Thaksinssoldier
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- 28 Jun 2009
- Messages
- 10,015
Time to be fair.
A lot, and I mean a lot of players were given a free pass last year, and Pellers took the entire brunt of the blame for another lacklustre season. The players would come good we thought.
It's only fair that we take a look now at how that free pass has panned out and critique the carry over players.
So we rolled on to this year, and for the first 10 games all was rosy. Players looked back to their great selves...the Pep effect.
We roll into November and some folks reverted to type and like it or not, it's not Pep's fault. I criticised his approach last night, but on the whole the blame now must surely lie on the shoulders of the players he inherited.
Of the bunch he inherited, here's how I think they've played under Pep.
Willy-improved, stood up to be counted. Still not good enough as a 1, but okay for a 2.
Sagna- stagnated. Not much worse, but not good enough at RB.
Zab- just not up to it anymore. Effort and attitude can't be faulted.
Vinny- abysmal year. I pray last night was more than a glimmer of hope and he is back.
Nico- Poor year. Inconsistent and even when he has a good game, has not justified the investment.
Kolarov- good year. Teething problems at CB but more or less has been very good there.
Clichy- absolutely fucking terrible. Inexcusable. Should have retired last year and shouldn't have been here for game 1.
Delph- terrible year. injury hit and nowhere near the team. Phenomenal last night, but shop window time methinks.
Yaya- Poor year. Attitude saw him absent, came back strong, but only good enough to play mid table teams.
Dinho- Shocking, shocking year. A shadow of the player he was two years ago. Time to go.
Nando- dreadful year. May as well not be here. Okay when played, but that's almost as much as Delph.
KDB- similar year and that's not good enough for what he is capable of. Lots of great assists, but goes missing far too much.
Silva- Great year. Seems a great fit for Pep's system. Let down by whats around him.
Sterling- Great year. Coming on leaps and bounds. 10 times the player he was last year.
Kun- Poor year. Like KDB, he's getting some stats to pad it out, but the Kun of old is far superior to what he is now.
Kelechi- Dreadful, dreadful year. So much hope, so little opportunity and when he's gotten it lately his confidence seems to have gone. Fabulous player, but I fear he doesn't fit the system and will be sold.
Navas- terrible year. Contributes nothing and should have been made a RB at 15.
So...(and I'm sure I forgot someone) what I can deduce from this is in hindsight we may have been far too critical of Pellers(not to say he didn't deserve a lot of it) but the players got a pass and looking at the evidence almost a season later, these players for the most part have completely let the club down since Pellers lifted the prem.
Only Willy, Aleks, Silva and Sterling can really look at it and say they've improved. Everyone else has not.
Kun & KDB have faired okay with flashes of brilliance, but on the whole have been disappointing in terms of their own potential. We can hope they improve next year, but it's sink or swim next season for both(and Kun may be going sooner than that).
I guess the point of all this is when you take a long hard look at it, Pep's players have been fine, and our existing players have failed this club miserably, barring the exceptions highlighted above. I've faith in Pep once he gets his own team, but several players legacies are severely tarnished in hindsight. They've had no excuses, nowhere to hide this season. It's not on Pellers, Pep, Txixi, FFP or David Gill and PGMOL. They can look in the mirror and be ashamed of what they've contributed.
Would love to know people's thoughts.
A lot, and I mean a lot of players were given a free pass last year, and Pellers took the entire brunt of the blame for another lacklustre season. The players would come good we thought.
It's only fair that we take a look now at how that free pass has panned out and critique the carry over players.
So we rolled on to this year, and for the first 10 games all was rosy. Players looked back to their great selves...the Pep effect.
We roll into November and some folks reverted to type and like it or not, it's not Pep's fault. I criticised his approach last night, but on the whole the blame now must surely lie on the shoulders of the players he inherited.
Of the bunch he inherited, here's how I think they've played under Pep.
Willy-improved, stood up to be counted. Still not good enough as a 1, but okay for a 2.
Sagna- stagnated. Not much worse, but not good enough at RB.
Zab- just not up to it anymore. Effort and attitude can't be faulted.
Vinny- abysmal year. I pray last night was more than a glimmer of hope and he is back.
Nico- Poor year. Inconsistent and even when he has a good game, has not justified the investment.
Kolarov- good year. Teething problems at CB but more or less has been very good there.
Clichy- absolutely fucking terrible. Inexcusable. Should have retired last year and shouldn't have been here for game 1.
Delph- terrible year. injury hit and nowhere near the team. Phenomenal last night, but shop window time methinks.
Yaya- Poor year. Attitude saw him absent, came back strong, but only good enough to play mid table teams.
Dinho- Shocking, shocking year. A shadow of the player he was two years ago. Time to go.
Nando- dreadful year. May as well not be here. Okay when played, but that's almost as much as Delph.
KDB- similar year and that's not good enough for what he is capable of. Lots of great assists, but goes missing far too much.
Silva- Great year. Seems a great fit for Pep's system. Let down by whats around him.
Sterling- Great year. Coming on leaps and bounds. 10 times the player he was last year.
Kun- Poor year. Like KDB, he's getting some stats to pad it out, but the Kun of old is far superior to what he is now.
Kelechi- Dreadful, dreadful year. So much hope, so little opportunity and when he's gotten it lately his confidence seems to have gone. Fabulous player, but I fear he doesn't fit the system and will be sold.
Navas- terrible year. Contributes nothing and should have been made a RB at 15.
So...(and I'm sure I forgot someone) what I can deduce from this is in hindsight we may have been far too critical of Pellers(not to say he didn't deserve a lot of it) but the players got a pass and looking at the evidence almost a season later, these players for the most part have completely let the club down since Pellers lifted the prem.
Only Willy, Aleks, Silva and Sterling can really look at it and say they've improved. Everyone else has not.
Kun & KDB have faired okay with flashes of brilliance, but on the whole have been disappointing in terms of their own potential. We can hope they improve next year, but it's sink or swim next season for both(and Kun may be going sooner than that).
I guess the point of all this is when you take a long hard look at it, Pep's players have been fine, and our existing players have failed this club miserably, barring the exceptions highlighted above. I've faith in Pep once he gets his own team, but several players legacies are severely tarnished in hindsight. They've had no excuses, nowhere to hide this season. It's not on Pellers, Pep, Txixi, FFP or David Gill and PGMOL. They can look in the mirror and be ashamed of what they've contributed.
Would love to know people's thoughts.