I posted the other week that I used to get tickets for the players’ families’ seats with my mate who was Koren’s next door neighbour. I returned the favour by taking my mate to the East Stand one week where he was shocked by the level of vitriol directed at Rob. You don’t remember people screaming at him to ‘get a foot in’, ‘track your man back’ etc? Certainly there a lot of people thought he was a luxury that we couldn’t afford. The icing on the cake was that Rob got substituted halfway through the second half, and the most vociferous guy a couple of rows in front of us was still shouting that Koren should get a foot in up to the final whistle - God knows how!
This is spot on. People either have short memories or are actively ignoring that Koren was a gifted player technically who could win a game with a perfect pass or one of his screamers but he could equally be anonymous for most of the game and would get stick for it in games. I would argue that Tufan actually does work harder off the ball than Koren did.
I sort of agree with this, he seems to have more effect on the game off the bench at present. Though not starting and getting a good run for games can affect players not getting to their best levels, I just hope him getting a start now, he will begin to find his true potential.
He was decent against QPR, better than anyone else we have available in that position. Should we weaken the starting 11 so we have a better option off the bench?
He is certainly not a weak link when he starts, but I always get the feeling he could do more and be more influential. I hope that will come with the more starts he gets and his confidence and match fitness grows.
Think this is more a damning statement of our midfield recruitment really. Be interesting to see if Pelkas is deployed in the Tufan role or how Traore is integrated in
This Tufan debate is getting a bit weird. We're still talking about him when the team has played well and he hasn't. He was our poorest player yesterday, and was one of the two poorest last week. We've played well in both games but he's been the obvious weak link. He's having to play out of position, but realistically he's not getting into the team in the centre so these are the only opportunities he's going to get for the time being. Yesterday his touch and passing were poor, which is what people keep saying he excels at; best technical player at the club apparently. He really isn't showing it lately though. If we ever finally do get most of the injured players back fit he's going to be nowhere near the pitch. This comparison to Slater is so strange. Yesterday he was making mistakes on the ball that Slater wasn't, and that's supposed to be his strength. We all know he won't have the energy of Slater but he's supposed to offer more quality and he really didn't yesterday.
Slater’s first touch is dogshit. It happened several times yesterday where he received the ball on the left, knocked it several yards in front of him facing our goal then passed it back. Tufan at least attempts to turn and get the ball forward which is why him losing the ball is more obvious because he doesn’t always attempt the easy pass.
Tbh I like Tufan, he has that x factor, sadly he doesn't produce it often enough. The guy obvs has quality but not certain his fitness allows him to display it often enough to warrant a regular starting position. I fear his days are numbered when the likes of Tetteh Toure and Pelkas return to fitness, and thats without Ebiowe coming in.
Theres going to be some serious head scratching for LR in the weeks ahead... Malcolm plays predominately right side ... how does that affect Christies high position... Tetteh will be back is it next week, Pelkas soon after, how does that affect where Slater has been asked to play and who makes way for him as he's a LR favourite.. Then shortly Traore will be available.. Does Greaves come back in in front of Elder...?
I don’t see why Rosenior should shoehorn him in when the likes of Pelkas, Tetteh, Allahyar and the new kid from Palace are fit and available. He’s a decent squad player but that’s about it. Not quick enough or good at dribbling to be a winger, not creative enough to be a #10 in a Championship team and not physical enough to be a defensive midfielder. He’s a ‘jack of all trades, master of none’ midfielder.
Great post. At that time, we had players that some of our support just didn't understand. Koren, Ashbee Dawson etc. That's normal though. You'll always get that. Someone earlier was saying something very similar. "It's all about opinions" and they were right.
Not saying fix it if it ain’t broke but it is good to have options unlike some years where we could not change things even if we wanted to.
