Controversial Opinions at FOF The return of The Scapegoat

[MJG]

One of Ruiz's problems he is teachers pet. I have noticed even the strongest supporters of Ruiz starting to say that Jol should sub him or even not start if off form.
But Jol does not do that. He will shuffle the pack in as many ways possible to get him in the team. No matter how good a player is, if he is off form he should sit out or be taken off.

The frustration against Jol not doing the above manifests itself into having a go at Ruiz, who you cant blame for just playing. You cant blame Ruiz for breaking up the best partnership of last season, that's fully Jol's fault.

Whatever the merits of the dutch league, he scored something like 30 goals before he joined us. Now having looked at those goals you can see that he plays as a striker, almost always on the last man. He's not playing as a No 10 and creating, he's doing the business end of things in the box. Jol has turned a striker into a player we all fear having the ball 30 yards from his OWN goal.

[alfie]

One of Ruiz's problems he is teachers pet. I have noticed even the strongest supporters of Ruiz starting to say that Jol should sub him or even not start if off form.
But Jol does not do that. He will shuffle the pack in as many ways possible to get him in the team. No matter how good a player is, if he is off form he should sit out or be taken off.

The frustration against Jol not doing the above manifests itself into having a go at Ruiz, who you cant blame for just playing. You cant blame Ruiz for breaking up the best partnership of last season, that's fully Jol's fault.

Whatever the merits of the dutch league, he scored something like 30 goals before he joined us. Now having looked at those goals you can see that he plays as a striker, almost always on the last man. He's not playing as a No 10 and creating, he's doing the business end of things in the box. Jol has turned a striker into a player we all fear having the ball 30 yards from his OWN goal.

You cant blame Ruiz for breaking up the best partnership of last season, that's fully Jol's fault.

sorry not too sure what you mean here, what best partnership from last season?

[MJG]

One of Ruiz's problems he is teachers pet. I have noticed even the strongest supporters of Ruiz starting to say that Jol should sub him or even not start if off form.
But Jol does not do that. He will shuffle the pack in as many ways possible to get him in the team. No matter how good a player is, if he is off form he should sit out or be taken off.

The frustration against Jol not doing the above manifests itself into having a go at Ruiz, who you cant blame for just playing. You cant blame Ruiz for breaking up the best partnership of last season, that's fully Jol's fault.

Whatever the merits of the dutch league, he scored something like 30 goals before he joined us. Now having looked at those goals you can see that he plays as a striker, almost always on the last man. He's not playing as a No 10 and creating, he's doing the business end of things in the box. Jol has turned a striker into a player we all fear having the ball 30 yards from his OWN goal.

You cant blame Ruiz for breaking up the best partnership of last season, that's fully Jol's fault.

sorry not too sure what you mean here, what best partnership from last season?

Riether & Dejagah

[f bloke]

It is interesting that there is a feeling that if we get the top quality midfield player in and the right forward, that would bring the best out of Ruiz.  But if we do bring in those players, there appears to me to be no obvious role for Ruiz.  I see different formation permutations to try to squeeze him into the side but to my eyes they all lack balance and shape.  For all his glimpses of skill and class - I just never see him control the tempo of a game enough let alone dominate enough to justify restructuring the shape of the side to accommodate him.

My view is that if you pick a player like Berbatov - you have to build a team around him to make good his shortcomings - but with a back up plan B if he is injured/suspended. My take on last season and pre season this season is that Berbatov and Ruiz do not work as a 9 and 10 combo - Ruiz does not compensate for Berbatov's shortcomings - he does not make the runs to stretch the defence and rarely gets beyond Berbatov.  Both of them play at a slow tempo.  Counter intuitive as it may seem, since both are technically good players, but I think a major reason why he were so dull to watch last season was down to the Berbatov/Ruiz combo (altho a lack of a quality midfielder was also part of the problem). 

It is wrong to assume that a team of skillful players will be exciting to watch - an England midfield of Beckham, Gerrard, Lampard and Scholes was deathly dull since there were no complementary skills in that midfield.  The same was true when England tried to squeeze Hoddle, Wilkins and Rix into the same midfield.  It is all about shape and balance and complementary skill sets and we simply do not have it with those two.  Ruiz can be part of a plan B - but should not be part of plan A - if he is - then as things stand I see us as serious relegation contenders this season.

[alfie]

One of Ruiz's problems he is teachers pet. I have noticed even the strongest supporters of Ruiz starting to say that Jol should sub him or even not start if off form.
But Jol does not do that. He will shuffle the pack in as many ways possible to get him in the team. No matter how good a player is, if he is off form he should sit out or be taken off.

The frustration against Jol not doing the above manifests itself into having a go at Ruiz, who you cant blame for just playing. You cant blame Ruiz for breaking up the best partnership of last season, that's fully Jol's fault.

Whatever the merits of the dutch league, he scored something like 30 goals before he joined us. Now having looked at those goals you can see that he plays as a striker, almost always on the last man. He's not playing as a No 10 and creating, he's doing the business end of things in the box. Jol has turned a striker into a player we all fear having the ball 30 yards from his OWN goal.

You cant blame Ruiz for breaking up the best partnership of last season, that's fully Jol's fault.

sorry not too sure what you mean here, what best partnership from last season?

Riether & Dejagah

sorry i must be bit slow, when did he break them up, i though Dejagah got injured.

[MJG]

One of Ruiz's problems he is teachers pet. I have noticed even the strongest supporters of Ruiz starting to say that Jol should sub him or even not start if off form.
But Jol does not do that. He will shuffle the pack in as many ways possible to get him in the team. No matter how good a player is, if he is off form he should sit out or be taken off.

The frustration against Jol not doing the above manifests itself into having a go at Ruiz, who you cant blame for just playing. You cant blame Ruiz for breaking up the best partnership of last season, that's fully Jol's fault.

Whatever the merits of the dutch league, he scored something like 30 goals before he joined us. Now having looked at those goals you can see that he plays as a striker, almost always on the last man. He's not playing as a No 10 and creating, he's doing the business end of things in the box. Jol has turned a striker into a player we all fear having the ball 30 yards from his OWN goal.

You cant blame Ruiz for breaking up the best partnership of last season, that's fully Jol's fault.

sorry not too sure what you mean here, what best partnership from last season?

Riether & Dejagah

sorry i must be bit slow, when did he break them up, i though Dejagah got injured.

He has done it in a few of the friendlies by moving Dejagah on the left. Absolutely no need to do that or even look at it as an option.

[alfie]

One of Ruiz's problems he is teachers pet. I have noticed even the strongest supporters of Ruiz starting to say that Jol should sub him or even not start if off form.
But Jol does not do that. He will shuffle the pack in as many ways possible to get him in the team. No matter how good a player is, if he is off form he should sit out or be taken off.

The frustration against Jol not doing the above manifests itself into having a go at Ruiz, who you cant blame for just playing. You cant blame Ruiz for breaking up the best partnership of last season, that's fully Jol's fault.

Whatever the merits of the dutch league, he scored something like 30 goals before he joined us. Now having looked at those goals you can see that he plays as a striker, almost always on the last man. He's not playing as a No 10 and creating, he's doing the business end of things in the box. Jol has turned a striker into a player we all fear having the ball 30 yards from his OWN goal.

You cant blame Ruiz for breaking up the best partnership of last season, that's fully Jol's fault.

sorry not too sure what you mean here, what best partnership from last season?

Riether & Dejagah

sorry i must be bit slow, when did he break them up, i though Dejagah got injured.

He has done it in a few of the friendlies by moving Dejagah on the left. Absolutely no need to do that or even look at it as an option.

Ok ic, still not worth worrying about yet lets see what he does when it really matters.

[Deanothefulhamfan]

I was worried when we signed Boateng in fairness.... He is another hot jead who is likely to miss games through suspension.... not what we need when we have sidwell already.

I think Sidwell and or Boateng would be ok if they had a decent partner to play with.... Both of them together is not good in the slightest....

As for Ruiz I think Jol is to blame for him.... Ok he was and maybe still is very lightweight, but the guy is very creative and does have a bit of a wow factor.... The only problem is he cannot work well with Berbatov as they are very similar, Jol is desperate for Ruiz to work that he plays him all over the place.... He or Berbatov should play but unfortunately not together.... the only problem with that is Berbatov is the classiest player we have, and dropping him will just make him sulk.... If Berbatov gets injured I have faith thar Ruiz can step into his shoes and perform in the role Berbatov plays....

[Forever Fulham]

We need a big man with pace who can unsettle defensive formations, create some momentary chaos, allowing Ruiz or Berbatov or even Ashkan to pounce  when the deep position ball is played back.  Some guy who can take the punishment, dish out some his own, and get the back lines to make mistakes in marking.  You can't do that as a slower player.  And though possible, it's harder to do it as a small darty forward.  The new mold is a Benteke, a Lukuku, Drogba, Bendtner, Zlatan, etc.  Jozy Altidore has the size, the speed, and the strength.  And his technical ability and game IQ has much improved.  We need someone like that.  Which is why I'm kind of drawn to Osvaldo.  And if you don't have the physical power, but you have all the rest, you're, let's see...  Suarez.  You dive instead of collide.  You bite, punch, slap, elbow, poke if you have to.  You make do.  50 goals in two seasons.  Sigh.