I need to get something on my chest!!!! Can people stop having go at Ruiz. I have just been looking on another well known Fulham Forum and they can't give him a break! Has he been as a good as we hoped no! Is he our most creative player yes! Last year did he head our assists league yes! Should we take our most creative player out the team when we are struggling to create generally no! Come to think of it he was probably our second highest scorer as well! This all started for me last season when we lost at home to Man U 2-0 some of you might remember the game. I had to work and came home about midnight, knowing the score I read the forums before watching the highlights and Ruiz was torn apart comments like he's useless not one pass went to a teammate was invisible for 90 minutes etc etc. now I know I wasn't at the game and only watched the extended highlights but i decided to keep an eye on Ruiz, when they started the first few highlights were united attacking then our first highlight was Ruiz a great 30 yard cross field ball for Riise to smash a shot against the bar, our next highlight was De Gea tipping a Ruiz shot onto the post. Then in the second half a great move started by Ruiz ended in a corner which was met by Ruiz but cleared off the line. Then in injury time utd corner and Ruiz is clearing off his own line. At least 50% of the Fulham attacking highlights involved Ruiz. For me he has to play and its down to Jol to find his best position, I think he needs a pacey striker ahead of him, someone he can play through, someone who prevents the defence pushing up and closing the space. Now I feel better
I think when we get more skilfull and creative players in midfield it will take some of the pressure off Ruiz, who at the moment can be easily isolated by the opposition.
I will always question his price tag. If Adel is on song I can see Ruiz dropping to the bench. Adel must surely play. Yes he's creative but so horribly slow in possession. he has bulked up a little but still appears lightweight to me. I'm still not convinced personally and has been a big dissapointment.
Ruiz was written off before he'd kicked a ball, and he'll always be a scapegoat. He's the kind of player who looks bad when we lose, and is never given credit when he plays well. The big price tag has been his downfall (which isn't his fault, despite what others may tell you). No, he hasn't produced consistantly, but the only player of ours who has is arguably Reither. If we can get our squad sorted then we'll see the best from of Ruiz. Unfortunately he'll always be maligned, unless he scores 70 goals a season, pays for your season ticket, cooks your dinner and does the washing up.
How are Ruiz and Taraabt going to fit in, well one is totally left footed and the other is right footed, they might compliment each other. Could it mean they will both operate behind Berbatov, with Sidwell and Boateng Defensive midfield, leaving the fullbacks to be used as wingers if needed. For this to happen we still need a creative central midfielder and not another striker.
Ruiz is one of those players - Sidwell is another one - who just divide the fans. I've left matches where I've thought one or other of them has played well and heard other fans moaning about them. Perhaps it comes down to whether we focus on the times a player gets caught in possession, has a pass intercepted, etc, or if we're more interested in the through ball that finds its target, the vision that let them see a pass even if it didn't quite work out, etc. When we played Reading at the Cottage, a young fan near me was howling, 'Just do something' to Ruiz as if he had been anonymous all game, forgetting that Ruiz had already made and scored our first goal and been involved in all our best moves. The price tag is irrelevant. Once a player is here, it's simply a question of whether or not he's good enough. I'm with Cookie - I like Ruiz and I think he adds more to the team than he takes away. It will be interesting to see how Taarabt's arrival affects his role in the team. Incidentally, some people have argued that if Taarabt is on loan, that means he 'has to play'. I don't see it that way (although I'd like to see him in the team), and the loans of Frimpong, Enoh, Manolev and any number of others suggests that Jol doesn't see it that way either.
I think, technically, Ruiz is one of the best in our squad but unfortunately he is completely unsuited to the English league. He is weak when challenged, slow with the ball, doesn't recover from a bad start (we're aswell to sub him after 15 mins if he isn't firing) and only makes a token effort to try win the ball back. Stick him in the Spanish league and he would be a star. My main issue is that we can't afford to carry 2 luxury players, let alone 3. I think he has a chance to make a real name overseas- his goals to games ratio is quite telling; 2006–2009 Gent 78 (26) 1 goal : 3 games 2009–2011 Twente 65 (35) 1 : 1.9 2011– Fulham 56 (7) 1 : 8 That's a big drop off - perhaps I'm wrong but I don't think we are playing him in a different position to before - he wasn't no 9 at Twente. Maybe it would be different if we revolved our style completely around him but to be honest Berbatov is the better player so I would prefer his nuances to be accommodated. It's a shame really- I just don't think it is going to work out. Hope that I am wrong and he has a stonking season, gets 10 goals and creates 10 but I suspect Taraabt will force him out the team and he'll end up moving on in January for an undisclosed fee. I get the sense the other players have some block when he is on the ball- not only is he quite slow with it but no-one seems to move that much for him- whether its because they don't think he will pass it I don't know but I did notice it several times last season.
I have to be honest and say I've never been a fan but as the Captain says he is one of those who divides opinion. I come down on the not so keen side and I tend to look negatively on him more than I do positively. I think this was originally to do with the price tag, which as Bidley correctly says was nothing to do with him, but when someone signs who has cost £10 million you sort of expect a stroke of genius every match which, certainly for the first season we never got and only really fitfully since. His goal scoring record is also way too low, even if he'd cost £5 million he should have scored more. Having said this, those he does score are beauties. This isn't to say I come on here and berate him if he misplaces a pass, I don't, but I just can't take to him.
Just to clear the Ruiz transfer fee up Officially he cost £7,040,000. normally Transfer Markt are fairly accurate in their costs. Here are figures they put out on Fulham transfer over a decade. http://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/en/fulham/transfers-alle/verein_931.html
Spot on. We cannot carry 3 players who offer so little in the defense, if they do we're looking at an injury. However Jol ldoesn't mind winning 4-3. I just think Taraabt is a better player and more suited to the league. Jol's got him in as the Dembele replacement - Ruiz never was. 2 seasons in and we still don't know where he's best suited on the pitch. Wing, CM, in the hole...not for me. I hope i'm proved wrong.
Ruiz was played as a striker or left winger at Twente. Or he played as CF as a no. 10. But not as an AM or LM. He was moreover used to be the link between midfield and the forwards. Using his passing technique and speed to either score or put team mates in a scoring position.
The for or against Ruiz camp. this would not come up on a forum if his form was unspectacular but costantly soild,, i get the feeling that if his mind says its not his day then he seems to think so be it. I hope he turns in more solid performances, and his work rate steps up,he can do it and i think he will. But this season has to be his last to prove himself.
Bryan Ruiz, the "nearly man". My hope is that with a stronger, more competitive squad Jol will select his best 'team' and not what he construes to be his best 'eleven players'. Part of Bryan's inconsistency is that he has been selected regardless and often played out of position. Even within games it's not always clear (and I mean to him as well as us) what his role/position is. If this season he plays regularly in one place, and has to fight to retain it, we may see the real Bryan.
You have a point there C58... I am hoping the same. Jol was never really clear how the duo of Berba and Ruiz was supposed to be setup. (His comments, not mine.)
