An article in Sports Illustrated suggests that Ruiz has 'broken the mould' at Fulham being neither a hit or a miss. I think this is meant as a compliment ! Perhaps the quote "everything or nothing" elsewhere in the article is more accurate although with so few full games under his belt I'm not sure how the writer draws the conclusions he has - and a cult hero ? I don't think so. Nonetheless an interesting slant from outside the normal media mob. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/writers/ben_lyttleton/03/12/bryan.ruiz/index.html?eref=sircrc
Utter nonsense. The guy is talking about Ruiz as if he has become 'our Messi', when in fact the term 'messy' would be closer to the mark.
""When I arrived, they didn't know who I was or what I could do," he told Costa Rican newspaper Al Dia. "But now they trust me and I'm getting used to the rhythm of English football." He also bulked up to cope with the physical demands and claims to enjoy defending and tackling, "even if it is not my natural game."" That is total BS.
Think he is getting stronger in his game. In the first few games he was off the ball by just looking at him. Now he challenges more and gets into the game... Next year will be even better. (Dembele was the same up to certain degree.) Has to do with the European leagues.
I'm sick to death of people saying this. There is no guarantee that Ruiz will come good next year like Dembele has this year. Dembele's transformation has been down to Jol playing him in a new position that Dembele didn't even know he had the ability to play in. He always had the talent but just needed a position to show it in. Ruiz has been given a number of positions to play in and has looked uncomfortable in almost all of them. If European leagues are the problem then can you explain as to how the likes of Nistlerooy, Van Persie and Suarez all adapted to the PL in no time at all?
Bandy, lay off him. It's his first season in the PL. There's no guarantee he'll be pants next season either, he's put in good performances this season. His problem lies in consistency (or lack of it), which is a textbook, common-or-garden symptom of settling into a new league. Let's get behind him and save serious judgement until next Xmas at least. Until then, shut it
It's seriously like talking to a brick wall on here sometimes. I didn't say that Ruiz won't come good, all I said was you cannot just assume he will, just as I cannot (and did not) assume he wouldn't.
Comments are based on probabilities and based on his performance so far the chances are that he will be better if he gets stronger and used to the league. That's all. And is an assumption...
Who needs WUMS when we can argue between ourselves lol. In my eyes a players needs time to get use to the game. The likes of van nis and suarez are playing in a team where there is world class players everywhere so they get more chances and that. What player has came from the Dutch league an played for someone outside the top 6 clubs and have done fantastic?
Would you still consider Liverpool to be a top six side? And if so, world class? If not then Suarez is my example. It is hard to pick an attacker, because if a striker scores 20+ goals in Holland then of course a CL quality team becomes interested, but there are plenty of players who aren't strikers and have succeeded here. Ooijer, Landzaat, Melchiot all come to mind.
I won't pretend to know how the following 'performance' stats are compiled but, if accepted that they are at least indicative across the squad, Ruiz is doing okay and improving - http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/players/ea-sports-player-performance-index.html?paramSearchTerm=¶mClubId=55¶mSeason=2011-2012¶mPosition=¶mItemsPerPage=100&xparamItemsPerPage=100&pageIndex=1¶mSelectedPageIndex=¶mSearchType=EA_SPORTS One thing they don't reflect is that Jol has tried Ruiz in different positions sporadically and clearly not yet found the correct one. A reason for this could be Ruiz's apparent lack of 'playing/positional' discipline - he was used to a 'roaming' role at Twente. Personally I agree with GeraScores, the jury is still out. An aside about the stats - the 'away performance value' given to some players is quite telling.
It's hard to balance the moments of brilliance like the goal against Everton and the ball to Dempsey against West Brom against the sense in some matches that he's a bit of a liability, but I think that's a fair assessment. Interesting looking at some of those stats. Dempsey has had a massive 128 shots on goal, so there's truth in the old maxim that the more you shoot, the more you score!
