Howay put the claws away. Mitrovic was absolutely dreadful when he first joined the club, couldn't hit a barn door from his first few pre-season games, and although there was a level of excitement because he was fairly highly touted as a youngster, he didn't do much better in games. If we sold him at that point, nobody would have cared. He has improved his finishing quite a bit since, which is useful seeing as he always got into the right areas to fluff his chances. We're 4 games in though, and Joselu has got more than we expected of him this season. I think it's more interesting than anything to see whether he develops into a class striker, because to be fair to Fulham, they are the ones who have given him that chance to shine. I don't see it being a mistake really if Rafa doesn't fancy him, think he suits his style of play etc, the only downside is nobody expects Rafa to stay, so really he's potentially ****ed off the next manager.
Mitrovic was Mclarens man - not Rafas! Having said that was Mclaren at NUFC long enough to develop Mitrovic? I had a quick look at Mitrovic's record under Mclaren and ,it has to be said,it was appalling,too many disciplinary issues,goals to games ratio poor, too many games as a bench warmer,not ideal for a young player looking to establish himself in the top flight of English football,neither did the arrival of Rafa help him as he did not fit into Rafa's system. Since his move to us he has flourished and this is what he said post match on Saturday. "We've a lot of fast players who can give the final ball and have good vision. I like playing with these players. They have made my job easier. If I have good players with me,I will always score goals" The lad is a confidence player,but still needs to curb his enthusiasm, gave away a penalty for handball and should have left it at that - instead he berated the ref and drew a booking for his troubles. If he behaves himself and stays out of trouble he will score 20+ goals this season,and,were it not for our lousy defence, we would have a fair chance of a top ten finish.
Mitrovic has definitely found his level... One we'll probably regret sadly. **** happens. I still think Mbemba will end up making us look daft too. They weren't gonna be given the opportunity by Rafa anyway though so we just have to accept it and hope the manager knows what he is doing.
Come on that isn't why didn't score as many goals for us. We didn't set up under either manager to play to his strengths, we didn't make him feel wanted (basically because Rafa didn't want him which is his prerogative), we didn't develop him. You could take all Fulhams attacking talent and give it to Rafa. He still wouldn't have kept Mitrovic and played to his strengths. We have to remember he picked Gayle, Joselu ahead of him. We could all see Mitro was better than both but his face didn't fit with Rafa and he possibly felt let down by the West Ham incident too. To be fair to Joselu he isn't helped by Rafa either. He needs crosses as he has shown this season. Its not just players either. Benitez is a defensive coach in the main. He prefers a slow methodical build up, a patient defensive approach with the occasional counter attack. He doesn't really bother with crosses much and often plays winger on the "wrong" side. Mitrovic blatantly needs plenty of crosses to attack and a greater willingness to get forward. He needs pace around him as he lacks pace himself. He needs the play to happen quickly or defenders have too much time to mark him. They know he can't do them one on one. He has to use his physicality or timing of runs. They were a match made in hell basically.
Pretty much spot on. I do yearn for the days of yore, where we would attack at pace. And it's slightly bizarre that we have Shelvey, Kenedy, Atsu, Yedlin yet counter-attack, at pace, so rarely. It's odd that in the odd times we do it effectively, we win. And win well. Chelsea (h) last season, for example.
