I was confused about his purchase to begin with and the last few months haven't changed my mind. If you buy a 28 year old - for 2.8m or 28m - then they need to hit the ground running to justify their purchase as they're not going to be one for the future; yet buying someone who has thrived finishing moves to put him into a team in transition, in a new league, was never going to create instant goals.
Someone asked why does he keep making runs even when he's not found time and time again - it's because that's what is instinctive to him, that's what's worked for him for the last 4-5 years and breaking that habit to find other, more effective runs in the circumstance will take time and may not even work. It's that or he'll be waiting for our team to play like Valencia which may take some time...
We've seen so many talented players written off when they struggle to adapt to the league and it's far too early to say he'll be a total failure but by the time he hits his stride i do worry it will be too late - he's not a 22 year old with years to grow into his role. For someone like him to score goals he needs the team to be organised and cohesive, the build up play to move into the channels that he plays in rather than where we had so much luck with Bale last season, the final balls to start be played instinctively and with confidence rather than labored and late and he needs to allow for the added pace of the game and strength, speed and organisation of defenses in England to time his own runs to perfection. After all that he still needs to maintain the confidence and belief that led to him getting so many goals in Spain.
All that takes time and in the meantime we're playing with someone who doesn't have any attacking moves to finish and can't fashion something himself, it's frustrating and you can't help buy feel we'd have been better off buying a player that can compensate for the disjointed, lethargic build-up play we're putting together until next year when hopefully we'd have the settled side a finisher needs (assuming there's not the typical summer hunt for our top player).
I think either his purchase was made prior to it being clear Bale would be off, or AVB/Baldini underestimated the impact that such wholesale changes would have on the squad, and the difficulties he'd have fitting into a team that just isn't clicking. Swap him for Villa and i can't see us getting many more goals for the same reasons but swap him for berbatov/benteke etc and we'd get goals in spite of our poor play.
