sniff said:
But his record against English sides is far from impressive. The prem is a more physical and you get less space, it really is a different game.
Less space is a myth... less time.... probably the same, the game can be chaotic and played at a frenetic pace, but sometimes that works to your advantage and you get more time and space than when everyone is calm and calculated.... look, he's a natural striker and poacher, he doesn't need time... if he has a problem it's that he's tried to be a bit flash, it has nothing to do with reacting quickly, his movement and anticipation is light years ahead of anything we have at the moment.
wouldn't be too certain on Ibra cutting it here,(he may, he may not) a certain 2 ukranians failed here recently, shevchenko and rebrov.............pretty sure shevchenko was rated world class at the time aswell and top scored and won medals in italy.
It doesn't guarantee you success here because you've done it in italy in a much slower game. Just the way it goes.
well, he's also done very well in spain, they don't really have any complaints about his contribution on the pitch... it's more that he's not comfortable being second, third, fourth fiddle to messi, iniesta. he's not able to be their star player....maybe they have a different formation in mind for next season, maybe they think all in all it's good business to get most of their money back on a 28 year old, get villa for 30m, and rebuild other areas of the team.
shev was a spent force, AC Milan knew it, it was obvious from the moment he arrived in chelsea. he was blessed with the most astonishing pace in his prime, and once that went he never found a way to adapt his game. ibra has never had much pace, certainly never relied on it, it's all about his skills, his vision, movement, strength, anticipation.
there are no guarantees but I think he's actually pretty well suited to this league.