op Life is never dull with Slaven Bilic as club manager.
As we approach a game of immense importance this evening (Sat) the boss has opened up on Simone Zaza and what the future is likely to hold for him.
Despite widespread claims – we were told ouselves by club insiders – that the club could cut short his loan and that Valencia and Naples were keen, the manager isn’t having any of that.
He said in hs press conference: “He’s our player, we got him, he’s here. He’s training good and we expect him to do the job.
“I have to make a decision on Zaza over Saturday. That is the only decision I am thinking about: the game against Palace.”
Now, it does little good to ‘murder’ a player and we have no intention of doing so here. The guy must have plenty about him to have become a striker for one of the best international teams around and to have become a Juventus squad player.
That we haven’t seen it yet from him – or come to that from many others – is rough on us but there remains a contradiction in Slav’s thinking.
He says he’s our player, he’s not going anywhere, yet he’s not sure about playing him this afternoon. All a little odd and it may be that a scenario is building where Mr Bilic has one view and the owners take another. There could be a fair bit at stake given the fees involved.
Let’s not call it a showdown – that would be over the top but one can see some pretty tough words being exchanged if his form fails to emerge.
Zaza arrived on a £5 million in loan fee and there’s the additional issue of the appearances clause which is widely believed to be 14 before the deal has to become permanent.
Meanwhile, Gokhan Tore cost another £2 million so some creased brows over a possible wasted £7 million are not hard to imagine in the boardroom.
Slav will be praying that one or both come good very soon as even in these times to see £7 million go down the swanee is a bit hard to take.
This one could run and run and as far as today’s concerned I would bet a lot of money that even should Zaza not start he will appear at some stage!
And I’m not at all surprised that given everything Slav has taken the position he has over the matter.
True, Bilic is duty bound to ‘big up’ Zaza, it’s his job after all – but the guy hasn’t shown anything yet – that can’t be denied!
Zaza is smelling up the place at the moment – West Ham would be barmy to shell out on him given his present form – the thing that sticks in my mind is that horrendous Penalty attempt he had in the Euros – maybe I’m prejudiced!
Slav is the manager. It’s his job. Do you want to tell everyone your next move. . Leave them alone. We still have time. Everyone is a “manager”. It’s so easy. COYI!
Don’t blame bilic. The owners talked up strikers all summer , told everyone our targets and at the same time p***** off the decent ones we already had- ultimately they delivered knowone decent. All he can do is work with what he has- what else can he do!?
It’s not just the goal scoring problem for me
He lacks simple ball control,he never puts his body between himself and the defenders,
He lacks passing ability to team up with other players,
If he has these qualities where has he been hiding them and why has our management not brought them out of him,
He need to play with more trust in his ability to score then force it with stupid snap shots and and silly attempts to dribble pass 3-4 defenders,
Other then that he is brilliant and no wonder others are queuing behind him ( I don’t think )
If the forward players are not producing passes through the middle to him what’s he supposed to do ? He is used to playing with players that see his runs or put the ball accurately into spaces he can exploit, he has not received one ball of quality in every minute he has played for us, if you want someone who will run the channels and rarely score we have Sakho coming back soon and that is good because with Sakho spaces should open for Zaza if we play two up top but crucifying Zaza when he is being starved of opportunities by his team mates is not the way forward. If he settles in and we start playing I am hopeful he will be our 20 goal a season man, his record suggests that.
Yes finally someone with a sensible comment. I really wonder how many of these Internet managers have actually played sport at all. This kid is world class. We have seen nothing but dog However the amount of money attached to this player would suggest everyone else believes he is class. He needs to play with the second striker in the formation he’s used to.
He clearly has zero confidence. Being sold with a high-priced tag does not give you confidence. Often times the opposite effect. This is up to the manager to build his confidence. Regardless of what we think we have zero impact on coaching decisions. I do wish some of these idiots would shut the hell up.
WHTID
Yeah he is so sh1t he is an Italian international & was so sh1t that Juventus shelled out for him.What a parks player he must be.
Ok i will say no more hehe i cant compete with all the sofa experts we have 😀
Btw all your ads have been looking for you bubs.Matte,Rick,Rads were worried about your welfare.They thought you had been abducted by aliens or worse gone to WHTID hehe
Have trust lads he could be as good as Magia ?
Can’t wait for the reliable AC and Sak come back,
Why did Calleri actually join our club ?
Sorry I think Zaza has had as many chances as any forward who has joined us and not many of them played with the likes of Payet,Lanzini and Antonio
I hope I am wrong but I guess that’s why he was only a sub in Italy
Listen, that’s not a fair comparison. Maigia certainly wasn’t playing for you Juventus.
I read your comments I appreciate many of them but please get real. You have no other view to these players their skill levels the managers ability then the rest of us. You read the same thing when you do. You see from my fans perspective only. You’re not in the locker room. This isn’t a personal attack this is just a commonsense statement I would make to anyone. We are Internet managers in our minds only. Now back to reality I think this kid has definitely A large price tag attached to him. He’s not coping. Clearly from my perspective it looks as though he is an athlete with zero confidence. That is up to the manager to help him gain confidence. He has not had the opportunity to play in the position that he has been successful in. Which is with strike partner. How could anyone possibly judge him? We should all keep the faith my brother.
I’m personally only holding my judgments on Slav until after the Sunderland game.
⚒
WHTID
Sorry lads bit of personal but ok now,in fact not watched a lot of football but followed with interest
Hope to put some input in in the next few weeks and will be returning to the UK in April fall time,
Not been near any wifi for 2 weeks,
It’s ok not in the Spanish cells,
And the donkey is fine
Bubs,good to know your ok mate.We thought you had got banged up for being in charge of a donkey lol
Haha… hi bubs, I’m glad you and Jenks are all right… so no alien abduction, enjoy your beer.. 😉
Lets start by asking why has Zaza been targeted as the scapegoat for our pi $$ poor form? It’s not like the other ten are playing very well. The defence is laughable & at times embarrassing. You don’t play for Juventus & Italy if you are as bad as people make Zaza out to be.
Bilic out of his depth? Really, How did you work that one out? The same guy who was in charge last year when we finished 7th but lf luck was on our side & there weren’t so many crappy officials we could have made the CL… is that the manager you mean?
Already some fans want him out but whoever came in would still have the same players to work with.
Yes finally someone with a sensible comment. I really wonder how many of these Internet managers have actually played sport at all. This kid is world class. We have seen nothing but dog . However the amount of money attached to this player would suggest everyone else believes he is class. He needs to play with the second striker in the formation he’s used to.
He clearly has zero confidence. Being sold with a high-priced tag does not give you confidence. Often times the opposite effect. This is up to the manager to build his confidence. Regardless of what we think we have zero impact on coaching decisions. I do wish some of these idiots would shut the hell up.
WHTID
They are everywhere.Internet managers who are going to tell Bilic what he did wrong.My favourites are the ones who say that if Bilic does something wrong then they will tell him he got it wrong.Im sure he wont be able to sleep at night knowing these experts are going to tell him where he went wrong.Drawing from their long distinguished career in Armchair League management!
Ric, I’m not a manager, but I totally agree with you when you write “he needs to play with the second striker”. Yes, that’s the problem imho, he’s not AC, he’s a different kind of forward. 😉
Maybe the fair thing would be each match a different player is selected to be watched what ever there form,
Then we could look at there general form,and that’s nothing to do with being a manager just a fan interested in how these players contribute to our club and there ability?
That’s what these sites are for,I have nothing against any of our players personally,but come on lads where ever you come from I want to love Zaza,but he needs to do more then give us effort,
We need class in this team and at the moment we have some very poor performances,
Others are getting more of a chance because they have played for us for many years,they have not arrived with a big reputation and demanding top wages,
I can only comment on what I have seen and at the moment he has lacked any class,
Maybe he only needs a goal and maybe today it will arrive,
But if he plays another 5 games and does not score I will not be the one screaming,just upset that we did not do something about it ,
As usual I will be the first on Monday to say I got it wrong if he does well,
Just seen the team and looks like Antonio will be back at right back again and Noble stays in the side,
At least all you Saza fans will be happy