate Zaha as highly as some other wingers at PL and Championship level. I do think he has potential to become a better player at PL level but I do think first he needs a bit of a wake up call and the media to just have a day off. He's become easy target number one for the media with the expectation and in that regards I do feel for him. He didn't even perform as well as Tom Ince in that season yet got all the expectation purely due to playing for Palace and not a more northern club. Its a well known fact that some within the media love to focus predominantly on the London clubs.

Having said that, the best thing that can happen to him is for him to leave Manchester United. He shouldn't have joined them in the beginning and he should have slowly progressed and made the clever move. He was never a raw talent like Ronaldo who a great manager could shape into something truly special. He's just not that good but he is still a good player if he applies himself in the right way.

Would I rather Tom Ince? Yes I would but thats because Im focusing on the now and not in a few years time. If we had Zaha tied down to a 5 year contract and he stuck around even if we went down I think under Ole a year of Championship football would be all he needed to refind that form and to then progress when coming back up if we get promoted of he does move on. He's lower Premier League level to mid table at best. He's not the player the media hyped him up to be. If they want the next big English player in the UK then they're looking in the wrong direction as he plays for Southampton and his name is Lallana. Now thats a player with pure talent.

if the stats say he ran the most.........Shearer was wrong,simple........
he is one of the few players that we have that actually scare defenders.......
but its blaming and hunting season so eh oh.

Shearer is spot on he's probably basing his opinion on other games as well where he's been dire. Never wanted him to wear a city shirt again after the Palace game and haven't changed my opinion since. No interest and no desire for our cause.

Sort of 50/50 on this even though I dont rate Zaha as highly as some other wingers at PL and Championship level. I do think he has potential to become a better player at PL level but I do think first he needs a bit of a wake up call and the media to just have a day off. He's become easy target number one for the media with the expectation and in that regards I do feel for him. He didn't even perform as well as Tom Ince in that season yet got all the expectation purely due to playing for Palace and not a more northern club. Its a well known fact that some within the media love to focus predominantly on the London clubs.

Having said that, the best thing that can happen to him is for him to leave Manchester United. He shouldn't have joined them in the beginning and he should have slowly progressed and made the clever move. He was never a raw talent like Ronaldo who a great manager could shape into something truly special. He's just not that good but he is still a good player if he applies himself in the right way.

Would I rather Tom Ince? Yes I would but thats because Im focusing on the now and not in a few years time. If we had Zaha tied down to a 5 year contract and he stuck around even if we went down I think under Ole a year of Championship football would be all he needed to refind that form and to then progress when coming back up if we get promoted of he does move on. He's lower Premier League level to mid table at best. He's not the player the media hyped him up to be. If they want the next big English player in the UK then they're looking in the wrong direction as he plays for Southampton and his name is Lallana. Now thats a player with pure talent.

Lallana is 26 next week. Not sure if you can class him as next big talent

if the stats say he ran the most.........Shearer was wrong,simple........
he is one of the few players that we have that actually scare defenders.......
but its blaming and hunting season so eh oh.

Yeah he might have run more but that was probably in the warm up. You can run the most up blind alleys as well this stat like a lot proves nothing except headless chicken perhaps

Well! here is a scenerio for you, he will score today to win us the game, and ram Shearers comments right up his Geordie arse

if the stats say he ran the most.........Shearer was wrong,simple........
he is one of the few players that we have that actually scare defenders.......
but its blaming and hunting season so eh oh.

you can run as much as you like......its what you bring to the game and regardless of hunting season .....zaha has failed to reflect a £15 million pound price tag...

Lallana is 26 next week. Not sure if you can class him as next big talent

Please quote me where I said that. I said he's the next big English player. He is. He has been in immense form for well over a season now and is only just getting the appraise he deserves. I think if England are to do well in Brazil it'll be players like him and Henderson who will need to be on the top of their game.

Age really doesn't have much to do with it regardless. All players peak at completely different times in their footballing career.

Shearer was bang on the button sorry. So is Ole saying Zaha ran and moved more than Campbell ? Statistics are bull shit that can be manipulated however you want. Wasnt Campbell taken off late In the second ?
Zaha and Jones are a waste of space but that is my opinion.

Shearer was bang on the button sorry. So is Ole saying Zaha ran and moved more than Campbell ? Statistics are bull shit that can be manipulated however you want. Wasnt Campbell taken off late In the second ?
Zaha and Jones are a waste of space but that is my opinion.

How can statistics be manipulated? I felt the same way watching the game, and it don't know why it is so popular to have a go at Zaharias. While Mutch jog on like nothing ever happen. Fair play to the manager for protecting his own players

All statistics can be manipulated. Example Police decide certain crimes will not be reported or now logged. Latest statistics crime has fallen 12%. They have done this and using it now .
Another a player shoots but misses the goal by a millimetre. Another shoots and hits tbe corner flag. Both say both off target.
Zaha and Jones IMO cant be defended both lazy and both dog shite.

All statistics can be manipulated. Example Police decide certain crimes will not be reported or now logged. Latest statistics crime has fallen 12%. They have done this and using it now .
Another a player shoots but misses the goal by a millimetre. Another shoots and hits tbe corner flag. Both say both off target.
Zaha and Jones IMO cant be defended both lazy and both dog shite.

That's putting the stat a bit outside running stats. How can they be manipulated? Either he run a mile or he didn't .

That's putting the stat a bit outside running stats. How can they be manipulated? Either he run a mile or he didn't .

All stats can be manipulated or interpreted in their own way. It's why when you do research or testing you do it numerous times to validate your data. That doesn't happen with football matches. The best way would be for all those compiling stats to cross reference and then come to an average on stats based on the data taken and then claim its a rough figure.

A site doing such would probably be very popular although Im not sure on the legalities of it because im guessing the BBC and Sky have rights protecting their data when it comes to stats meaning it cant even be used for such a site unless you pay a fee. It'd be interesting to know though what the case was.

Most City fans share the same opinion as Shearer, Palace was a big indicator of his attitude.

However as manager Solksjaer has a duty of care to his players and is right to defend them in public. What is said after a game and on the training ground, behind closed doors is another matter. I would hope our manager learnt from the master and deals with under performers in the same way Fergie did with fiery passion.

That's putting the stat a bit outside running stats. How can they be manipulated? Either he run a mile or he didn't .

All stats can be manipulated or interpreted in their own way. It's why when you do research or testing you do it numerous times to validate your data. That doesn't happen with football matches. The best way would be for all those compiling stats to cross reference and then come to an average on stats based on the data taken and then claim its a rough figure.

A site doing such would probably be very popular although Im not sure on the legalities of it because im guessing the BBC and Sky have rights protecting their data when it comes to stats meaning it cant even be used for such a site unless you pay a fee. It'd be interesting to know though what the case was.

Sure stats CAN be manipulated. Everything CAN be manipulated. But comparing running stats to shooting stats is wrong. Usually I think the clubs get their stats through Uefa and and run their analyses with that. But several companies run stats. Hardly going to be successful if they put up false data.. I thought Zaharias chased the ball a lot last weekend, and it was just confirmed. But I'm not biased hating him or our own players.

I prefer my own intuition and what I see with my own eyes....I generally don't trust stats and there is too much reliance on them.
What Shearer pinpointed and said might do Zaha more good in the long run than anything else. It hurts being criticised but it's up to Zaha to learn from it.

Sort of 50/50 on this even though I dont rate Zaha as highly as some other wingers at PL and Championship level. I do think he has potential to become a better player at PL level but I do think first he needs a bit of a wake up call and the media to just have a day off. He's become easy target number one for the media with the expectation and in that regards I do feel for him. He didn't even perform as well as Tom Ince in that season yet got all the expectation purely due to playing for Palace and not a more northern club. Its a well known fact that some within the media love to focus predominantly on the London clubs.

Having said that, the best thing that can happen to him is for him to leave Manchester United. He shouldn't have joined them in the beginning and he should have slowly progressed and made the clever move. He was never a raw talent like Ronaldo who a great manager could shape into something truly special. He's just not that good but he is still a good player if he applies himself in the right way.

Would I rather Tom Ince? Yes I would but thats because Im focusing on the now and not in a few years time. If we had Zaha tied down to a 5 year contract and he stuck around even if we went down I think under Ole a year of Championship football would be all he needed to refind that form and to then progress when coming back up if we get promoted of he does move on. He's lower Premier League level to mid table at best. He's not the player the media hyped him up to be. If they want the next big English player in the UK then they're looking in the wrong direction as he plays for Southampton and his name is Lallana. Now thats a player with pure talent.

For the most part i agree with you, zaha was hyped to be a bigger talent than he is, its not done him any good. But i have to disagree with OGS to some extent, part of Zaha problem is his work rate.
Even OGS alluded to this when he said Zaha has to decide how good he wants to be. His example was former team mate Ronaldo who is commonly known to be one of the most hard working players, His desire to improve himself and be the best he possibly could be is what made him who he is today. Ronaldo was never as naturally talented as Messi but by sheer drive and determination he challenges him for the title of best player in the world year in and out.
Zaha lacks that drive, you see that drive in the best players, Bale has it too.

Running ? So when does walking go to jogging to running ? TBH very rarely did I see Zaha run anywhere. More like plodding around with his shoulders slumped looking totally dis interested. He is a disgrace with Jones to CCFC. There attitude stinks and that is a fair assesment of my own stats of which I have seen since they have been here.

Running ? So when does walking go to jogging to running ? TBH very rarely did I see Zaha run anywhere. More like plodding around with his shoulders slumped looking totally dis interested. He is a disgrace with Jones to CCFC. There attitude stinks and that is a fair assesment of my own stats of which I have seen since they have been here.

Yet Cambell get credit for running around doing nothing BUT running. At least Jones win a few duels. Strange world this is!
Guess we all pick our heroes and villains.

All statistics can be manipulated. Example Police decide certain crimes will not be reported or now logged. Latest statistics crime has fallen 12%. They have done this and using it now .
Another a player shoots but misses the goal by a millimetre. Another shoots and hits tbe corner flag. Both say both off target.
Zaha and Jones IMO cant be defended both lazy and both dog shite.

so you think certain runs will not be counted...........ffs..like the police

if the stats say he ran the most.........Shearer was wrong,simple........
he is one of the few players that we have that actually scare defenders.......
but its blaming and hunting season so eh oh.

you can run as much as you like......its what you bring to the game and regardless of hunting season .....zaha has failed to reflect a £15 million pound price tag...

we havent paid 15 million..........and he is the only player we have that scares opponents.......as for you can run as much as you like......one min he is lazey...when proved different it changes to effectivness.......

shearer said it how he saw it,and i think he was right....but just my opinion..

Is that the same Shearer that turned the Cardiff City job down because he didn't have the 'balls' to try it just in case he failed (LIKE HE DID AT NEWCASTLE) and look stupid in front of his fellow pontificating pundits??

Hmmm, let me think...IT WAS!!

Zaha may not have set the world alight at Cardiff City FC, but he didn't do that at United either, did he??

As OGS states, he is young, he is learning, and he is undoubtedly still 'adjusting' to life in the Premier League

Tell me who wouldn't have had a set back after what has happened to him in the last 12 months??

Personally, I hope he proves everyone of us wrong, as he is a rare talent

Krabb we will all agree he needs to learn but a big but there is no excuse for not wanting to try as he has done a few times.