First and foremost let it be said, I trust Pellegrini!
It’s too easy to knock and to have reservations about his, and the judgement of other managers, when knowing nothing like the full picture .
Which brings us to mystery man Pablo Fornals who so far has an ineffective game at Brighton and one or two sub appearances behind him since arriving in the summer.
Ahead of that we had sight of him playing for Spain’s under 21 when he appeared as sub on a couple of occasions as I recall and scored a great goal which set us all on the road to believing we had a player and a half on our hands.
However, there was a lingering worry that he had appeared as a sub on as many or more occasions in that Euro under 21 tournament.
Whilst Seb Haller settled in so quickly – without any serious hint that he needed a period of readjustment – Fornals, for reasons known only to himself and the manager has thus far been 80 per cent uninvolved for going on for two months.
At around a £25 million fee one might have expected him to make an immediate impact. After all take a look at Issa Diop – the same age as the midfielder at 22 – who has been almost magnificent since day one.
Obviously, it has to be understood that it’s different strokes for different folks and I am sure the moment will come when the guy blossoms into the player Pellegrini and Husillos believe him to be.
After all they have known all about him since his earliest days at Malaga.
That moment could well come on Sunday, given a lack lustre show from Yarmolenko, on Monday evening and should the player come to any kind of the form we have been told he can attain, undoubtedly will excite.
A top performance, with Michail Antonio on the sidelines for a while, could see the young man making an expected impact.
Interesting times.
COYI
Bit hard on the boy aren’t we? 22 years old,comes fresh into the premier league from Spain and we expect him to shine immediately,even from the bench.I remember Anderson taking a while to settle in,so give him support and time.
Not really mate. If u read from top to bottom I think you will see it’s reasonable and optimistic comment for him
Agree Steve, English football is so different to European footballl, not only the game but also the cultural side of living in UK for any Latin rooted player will be a shock to the system. Fornals has a lot of talent but give him a chance and don’t expect miracles overnight, he will be ready when he’s ready, I think he is also playing differently than he does for Spain or Villarreal he is at his best in the Lanzini role, perhaps if he can add some bite he could play Nobles role ?
The one comment I would make is that he looked a bit short of pace when he broke with the ball late in the game. Considering he was coming on with fresh legs he was being outsprinted by retreating Villa defenders. Other than that we need to give him time to find his feet in the manic Premier League. He’s probably never taken part in such an end to end last 20 mins like that before in a team a man short who were going for it at every opportunity
give the guy a bloody chance for goodness sake. Arsenal fans wanted rid of Pires after a quiet first season adjusting to the prem, and look what he went on to be . the comparisons to Diop and Haller are like comparing apples and oranges. Both of those are 6ft 4 and Athletic , Fornals is about 5ft 7 with a game based on skill . . of course he is going to take longer to adjust to the much discussed physicality of English football. Its ok not to post stuff on here if nothing to report, rather than hunting around for something negative to say. hes had 5 games, like you say some off the bench….. 5 games. come on.
If you read the piece again it’s impossible to claim I am not doing so. No need to swear btw
please don’t treat your loyal readership as fools. the whole article have a negative undertone and you know it .
‘mystery man’… speak for yourself – i am fully aware of who he is and his credentials
‘ lingering worry’ …. from who ? i haven’t heard anyone from management or playing squad say or even suggest that
‘ for reasons known only to himself and the manager’ … not really true is it , everyone aware of reason , foreign players more often than not take time to adapt to the premiership. especially young players who have only played in their home country before.
Then read to the end. And see the conclusion. If u don’t like the style of writing tough. It’s my style and we have a quarter of a million followers who seem to be okay with it. There are other forums. And don’t tell me what you think I know big mouth. It was a fairly gentle piece given the money spent and if you don’t like me or the style, one of us will need to leave and it won’t be me.
Loyal readership after one contribution here. LOL. Lingering worry is MY lingering worry. Maybe you failed to understand this is a blog not a news piece. I may need to give u the benefit of a doubt. Your last point is covered, mystery man is a bit of journalese. Some aren’t as bright and insightful as you choose to believe yourself to be
i have been a loyal reader for years , and enjoy lots of it and rarely feel the need to comment. However the above article was such tripe (in my humble opinion) ,clearly on a slow news day, that i felt the need to comment. Judging by the fact that the comments from other people above have also commented on exactly the same thing as myself, maybe drop the obscenely arrogant ‘ its my ball. like it or lump it’ approach to your writing and consider for a moment the article may in fact be overly critical of a new, young player we all want to succeed.
Missing the point still – not overly critical in the least. You object to people defending themselves? Don’t be. I will. Read the headline – look at the conclusion and maybe be a little more balanced. Perhaps the fact that you consider I believe he will become very good for us and that I trust Pelle is tripe yeah?
And of course it was a slow news day but we attempt to maintain interest and talking points…that we are doing that proves the point whether it’s discussed as tripe or caviar!
I believe the guy is a slow burner who is going to be a huge asset for us once he becomes used to the pace & intensity of the PL. However, I believe his best position would be as an 8 / 10 so he would be wasted playing out wide. Snoddy would be the better option or even give Nathan Holland a chance to stake a claim.
I agree with Ajay. I think he needs to play as a 10 when the opportunity arises. That may mean 20 minutes here and there, but that is where I think we’ll see a top player. Alternatively Lanzini may need to move left with Anderson on the right. I also see a place for Holland on the wing. We need to give the lad some minutes.
I suggest the difference between the impact that Diop made and that Fornals has made is to do with the talent available in their respective positions. Diop and Balbuena came in at a time when our lack of centre back options was acute. The fact that they quickly established themselves as the first choice centre half pairing was no real surprise. On the other hand, Fornals has come into a squad blessed with several other attacking midfielders. It could be that he was seen as a possible replacement for Lanzini in case he never got back to his previous form. Lucky for us, Lanzini has returned to approaching his best, but it was never certain. If MP wants 2 players for each position, then Fornals is the ‘reserve Lanzini’. I’m happy with that – he looks a good prospect for us. Personally, I would have rather we had invested in a defensively-minded midfielder in the summer rather than another creative, but Fornals is here and I look forward to MP bringing him into the Premership at the right pace. It’s a big step for a young man to move countries and leagues and that fact that Diop fitted in so well from the start doesn’t mean that Fornals won’t come good when we need him – which we surely will. I share the optimism in his future. But quite where it leaves Wilshire is another question entirely! COYI.
Top stuff Good Old Daze, will use as a blog