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Yeah nah... it was as simple as him being a stubborn fool
I reckon it was more trying to show Amad who’s the boss here. For some reason (probably something he hated about Amad behind the scenes, maybe he said something wrong or just simply did not have the right character that ETH looked for in a player) he had him on a really short leash and he was always a bad performance away from being permanently glued to the bench. Even when he was playing, knowing that the minute you do something wrong you will be on the hook was not really conducive to his development, especially as a winger where he should be encouraged to be bold.
I don't believe that happens, personally, at least not as often as people claim it does. I think managers just become desperate when things go bad, a sort of fog descends, and that's what leads them to making crazy choices.
Garnacho’s a twig too though
I think a lot of managers, pundits and fans in general fall into this trap. Yes he's short and you wouldn't bet on him in a fight but Amad has tenaciousness and intelligence which can make up for a lot. We've seen the likes of Scholes, Silva, Silva and Mata absolutely destroy this league and they're basically the same midge archetype. Once Amad grows into his man body and puts on some muscle he'll be even more dangerous. Look at Cristianos physical transformation from teen to adult for an example of possibilities.
It really is a old school way of looking at players, but also wrong. As you mentioned with the players you listed, size shouldn't matter. But also Amad has such a tenacity and work rate that it seems to actually work for him, despite his height. I'm just glad he's finally getting to show how good he is.
Wasn't it more like 17m upfront?
Madrid lacks a natural RWF.
And they're such good goals as well. Iconic, if he goes on to be a big player.
If he reaches prime Bernardo Silva levels we are in for a big treat.
Off field drama too. He had that random scandal about that fake adoption thing and him dropping Traore from his name.
He should have been given chances earlier. He was overlooked for the likes of Forson. I don't know what strawman you're building but I've never said he should have been starting week in week out years ago. The Sunderland loan was a great success and now he's in the mainoo zone where the talent is clearly there but we shouldn't be putting too much on their shoulders. Like you said in 2-3 years hopefully Amad and Kobbie will be reaching their prime.
Credit to the scouts. Nothing to do with Ole.
Spot on. People saying ETH practically wasted a year of Amads development are conveniently ignoring that he was injured until Dec/Jan of last season. And like you said, he was maybe not preferred in a handful of games where he was fully fit. So one could argue there was a case of carefully managing his gametime after returning from a long injury layoff.
He has a funny way of rating Amad.
Amass has physically struggled with the step up to U21 games, so yeah I think ETH was spot on.
100%. Prime Bernardo was a magnificent player. I think Amad is similar but again, more explosive.
He had his first appearance under Ten Hag against Nottingham Forrest in December where he played well. In the next 11 league games, he played only 10 minutes. His first start was in May against Arsenal.
I can't believe so many couldn't see what an awful coach he was.
It wasn't just that Mowbray played him. He played to his strengths.
There's a difference between being extra careful and getting 10 minutes in the league over 4 months period. What was weird is that he did well in that 30-minute cameo after his comeback and then just basically nothing till that Liverpool game and that was a bit of a desperate sub.
