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2021/22 Rafael Benitez

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Ghost Rider said:
I'm not disagreeing that he is terrible , just don't think Charlie Austin would have been a better option for one given his injury record and the fact that he was boss 10 years ago .
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Ok
Can you pick a forward for any Prem team this season ( not matter if its back up or 1st team ) that is worse than Rondon ?

Yet Jaffa still keeps picking him and leaving him on when he offers nothing.
 

Nymzee said:
He kept Rondon on for 94 minutes. If he was using today as a showing to drop him for a kid we’d have seen him subbed off at some point. He will start the next game if Richy & DCL are o
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maccavennie said:
But he doesn't get us up the pitch. I don't get this no striker talk l, this fella ain't a striker, he's a fella who once might have been a striker but he's absolutely finished. I'm not making this stuff up, it's clear as day for all to see. He cant close down, he doesn't bully defenders, he can barely jump, he barely holds onto the ball and brings others into play and when he does he's that far behind play he's nowhere near getting on the end of the balls.

He's just had two weeks to get himself into proper shape and he looked even worse than he did against utd.

A shocking signing by a manager who obviously has a soft spot for him. If this fella is on more than a tenner an hour he's robbing a living as a footballer.
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Agree, it's pointless playing him now. If he plays and we lose against Watford, it's on Rafael. It would be better playing without him and push an extra man in the mf. Or throw in some kid as the striker. Get anything and it would be a bonus .
 
maccavennie said:
But he doesn't get us up the pitch. I don't get this no striker talk l, this fella ain't a striker, he's a fella who once might have been a striker but he's absolutely finished. I'm not making this stuff up, it's clear as day for all to see. He cant close down, he doesn't bully defenders, he can barely jump, he barely holds onto the ball and brings others into play and when he does he's that far behind play he's nowhere near getting on the end of the balls.

He's just had two weeks to get himself into proper shape and he looked even worse than he did against utd.

A shocking signing by a manager who obviously has a soft spot for him. If this fella is on more than a tenner an hour he's robbing a living as a footballer.
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Spot on this

It's absolutley scandalous that today was rondon after having two full weeks to get himself fully match fit?! How he completed the entire game today is a joke - only one sub anyway is a joke.

Hopefully DCL or Richy are back next week and take the decision away from Benitez about dropping his buddy. It will be the hill he dies on if it continues.

Definitely no room for a player like James in this squad is there?
 

maccavennie said:
But he doesn't get us up the pitch. I don't get this no striker talk l, this fella ain't a striker, he's a fella who once might have been a striker but he's absolutely finished. I'm not making this stuff up, it's clear as day for all to see. He cant close down, he doesn't bully defenders, he can barely jump, he barely holds onto the ball and brings others into play and when he does he's that far behind play he's nowhere near getting on the end of the balls.

He's just had two weeks to get himself into proper shape and he looked even worse than he did against utd.

A shocking signing by a manager who obviously has a soft spot for him. If this fella is on more than a tenner an hour he's robbing a living as a footballer.
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It isn't the 1980's though.

Wanting a big fella to hold the ball is Allardyce type football. West Ham passed us to death today especially in the first half.
 
sd_1992 said:
8th despite the easiest start of any club doesn’t scream out to be a team that will be challenging for Europe this season.
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Easiest start? Maybe on paper but 4x of those opening 8 games have been against the sides sat 4th, 6th, 7th and 12th with one of the worst injury lists in the league.
 

Nymzee said:
But we’ve only played 1 big side so not really a relevant question is it?
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Of course it is relevant, because DCL and Richarlison won't be missing all season either. It's swings and roundabouts. It's 8 games in and like most teams fighting on the fringes of Europe to staying above the clutter of the bottom 6, there's some games you should get better results, some results where you get them and don't deserve them, you sometimes get points off better teams and drop them against weaker. But 8 matches is a fairly good sample size, it's about 20% of the season. As I say, how many points were you expecting at this point when the season started? You knew the fixtures then. I bet everyone would have taken 14 points from 8.
 
crackers said:
Of course it is relevant, because DCL and Richarlison won't be missing all season either. It's swings and roundabouts. It's 8 games in and like most teams fighting on the fringes of Europe to staying above the clutter of the bottom 6, there's some games you should get better results, some results where you get them and don't deserve them, you sometimes get points off better teams and drop them against weaker. But 8 matches is a fairly good sample size, it's about 20% of the season. As I say, how many points were you expecting at this point when the season started? You knew the fixtures then. I bet everyone would have taken 14 points from 8.
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14 pts from 24 with that fixture list? No, I wanted more thank you very much. We’ve played 2 decent sides so far.

Again, my original point which you randomly ignored was that whilst it’s good we’ve beaten poor sides we failed at least season, unless we carry on wins against good sides under Carlo, we’ll not break the top half.
 
Maybe Benitez has misplaced faith in Rondon and its come back to bite him. Maybe he's weighed up the no fee / our wage ceiling options and decided he's the best bet. Probably a bit of both.

I strongly suspect (and bloody hope) that in an ideal world where funds are available his dilemma wouldn't centre on Charlie Austin vs. Salomon Rondon.

If it was, THEN, I'd be properly concerned, like.
 
Nymzee said:
14 pts from 24 with that fixture list? No, I wanted more thank you very much. We’ve played 2 decent sides so far.

Again, my original point which you randomly ignored was that whilst it’s good we’ve beaten poor sides we failed at least season, unless we carry on wins against good sides under Carlo, we’ll not break the top half.
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What were you expecting a team that finished 12th & 10th in the last 2 seasons and spent less than 2m quid, made a player trading profit and "lost" one of its senior players? The season is going to be a slog at times, but there's no reason to suspect this team won't improve on last year's finish.
 
ForeverBlue92 said:
The problem is we have too many players who don't contribute though.

Clamouring for a player just because he's more direct but still has no end product than the bloke who isn't direct and has no end product is bonkers.
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Maybe so but Gordon is not the finished article at all yet. You pretty much know what you are getting with Iwobi.
 

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