Is this some sort of politically correctness trend that I don't get? What's wrong in saying the guy is shit? You're afraid of backlash if he actually turns good or just some form of idiotic way of saying something in between as to not offend anyone?
Don't have a problem with you personally, saw many other users post like this, in various threads.
Yeah I have noticed that football fans these days make all the excuses under the sun to delude themselves someone has hope as a player - he's coming back from injury, he's young, his team-mates won't pass to him, it's his first season in a new country etc. It happens a lot on Redcafe, their top red posters are currently twisting themselves in knots telling themselves that Onana and Hojlund aren't poor players, to give two examples.
Now these mitigating factors do have some merit, don't get me wrong. There might be cases where there genuinely is hope. But it's generally pretty easy (or is for me) to see if a player 'has it' or not, despite all these extenuating circumstances. I haven't watched the player in question (that this thread is about) but I have saw so many excuses made for players who predictably ended up failing anyway. Man United fans are VERY bad for this coping, excuse-making style of posting. It's VERY rare that a player is an awful or average player and then suddenly becomes top class. It happens far far less often than people think. Usually if someone is good you can tell by age 22 at the latest.
A good example is Rashford. He's just a poor player technically who will always flatter to deceive. It's nothing to do with the situation surrounding him - it's simply who he is as a footballer - moody, inconsistent, poor technically. It won't change. He's already 27 so he is far too old to be treated with kid gloves. But people tie themselves in knots making excuses for the reality (that he isn't good enough) e.g. he's depressed, he isn't committed enough, he blows hot and cold, his team-mates aren't good enough, he's upset because his dog has toothache etc. Sometimes the obvious explanation is the right one - many players simply aren't good enough to help a team win top trophies, because the truly elite players are few and far between (which is why they're elite).
People shouldn't be afraid to take a side. You don't have to watch a player for years and years or wait until he's 26 or 27 to know if he has it or not. It's often obvious. In fact stubbornly sticking by these lost causes and refusing to admit your mistake is very harmful for clubs. Look at the excuses United fans and board made for Aaron Wan-Bissaka. He fucked up for years and should have been gone much earlier than he was. Ditto Harry Maguire who is still getting a game and fucking up. Players like that have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt they won't suddenly become great players so why bother? Of course wages etc play a part too, but still.
