The more I see of our inept distribution, repeatedly giving the ball away in our own half makes me realise just how much we're missing Ale Faurlin as a team. He was the cog that really gave us a release and his all-round game was just getting back to his best when he got crocked again. He was one of those players who was very quietly effective, a good tackler who read the game far better than the players around him and he never needed the 'Hollywood' ball. It's no co-incidence that, as a team, we lost our way after his injury last season and he would have been such an asset this season...
Totally agree. Ale is one the most naturally gifted players we've had at this club, as I've said many times on this board. A bigger loss than we would have imagined, that's for sure.
When I tried to make a similar point on this thread (below) Loveitupthedirtbox had a slightly different perspective. http://www.not606.com/threads/january-window.287486/page-7
That's why I said he's 'quietly effective', some people just don't see how important some players' understated contributions to the team are...
Agree with this thread. Add the fact rthat all the players trust him in pocession. That includes the so called stars. I remember reading Barton saying that when he joined he hadn't realised that we had such a great player at the club. Warnock still regards him as the best player he has managed. Perhaps, it isn't easy (or it's 'ard) to replace a player as good as Ale Faurlin, prior to MK Dons.
A very quietly effective player, Rangers through and through and respected by the fans, players and coaches alike I think we only have a few players like that at the club now...Greeno, Henry and dare I say it Joey is beginning to move into that group....but neither of the outfield players (Barton/Henry) are as gifted on and off the ball as Ale.... a huge loss. I really hope he makes a comeback...and spends his last few years marshalling our midfield
I don't understand this. We have seen Ale for many a season. If you mean we havn't seen him much in the Premier, I will refer you to our first season back. Pre injury he was our POTY by the country mile & was rated the top midfielder in the country by OPTA. Obviously, if you were just referring to this season, it applies & like you, I don't think we will see him back. However, we certainly havn't replaced him.
Our defence is not helped by a midfield that gives away the ball regularly. All the talk from Harry about a striker etc is pointless if we cant win/get/keep the ball from midfield and move it away from our defence. That's where Ale was good, he battled for the ball and fed it forwards. I have seen some battling on occasions from the middle only to 'pass' it away to the opposition. Ale is a big miss and we need to be much more assertive and accurate in midfield - all the qualities Ale gave us... but we need more!!
There's been no news to date but it's roughly a nine-month recovery, so he won't feature this season...
Totally agree with the OP, we miss Ale more than we had ever thought. Fans favourite and easy to manage and loved by his colleagues. The only person who's come some way towards replacing him has been Henry's demonstration of defensive qualities. Ale had both the defensive prowess and the ability to release the ball forwards and on occasion pick out a perfect pass. He would have been able to complement Kranjcar in the middle and provide much needed options to link with Charlie and Vargas. The real question: Can we find a replacement as good as Ale in the January transfer window?
