Paul PARKER | 1993-1994

[choccy]

Name: Paul Andrew Parker



Club: Manchester United
Number: 2
Position: *SB, WB
Nationality: English
Age: 29-30 (4/04/1964)
Era: 1993/1994

Foot: R
Side: R

Height: 170 cm
Weight: 68 kg

Attack: 69
Defence: 77
Balance: 80
Stamina: 85
Top Speed: 89
Acceleration: 88
Response: 81
Agility: 83
Dribble Accuracy: 71
Dribble Speed: 83
Short Pass Accuracy: 72
Short Pass Speed: 72
Long Pass Accuracy: 72
Long Pass Speed: 77
Shot Accuracy: 62
Shot Power: 77
Shot Technique: 63
Free Kick Accuracy: 64
Curling: 72
Header: 76
Jump: 80
Technique: 76
Aggression: 85
Mentality/Tenacity: 80
Goalkeeper Skills: 50
Team Work: 83

Injury Tolerance: C
Form/Condition/Fitness: 7
Weak Foot Accuracy: 4
Weak Foot Frequency: 4
Consistency: 5
Growth type: Standard

CARDS:
P01: Overlapping Run
S08: Slide Tackle

SPECIAL ABILITIES:
*Sliding

Attack/Defence Awareness Card: Balanced


INFO:

A speedy and tenacious defender, the diminutive Londoner was a crisp passer of the ball who possessed uncanny positional sense. Parker was solid and rarely flamboyant but was plagued by injuries in the latter half of his United career. Nevertheless, he made 79 Premier League appearances and was integral in the historic 1992/93 title victory (Manutd.com).

Compared to Gary Neville who replaced him the following season, I wouldn't say he was as good a passer as Manutd.com claim. His crossing was a bit hit and miss and his short passing lacked a bit of pace.

His tackling and speed were however of good quality and for his size he held his own rather well in physical duels. But I don't think he was a particular good reader of the game, if he had been I'm sure he'd have managed more than 19 caps for England. When Parker reached his prime there were no clear 1st choice RB for England, he featured in the WC in 1990 in Italy but was in and out of the squad later. Partly due to injuries, but I think his positioning and mentality played it's part. Parker's passing often suffered when he got the jitters, and if I remember correctly that happened more often than desired in high-profile games.

I've rated his ATT this low because he wasn't very effective going forward, he's still got a decent aggression which will make him go forward. Having DEF at 77 might seem high considering I criticise his positioning, but his tackling was quite good and he was also agile which also helped. I've kept the sliding star optional as agility is relatively high for a defender his size.

Dribbling wasn't his game, he could run with the ball unpressurised but would pass it if challenged. Which leads me to his crossing, I've landed on 75 because I think he was rather inconsistent. I might be harsh here, but I'm comparing him to the Neviller and IMO they didn't come close.

As mentioned he suffered from nerves in some games, so I put consistency at 5 and mentality at 80 since he still put the effort even if it wasn't one of his best days. Aggression is two points lower than Neville, he wasn't quite as marauding as him.

Finally, his TW where I was of two minds of which value he should have. 1: He worked well with his partners in defence, 83 reflects that without going overboard. Or 2: Rate it lower because he could sometimes get caught out, compared to how Neville cooperated with whoever played in RM Parker was a class below.

BTW, he played 56 matches in 93/94 but I still think he needs injury tolerance C, his entire career at Utd was marred with injuries.


ADDITIONAL LINKS:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Parke ... tballer%29

http://www.national-football-teams.com/ ... p?id=17280

http://www.worldfootball.net/spieler_pr ... ul-parker/

[electric_trigger]

Injury rating seems a bit harsh, towards the end of his Utd career he had injuries but 93/94 he was as you say a near ever present.

[Alcohomicide]

His passing was atrocious, actually. Seriously, it was no better Traoré or Sissoko's.

[choccy]

Atrocious is maybe harsh, but what values were you thinking of? Any other things you'd like to see changed?

I'm basing this on memory (youtube isn't exactly brimming with Parker vids) so I was quite surprised when Manutd.com said he was a crisp passer. I originally intended to have lower values, so the values I landed on was a compromize.

As for injury C, yes it's not fair if you look at 93/94 isolated, but as I said in all his other seasons at Utd he spent a lot of the time in the compny of the physios.

[Alcohomicide]

Luckily we get lots of classic matches here.

He seemed to have real problems judging the pace of passes. Sometimes he would smash them at his team mates feet, and often you'd see the likes of Andrei and Eric really struggling and having to use every bit of their technique to gather the passes in and keep control of the ball, then the next you'd see him underweight one. It was frustrating, because he tried to be adventerous too. You'd see a nice crisp, flowing move the ball would get to him on the right he would try a lifted pass and stagnate the attack. He was no maybe as atrocious as I said, but definitely not cultured, and only crisp in the sense he wasn't too great at judging the passes, so actually sps could go up, but for spa...maybe 72-73 and that's kind.

His crossing/long pass should not be green, in fact many centre forwards were better crossers. 73 max for lpa, lps is fine I think.

[choccy]

Updated accordingly

To me he was a bit of a spastic, you never knew what he'd do when he had the ball And my opinion of him has even dropped now that he's become a pundit... He's itching to to put the foot in when he comments on Utd, classless prick IMO.

Where do you live mate? I'd like to get my hands on the channels you have

[Alcohomicide]

Aye, I read his articles from time to time, when I need a laugh. The one before the Liverpool game was classic.

You're also right about on the ball, you always felt he had okay ability but his decisions were a bit irrational and all the United fans I know were relieved when he was replaced. He had a good work ethic, though. He tried. Sometimes you're just not born with the brain to be a top player. (All of us, for instance.. ) He will always be able to say he played for the best team in the country though, so well done to him.

I live in England, we get ESPN classic. It's great, one minute you're watching Gento, the next Paul Parker and Steve Bruce ahahaha. I also am lucky because I know people who will have vhs tapes or what. I also watched footie back then, though I was quite young (I'm 23) so I remember the players. But yeah, ESPN classic is a great channel. I'd be angry if we lost it due to the financiall crisis.

[choccy]

It's an easy way to get noticed, throwing shit your old clubs way. He has nothing to be bitter about, just unlucky with injuries and the fact the Neville completely outclassed when he emerged.

ESPN Classics is now a high priority after the holidays