Hernandez

Now I'm not making excuses for him but thought this was an interesting take on coming to this country and how different it is to other leagues. This is a CB, it'll be even more difficult for a forward.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/fo...s-Crystal-Palace-Hull-City-cause-problem.html

Once upon a time in Manchester, the United left back Patrice Evra made his debut in a derby game across town at City. Hauled off at half-time, the combative little Frenchman reflected colourfully that his first taste of English football had been akin to spending the afternoon ‘in a washing machine’.
Years later and not much has changed and another Frenchman has arrived in town to bear witness to the rough and tumble.
Eliaquim Mangala is 6ft 2in and looks like he could carry a washing machine on his back. Nevertheless the Manchester City central defender admitted this week that he is only just finding his feet in the Barclays Premier League following an introduction to life in England that has led to some pretty miserable days.

‘I have spent a lot of time at home watching and studying games I have played in,’ Mangala told Sportsmail. ‘I do that at home on my own. I try to use that information for the next game.
‘It’s all about improving your game. That is what important.
‘Watching 90 minutes is too much so, if we play on Saturday, I will probably watch the first 45 minutes on Sunday then go and do something else. Life has to go on. Then I may sit down for the second half on a Monday. It’s all about attention to detail and doing everything you can to improve. If you want to improve then you have to work hard, there is no substitute for it. It has helped.’
Mangala arrived in England at the end of the transfer window for £32million, the final piece in the City jigsaw. A September debut at home in a 1-1 draw with Chelsea passed without much trouble.
A new star had seemingly arrived at the Etihad
Next up, though, was a trip to Hull City and suddenly somebody turned on the spin cycle. An own goal, a penalty conceded and a yellow card in one afternoon. The apprenticeship had begun.
‘I spoke with Martin (Demichelis) and Vinny (Kompany),’ he said. ‘They warned me about how it’s different but they can tell you, “Oh yeah, you get pressed all the time, it’s going to be physical, it’s going to be hard, they’re going to play the ball behind you, you’re going to have to turn, you’re going to get players who are good with it into feet and who turn and run”.
‘They can go through every situation, but until you have actually experienced it, until you’ve lived all that, you can’t appreciate it. And you can’t react and improve until you have experienced it.
‘You appreciate people giving you advice and trying to help, but a lot of it is seeing it for yourself and dealing with it and improving at it over time through hard work. There is no substitute.’
Since that day on Humberside, Mangala’s learning curve has been steep. It is just one of the reasons he took the unusual step of requesting this interview himself.
It was time, he felt, to introduce himself to English football followers and assure those of a sky blue persuasion that he is working hard to adapt. ‘I wanted to speak because I haven’t spoken to the public at all,’ he said. ‘I would like the fans to know a bit more about me as a person. They see me on the field but they don’t know me.
‘I have tried to make the adaptation quick but you have to be patient and hope that other people will be patient with you. There has been (media) criticism but I’m cool with that. If you can’t take that you shouldn’t be a footballer.
‘All over Europe you have ex-players on TV who criticise you. It doesn’t worry me. I am my biggest critic. I know I am moving forwards and adapting.’

As it happens, the day his invitation to meet and talk is passed on he goes on to contribute his finest performance in a City shirt as he and Demichelis guide Manuel Pellegrini’s team to a clean sheet at Roma in the Champions League. There was no Kompany that day and there will be no Kompany at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday lunchtime in the League. The City captain’s hamstring troubles have struck again and Mangala and Demichelis will be centre halves for the foreseeable future.
It seems as though better form has arrived just at the right time. Rome may yet transpire to be a pivotal night.
‘I would say that playing against Chelsea back at the start wasn’t particularly a typical English game, it’s the sort of football I’m more used to,’ he reflected.

‘Roma, too, in the Champions League was a different style of football to the Premier League, so that was OK. But I must emphasise I’m still going through a settling-in period so coming up against teams like Hull and Palace this weekend and facing that typical English style, where it’s a long ball, high balls, balls in the air, big physical battles, fighting for every ball, that is the stuff I’m going to take longer to get used to.
‘Maybe that’s harder for me than games against the big teams at the moment. I will improve and I will cope with that, but it’s all about taking it stage by stage.
‘It’s all right having one good game there and then not so good there. What I have got to aim at is consistency and having a good game every game rather than in-and-out performances. I am confident that will happen.’
The day we meet, Mangala is also talking to students from east Manchester’s Connell College. The college lies on 5.5 acres of land donated by City for community use near the new training ground.
Mangala answered questions from the students in City’s new media conference room and shortly afterwards the 23-year-old tackled the more thorny issue of interest last summer from arch-rivals United.

Now this is a 32 million quid CB and he's saying its tough so its pretty rough going for Abel.

 

It's even tougher for us having to pay to watch him play.

 

I have no doubts he has a bit of talent, 10million worth of talent though? Shane long at 12million is worth more to us than abel at 10million!! I just don't see the point in selling long at any price if we go and make a 2million profit and end up with a worse player!!

 

Agreed.

 

-> Shane long at 12million is worth more to us than abel at 10million!! I just don't see the point in selling long at any price if we go and make a 2million profit and end up with a worse player!!

.... and relegation ... thus making the £2mill 'profit' into something like £100 million loss? Awful piece of business. Made no sense at all (other than to Long and his missus).

 

£12m was a huge price at the time for Long. What if Hernandez had settled like Sakho has done to the Premier League

It's all ifs and buts and no one had a crystal ball back in August.

 

Steve Bruce had no choice but to sell Shane Long. The amount of money they offered for him was so much, Bruce would have looked fool if he hadn't sold him and that could have completely undermined his position.

Everything that the OP intimates about Hernandez is correct IMHO. He has already shown what he can do but he is obviously going to need time to settle in.

I don't think that's where the problems are. We need creativity. We need somebody to nip in and out, play one twos, thread passes inside defenders from forward areas.........unfortunately they're like chickens teeth. Bruce did his best, and I don't seem to remember anyone moaning about Ramirez, Ince and Ben Arfa at the beginning of the season so lets not have any "I told you so's". They just haven't worked out.

That's where the focus should be in January.

 

If Abel actually moved it would help!

 

****speak

 

Exactly. They bid and Shane Long definitely wanted to go. We had no chance of keeping him as soon as they bid that much.

 

Then don't speak.

 

Too late; you did, and it sounded like a ****.

 

Please don't give Bruce more money to squander. He is like a child in a sweet shop

 

How would you know? Can you hear yourself speak?