Glen Little - Appreciation for the Big Man...

[Reading_Royal]

Glen Little is the slowest winger - FACT... but, he makes up for it in skill and beating the wing back.

I have said so many times for him to pass it instead of taking on the defender, but when he beats him twice and another defender, you know why he still plays and now at such a high level.

[WTRoyal]

He is truly a superb player, very skilled and a joy to watch. As others have said, seemingly not a lot of pace (though I'm sure he has a good turn of speed when he's not battling injury, I've seen him move very quickly at times, just can't sustain it) but doesn't seem to need it!

To be totally honest I feel he's had games this past season (and others) for RFC where he hasn't shone or, in fact, looked anything much above average - however it seems to me that these games were less due to him facing anyone with better pace/more talent than him and more due to a combination of a) him struggling through injury, as he is brave and committed enough to try and play on and b) him having been highlighted by the manager of the opposing teams as "one to keep quiet" in certain games.

Please get fit again soon Glen, if only we could turn the clock back 10 years for you we'd regularly be losing you to the international squad for sure!

Having said all this in praise of Glen, I do have one gripe - which is that, again, when fit, he keeps SKH out of the team - another skilled player (despite what others may say). Perhaps as GL's "game capacity" lessens in terms of the length of playing time for which he can perform at 100% before conking out (no that's not a sneaky reference to his hooter) there'd be some mileage in having the two of them almost as a "given" job share down the right wing, taking turns to occupy the starting berth and then come on as supersub? Or is this an absolutely ridiculous idea?

[AbovetheI]

Although Glen Little is a wonderful winger, there have been two better wingers for RFC, named Paul Brooker and Tony Rougier.

[Captain Sinbad]

OK - disprove me... I am open to opinions.

I am struggling to find a comparator.... hit me with some world-class alternatives, that have so many assists.........

Try Stevie Coppell.

[Mr Brightside]

Although Glen Little is a wonderful winger, there have been two better wingers for RFC, named Paul Brooker and Tony Rougier.

[readingfc13]

Everyone talks about his goal at Plymouth yet my two favourite memories of him are his build up to Kitson's goals at Wolves last season as well as him taking on and beating 4 Norwich players despite falling over!

[brendywendy]

little is the white pele
the man is a god

[Coppelled Streets]

Outstanding crosser of the ball, good work rate and fantastic personality. All in all still very much a key Reading player that I share a lot of admiration for.

[Royal Rother]

Most of the best football we played last season involved Little.

Seol is good on his day but Little seems to know what he is doing all the time, whereas Seol seems to make it all up, rather uncertainly, as he goes along.

[Ian Royal]

Most of the best football we played last season involved Little.

Seol is good on his day but Little seems to know what he is doing all the time, whereas Seol seems to make it all up, rather uncertainly, as he goes along.

Little has the extraordinary ability to wrong foot his marker, or markers almost effortlessly. He can go outside and whip a cross in without much space needed, cut back and lay the ball off, or cut inside and take on another couple of defenders with equal ease.

His versatility makes him almost unplayable at times because you simply don't know where he's going and he has perfect control and balance. Most players have a favoured trick or prefer to go one way or another, Glen seems to be able to do whatever is moer likely to screw up the marker. Thats why he's so good and doesn't need pace.

I don't think he's actually that slow once he gets going, but a bit like old Quinny it just takes him ages to get up to speed.

[ReadingFlan]

Not much more to add that hasn't been said. Little is my favourite player at the club and is that one player that when the gets the ball there is a buzz in the crowd. Everyone talks about pace and strength these days and it seems that lots of professional players are athletes first and footballers second. Little proves that if you have skill and a great footballing brain then nothing else matters. I don't see many premiership wingers actually beating players like Little can. Will never forget his goal away at Plymouth - He will always be a Reading Legend as far as I am concerned.

[playoffs or layoffs]

The two players I've enjoyed watching this season are Little and Ronaldo.

Sounds bizarre as on paper there's no comparison, but Little offers that extra bit of unpredictability and possibility that make me look forward to the game that bit more when he's in the starting eleven.

[weybridgewanderer]

this man is the best crosser of the ball (and "setter-up of crossing positions") that I have seen - in the world - in my short 26 years.

I am struggling to find a comparator.... hit me with some world-class alternatives, that have so many assists.........

Davie Cooper

http://www.daviecooper.com/

[roland*]

I love Glen Little. FACT.

[Katie Marsden]

OK - disprove me... I am open to opinions.

Glen Little is injury prone, slow, and sometimes cannot last a full game. In the Premiership, division below, and "any other football that Reading FC have not played in but I've seen on the telly", this man is the best crosser of the ball (and "setter-up of crossing positions") that I have seen - in the world - in my short 26 years.

I am struggling to find a comparator.... hit me with some world-class alternatives, that have so many assists.........

Wingers assist stats this season.

14 Cristiano Ronaldo
11 Morten Gamst Pederson
9 Ryan Giggs
8 Aaaron Lennon
7 Stuart Downing / James Milner
6 Glen Little / Jermaine Pennant / Arjen Robben

Little has done well considering he's missed loads of football this season.

To take that into account heres it broken down into minutes played per assist.

208 mins Cristiano Ronaldo
233 mins Arjen Robben
261 mins Aaron Lennon
270 mins Ryan Giggs
279 mins Glen Little
299 mins Morten Gamst Pederson
362 mins Jermaine Pennant
402 mins Stuart Downing
406 mins James Milner
444 mins Kevin Kilbane

Obviously wingers need to provide more than just assists, so heres the wingers goal chart.

17 Cristiano Ronaldo
6 Morten Gamst Pederson
5 Ashley Young / Ji Sung Park
4 Ryan Giggs / Stephen Hunt / Seol Ki-Hyeon
3 Aaron Lennon
2 Stuart Downing / Arjen Robben
1 Jermaine Pennant
0 Glen Little

Stats from Actim, the official stats of the Premiership.

Obviously stats aren't the be all and end all, wingers can rip teams to shreds without getting goals or assists but most people only seem to accept stats as evidence of a wingers end product

[Ian Royal]

I often think assists are misleading for wingers, as they often put in the killer cross, but it's not the first touch that finishes it. Theres often a flick on or another pass first, or the ball is cleared for a long range shot to come in. Either way the winger has played an essential role in the goal.

[papereyes]

One of the broadsheets had a list of "killer passes" - no idea what it meant but that would just be subjective. IR has a point, but it starts getting subjective.

That said, surely the output of a winger is so much more than just goals and assists. Even a simple total of crosses made would give a good idea of how the player has been playing.

Simple statistics = poor analysis.

[Katie Marsden]

The same could be said about strikers and goals, they need to offer more than just goals but ultimately goals are what they're judged on.

You can't just dismiss statistics, but it would be short-sighted to simply rely on them solely.

Little has shown that he's up there with the best in the league in terms of creating goals and also causing other teams problems. The only difference between him and the other top wingers is his poor strike rate.

[Ian Royal]

One of the broadsheets had a list of "killer passes" - no idea what it meant but that would just be subjective. IR has a point, but it starts getting subjective.

That said, surely the output of a winger is so much more than just goals and assists. Even a simple total of crosses made would give a good idea of how the player has been playing.

Simple statistics = poor analysis.

basing an opinion of how good someone is on statistics = uninformed opinion.

Statistics should only be used as supporting evidence as in themselves they are so random, subjective and narrow.

[papereyes]

Surely statistics are completely objective.

Their interpretation is subjective.