2021/22 Salomón Rondón

[catcherintherye]

I actually can’t believe he’s scored a goal for us, as crap as it was.

Come on mate, dont be harsh, it was all of 60cm out.

 

[Yarrgh]

THE BEAST HAS AWOKEN

H.P. Lovecraft's take on a Cthulu football player = Salmon Rondon.

 

[Tilling]

He was completely fine coming on against Palace. Taking Richarlison off for him was obviously insane, but he made our goal himself with his hold-up play and his frame, and could've had an open goal (and the equaliser) if Gordon had squared the ball instead of trying to go alone towards the end of the game

The hatred for a 3rd choice striker signed for nothing is really quite spectacular at times

 

[gazzaa2]

He was completely fine coming on against Palace. Taking Richarlison off for him was obviously insane, but he made our goal himself with his hold-up play and his frame, and could've had an open goal (and the equaliser) if Gordon had squared the ball instead of trying to go alone towards the end of the game

The hatred for a 3rd choice striker signed for nothing is really quite spectacular at times

He's starting to come good. He's a proven PL striker but was badly short of fitness when he came in and rather than build up his fitness was thrown in at the deep end after DCL got injured. He shouldn't have got all them starts really when he wasn't fit as it hung him out to dry.

 

[Houghty19]

He scored but he's still an absolute abomination of a footballer

 

[Tilling]

He's starting to come good. He's a proven PL striker but was badly short of fitness when he came in and rather than build up his fitness was thrown in at the deep end after DCL got injured. He shouldn't have got all them starts really when he wasn't fit as it hung him out to dry.

Spot on - Benitez clearly was mistaken in how match fit he thought Rondon would be after all that time in a retirement league. But you can see now what he offers; people saying he scored a two yard tap-in are completely missing the point, its a tap-in that only happens because he is able to shrug off a defender easily, lay it off to Doucoure (who should be getting the shot on goal), and then following through on the deflection.

 

[Saint Domingo]

Grafter

 

[witchdoc187]

floodgates will open

 

[nsno-chris]

Spot on - Benitez clearly was mistaken in how match fit he thought Rondon would be after all that time in a retirement league. But you can see now what he offers; people saying he scored a two yard tap-in are completely missing the point, its a tap-in that only happens because he is able to shrug off a defender easily, lay it off to Doucoure (who should be getting the shot on goal), and then following through on the deflection.

And the bigger point is that his complete lack of mobility means that all teams will do is double on him and negate our piss poor attacking play even more

He’s fat, unfit and a cart horse

 

[Tilling]

And the bigger point is that his complete lack of mobility means that all teams will do is double on him and negate our piss poor attacking play even more

He’s fat, unfit and a cart horse

Again though, he's the 3rd choice striker - if defenders are having to double up on Rondon, that should be creating space elsewhere for the likes of Gray, Richarlison, Gordon to be getting in behind. If that isn't happening, that's not on Rondon - that's on the manager for setting us up badly and us then not being able to take advantage of that. He isn't mobile, you're right; but he doesn't actually have to be for his job in the team

 

[nsno-chris]

Again though, he's the 3rd choice striker - if defenders are having to double up on Rondon, that should be creating space elsewhere for the likes of Gray, Richarlison, Gordon to be getting in behind. If that isn't happening, that's not on Rondon - that's on the manager for setting us up badly and us then not being able to take advantage of that. He isn't mobile, you're right; but he doesn't actually have to be for his job in the team

It’s on the manager for buying a 32 year old washed up player who was, in his prime, average at best

 

[Tilling]

It’s on the manager for buying a 32 year old washed up player who was, in his prime, average at best

I completely agree - but it's equally on the charlatans running the club so poorly for so long that we've had to look to free transfers to beef up the squad. It just seems really weird to me that Rondon in particular gets horrific abuse when he's a symptom of a much broader problem. There are other players in our squad who have been worse at their jobs for far longer who don't inspire anywhere near the same level of toxicity.

 

[Furey1878]

Without letting bias cloud the narrative, he has been better in recent games compared to his first few games. He is an ok squad player and ok back up. Not the best not the worst.

Yeah not as bad as we originally thought, but even with heightened match sharpness I don't think he'll get too much better. We should only be using him as someone to go 2 upfront with when chasing the game or someone to win headers and be a nuisance when we're seeing a game out.

 

[ElGato]

Looked like the player we brought him in for yesterday - handful for tiring defenders with 15 minutes to play.

Much better option that Cenk Tosun.

Just absolutely nuts that we took off Richy for him.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Looked like the player we brought him in for yesterday - handful for tiring defenders with 15 minutes to play.

Much better option that Cenk Tosun.

Just absolutely nuts that we took off Richy for him.

Agreed - think he'll have many eating their words come the end of his contract.

Another few goals and he'll have repaid his £0.00 transfer fee.