milou wrote:I think he wouldn't be able to win "brazilian footballer of the year" at 19 for being a bad player. I mean it is BRAZIL for goodness sake!
Coming to a new country, new league, new cultures, new language & new management philosophies... it is difficult to adjust.. more difficult than most people think. Some players just never settle down, esp now you are just "another player" in a big-name team. Most tellingly, you are now being watched & criticized by fans around the world.
So when you are under immense pressure and afraid to make mistakes, you naturally will not take risk in your game (hence all his easy square passes). But I supposed he was willing to make that killer pass to gerrard the other day because the game was already won. Besides skills, confidence & morale can also make or break a player.
I will speculate that in his old club in Brazil, he was among the best players and the team was "built around him". I will controversially say the same for Kuyt (top scorer in dutch football), Diouf (African footballer of the year), Cisse (top scorer in french football), Morientes (well-known striker that every liv fans approved), benanyoun (top-class "wizardry" player in west ham) , keane (there is a risk now), etc. We must not forget how good they were before they came to Liverpool. Even Henry is finding it hard in Barca now. And how about our beloved Rush who used to find life difficult in Juventus? Similarly for Veron (in manu), Shevchenko (in chelsea), Forlan (in manu) ... the list go on and on.
On the flip-side, we have players like Torres (in Liverpool) and Henry (in Arsenal) who came in and "suddenly" became world class. Besides their obvious talent, everything else just clicked for them.. and the star is born.
Some players are possibly more "adaptable".. who go around and still perform more or less well.. arguably players like owen & beckham.. and i honestly think they are the exception rather than the rule. But most good players don't move enough these days to really test my hypothesis.. no less bcos clubs hang on to their best players.
Basically everytime you decide to move (or buy a player, if you are the manager), you take the risk of being a flop (liv has its fair share!), be it knowingly or unknowingly.
In the end, if it works out for you in a new environment.. then Fine. If not, it is just too bad... and the wise ones must be decisive to move-on or U-turn (like rush).
The Newcastle game was the first time in a red shirt he's produced a performance which had a good few moments of quality in it.
People are making out the in Arsenal game he was good, he was
. He was passing the ball out of play under no pressure and miscontrolling it all the time. Against PSV he done ok against a poor side and delivered a decent free kick, nothing more.If he performed once in a red shirt like he had at Newcastle then he wouldn't get half the stick he has. His next appearance needs to be of similar quality.
by 
