Bryan Ruiz off on loan

[Brede Butter Pudding]

Not sure if there's already been a thread started on this, I couldn't see one.

Marca are reporting that Bryan Ruiz will sign on a 6 month loan at Real Betis, with a medical scheduled for today.

http://www.marca.com/2014/01/09/futbol/equipos/betis/1389269816.html

Betis close to Bryan Ruiz absence of fringes

Betis has reached an agreement with the Fulhan for the transfer of striker Bryan Ruiz until the end of the season. Everything is closed in the absence of the footballer Costa Rica pass a medical with the club of Heliopolis in the coming hours.

The operation already announced MARCA.com, and as was already shuffling in recent days, will close at one million euros if no last minute hiccups.

The agreement is total lack of minimum fringe, as As published, which Bryan Ruiz will join Leo Baptistão on the new front of Betis. The Atletico Madrid announced tomorrow out, after rejecting Betis return to Rayo Vallecano in this market of winter.

Ruiz, 28 years old, with Costa Rica international, who will be the leader in the World Cup in Brazil. Before military Fulham shined, among others, in the Twente in the Netherlands.

[Bassey the warrior]

Presumably we couldn't find a buyer. I hope they're paying a loan fee and all of his wages.

[God The Mechanic]

"The agreement is total lack of minimum fringe"

[Rhys Lightning 63]

GOOD. Now get Zoltan Gera back to do his job

[Burt]

Feel sad about this... He has clearly failed to meet his full potential and part of me was hoping that this was down to Jol, but it would appear that he won't be figuring in RM's plans either.

Best for both parties that this happens, I guess.

[epsomraver]

GOOD. Now get Zoltan Gera back to do his job

:plus one:

[Riverside]

I am a little sad as I felt he never had a run of games in is correct position - a real 10 with 2 strong enforcers behind him and a fast CF.

But if Berba stays he will not get that .

So good luck to him at real Betis .

I do fear though fear his revenge .
What odds on him scoring vs England in the World Cup ?

[Deanothefulhamfan]

I always wanted him to succeed, but this season when he has played he has been truely awful.

I do agree he needs the right players around him to compliment his obvious talent. But after his performance at Hull ... I hope he never play's for us again.

I hope everyone takes notice of him for his national team.... The boy has talent, but his attributes are suited to a different league

[JackyFulham90]

Good player just not cut out for the Premier League good luck at Betis

[os5889 mkII]

With Marca reporting it you'd think there's something to it. A loan fee of 1 million euros would make him unable to be recalled thus you'd think there's one squad slot opened up straight away. Nice to recoup some of the initial outlay we paid. I wonder what add on's we avoid buy shipping him out now. 68 appearances and 8 goals would suggest our actual spend on him could be a lot less than the fabled £10.6m....

A shame as the boy clearly has the touch to be a success just not the power.

[FPT]

I stick with that it was a Fulham problem not a Ruiz problem but it's simply an argument I can't be bothered to have.

Good luck to him, clear ability and I will probably watch him in La Liga happily as his true talent will be shining through.

[Tonywa]

I always wanted him to succeed, but this season when he has played he has been truely awful.

I do agree he needs the right players around him to compliment his obvious talent. But after his performance at Hull ... I hope he never play's for us again.

I hope everyone takes notice of him for his national team.... The boy has talent, but his attributes are suited to a different league

Certainly not physically suited to playing over here as old Twitcher Redknapp said when we signed him.  I confidently expect to see him shine at the World Cup and show his true class. Sorry it didn't work out.

[os5889 mkII]

I stick with that it was a Fulham problem not a Ruiz problem but it's simply an argument I can't be bothered to have.

Good luck to him, clear ability and I will probably watch him in La Liga happily as his true talent will be shining through.

Probably not too far off IMHO but unfortunately we just didn't have the manager, the players or the option to play him where he would be most effective.

Bit like Bale when Spurs under Ramos kept playing him at LB or that muppet Shearer playing Duff at LB.

[cmg]

I had high hopes of Ruiz when he arrived, and, to me, he has always looked a player of great skill.

However, I think by now it is clear that he cannot cut it in our league. Some have criticized his lack of agression and commitment, but I think it's simpler than that. He is a touch too slow for the pace of our game and this, along with the fact that he is so predictably one footed, means that he is relatively easy to mark out of the game. For players such as him, the margins between success and failure are very narrow.

[RaySmith]

I have been saddened that Ruiz didn't make the grade, but he does seem emblematic of the Jol era, which promised so much, and certainly had it's moments - both Ruiz and Jol's team - but the promise was never cashed out.

Could things have worked out differently for both Ruiz and Jol?

Who knows?there was the selling of the 2 D's, and after that the whole team seemed to decline including Ruiz.

As for the question of Bryan doing differently under a different manager because Jol played him out of position - well, why has no other Prem team come in for him,? not to mention Rene not seeming to rate him.

I wish him all the best anyway, and am sure his career will prosper elsewhere.

[God The Mechanic]

I think his two main weaknesses are that he's not versatile/adaptable enough nor is he assertive enough. Ruiz will do well in a team with the players that support his abilities, something which hasn't been the case here.  It's part his fault for not being able to change his style of play, but also the club's (manager and board) for spending so much on him (fee debatable,) and not doing enough to accommodate.

Similar to when Man Utd signed Veron - absolutely extraordinary player, just at the wrong time for the club as they had a defined team for 75% of the games and not enough was done to best use his skill set.

[Lighthouse]

I think he was poorly served by Fulham. Jol bought him and seemed to have no idea how to get the best out of a truly talented, clever player. Then I think he just lost heart and was asked to defend more than attack. Very sad he couldn't make it here because with a better manager he could have been great. Now we are struggling we cannot afford the time and space players like Ruiz could give us.

[b+w geezer]

People's patience levels with him varied. Mine just about made it into this season, but expired at, of all places, Burton Albion. Here he was played in the position that would hopefully see his fortunes change: centrally behind a centre-forward. There were no prem defenders to cope with and he seemed to be putting in the effort  -- but was still too slow and predictable and essentially snuffed out.

It is frustrating, because occasional moments have continued to remind us of his talent, but they'd become too infrequent. Time to part.

[MasterHaynes]

I think he was poorly served by Fulham. Jol bought him and seemed to have no idea how to get the best out of a truly talented, clever player. Then I think he just lost heart and was asked to defend more than attack. Very sad he couldn't make it here because with a better manager he could have been great. Now we are struggling we cannot afford the time and space players like Ruiz could give us.

I endorse every point you make here. He can't be classed as another Marlet as he showed in the goals he scored for us he had a wealth of talent which we didn't tap into.

[Furby]

I'm on the side of feeling sad about this like a few others have already mentioned. This well written piece shares my thoughts entirely.

Source: Premier League Owl

Although Ruiz hasn't had the best time in England, and his move to the Premier League will be retrospectively assessed as a failure, my opinion of him as a player really hasn't changed, and that's really because the conditions for him to succeed have never been in place at Fulham.

Over the past two-and-a-half seasons, Ruiz has frequently been used in wider positions when evidently his skill-set is suited to a central-role. His primary attributes – his vision and his passing – are marginalised when deployed close to the touchline, and he has subsequently found it very difficult to influence games from those areas.

It's easy to criticise Martin Jol for that, because on the surface it appears like a clear misallocation of resources, but remember that Ruiz's time at Fulham runs almost parallel to that of Dimitar Berbatov, and there's some significant overlap between where the Costa Rican would be best-utilised and where the Bulgarian ultimately plays – Jol, more often than not, seemed to accommodate one at the expense of the other.

My philosophy with creative attacking-midfielders is fairly simple: they need pace around them to be effective. Had Ruiz had two wingers who provided a vertical threat either side of him, and a forward who played off the back-shoulder of a defence ahead of him, his statistical return in the Premier League would probably have been far more significant – pace is a simple commodity, but it creates passing channels and space for playmakers to take advantage of. Whilst Ruiz never truly adjusted to English football – and that's something he must take some responsibility for – it's easy to argue that Fulham failed to put the players around him who would have helped make his transfer a success.

If he does move, then he will just be remembered as an advanced bit of technology that Martin Jol never fully knew how to use: buttons were pressed, cool things occasionally happened, but ultimately nobody bothered to read the instruction manual.