Unless we sign a great striker then we simply have to give him a go. He's still young, he's scoring for fun and he clearly loves the club. If that doesn't buy you a chance with Rafa then I genuinely need to question Rafa - Mitro has not been the tempestuous liability he was a year or so ago.
His goal reminded me of the time that Sunderland were relegated to division 3 by Burton and a player wearing a sports bra.
Rafa has a real conundrum here. Too often left wanting when playing for us, do we cash in now or think we can do better? I was never his biggest fan, but big lads tend to improve with age (except joselu). Unlike some units he doesn’t pick up any injuries. Ever. Personally even though he has a lot to prove I’d give him next season and ship both Gayle and Joselu out. Not sure if we stick with Slimani or go for someone else.
Think we need better than Slim personally. However I like those four more than Slim, Perez, Joss and Gayle.
It’s hard to know. He has never had a chance under Rafa. Or generally at the club. 50% of his appearances were sub appearances. So when people say he never did it for us or he was often found wanting, it’s bizarre. All in all though I’d sell him. Too much water under the bridge now. Even when Rafa was floundering and needed a striker he didn’t turn to Mitro. He barely put him on the bench. I can’t see some miraculous turnaround and I can only think it’s tactical as Rafa suggests he trains well. Therefore I’d cash in at peak time. Yes he may go on to score shed loads and be worth double but he isn’t going to do that under Rafa. We could use the money.
More PL goals for us than Joselu, Gayle and Slimani combined. Scored 14 in 14 for Fulham. He is one of the main reasons why Fulham are now challenging for automatic promotion. Found his level? Bollocks. His level is PL/ International/ Champions League. We will sell him and he will become a top striker.
There's not many people saying he's found his level. If they are then they are just saying it tongue in cheek. Mitrovic is decent if the team is built around him but he has areas of his game which are lacking. I have to say that he is taking his chances far better than he did when he was regularly in the team for us although he is generally just expected to get in the box and receive the ball at Fulham. He was asked to do more here and he missed so many sitters for us and had poor discipline at times. Maybe he struggled to adjust to the big stage like others have and now he feels like the pressure is off (plus the defences are far poorer).
Love the lad, see so much potential there. I'd start him next season as number 1 striker and see how he does - can't be worse than the CF's we've had this year. Best we can hope for is he is given a chance as 2nd/3rd choice next season and takes his chance. Not likely to score 15-20 goals but will score 10+ easily and probably lay on another 5-10 in assists.
