Ale scored the first goal in a 3-1 win over Tenerife for a 3-2 aggregate win in the Play-Off Final...
Pity he didn't put a few in for us. Interested to know his assist rate. IMHO one of the most over rated players we have had. We have had better players who never get mentioned.
Then your opinion is wrong. The bloke was great for us. Hasselbaink chose to keep Henry instead, the genius.
Congratulations to Ale. He was great for us before the knee injuries, but he didn't seem able to get his speed and fitness back up to the levels needed in the Championship.
He has just competed in 30 games in a league every bit as competitive as the Championship. Plus it's standard of football is better. That would say he is fit enough! He did lose some speed, but he was always able to make the same runs in the last minute as he could in the first minute. Our best midfield player since Ray Wilkins. Sadly, our loss was Getafe's gain!
This was why I thought it was so silly when we let him go. He was told that he would be a squad player rather than first team player. Why the hell tell him that? Just tell him he's in your plans and play him as much as you need to throughout the season. Even if dropped for the beginning of last season I am sure he would have ended up as a regular again due to others in the squad not playing well. He would have given us another option last season. He played 30 games last season... think about that.
He wasn't there to score goals. Do you not think his part in the Warnock promotion season warrants some recognition?
I can believe that the Spanish 2nd level has a better technical standard than the Championship, but doubt that it is as fast paced or as physically demanding.
Said it before, it was a huge mistake letting him go. Glad it worked out for him, huge respect for the way he overcame his awful run of injuries.
Success or failure at one club is not directly transferable to another. There are many other factors that come into play. Language, climate, proximity to wider family, different manager, different chairman, different food, different team mates, style of play etc etc etc. Whether he is QPR's loss or not we will never know but I am sure we are all happy for him and hugely impressed with his determination to come back from those horrible injuries.
