I don't think for a second that Joselu was Rafa's choice. He was probably at the bottom of Rafa's list.
Rafa was well liked so gets a completely biased analysis from many of ours. A prime example was when Almiron signed. We opened a bit in some games and you got the old "see what happens when you let him spend 20m on a player". Strange that when Pardew was working under the exact same system, playing better football than Rafa, he never got cut the same slack. There is this tendency to elevate the job Rafa did from a good job to absolutely unbelievable, thinking only the very best managers could match it. Yet one of his unfashionable predecessors already has done. The reality for me is Rafa was no where near as good as some fans think (and probably Pardew no where near as bad). Don't get me wrong I may not rate Rafa that highly in the pantheon of bosses but I believe he did a fine job and was an excellent fit for Ashley in terms of matching tactics to ambition.
