- Nov 15, 2018
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Only 2 out of 6 years he performed for us, really come on... i get that the last 12 months or so he's maybe dropped off because he's looking for his move and trying to not get injured but that's completely normal. If you knew you were going to be making your big career move you'd also not go in for needless tackles to lessen the chance of a bad injury, he's been our key creator for about 4 of the last 6 seasons!Some sounds like his poor form due to being wanting out is only the past 12-18 months. Good grief. Just look through this thread - probably only 2 out of the 6 years he's with us he was great. The rest he just didn't perform as well as he could, especially during the period he was under the criticism of performing alot better for his country than his club. And even then his country coach was asking for more consistency from him.
He has gotten everyone in the world to believe he is really that great, and hardworking on-field for the matter. I don't doubt his stats, which also came during the best two years he had with us. Is no coincident we were the best when he was the best. So many times it was absolutely infuriating because his form literally determines our results and on his bad days we suffered. He was that influential. A legend would be, if he could go the extra mile, knowing he could carry the team and win us something, but like he always does, just did the bare minimum. Not as if he didn't know how he can affect the team. If he doesn't care, why should we?
Just remember, even at his best, no big teams came in for him with concrete interest. Almost like a karma of working just enough, his dream and opportunities of a big move also stop short of the next breakthrough.
2013/14 - 7 goals 9 assists (first season!) didn't even play that often
2014/15 - 10 goals 4 assists
2015/16 - 6 goals 16 assists
2016/17 - 8 goals 20 assists
2017/18 - 11 goals 10 assists
2018/19 - 8 goals 12 assists
That is double figures for goals or assists and over 20 combined in at least 4/6 of the seasons, those are outrageous numbers, i bet there are only a handful of players who even come close to those figures.
He was absolutely class for us for a long time, i'm sorry but this short sightedness towards one of our best ever prem midfielders is ridiculous.
We will miss him when he’s gone just like we did Modric for example.
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