Despite fresh criticism after Tottenham Blind Hammer looks at where Bilic is getting some things right.
Walking away from the London Stadium on Saturday I felt very flat. I was still a bit dejected on Sunday. Losing to Tottenham definitely hurts. However I noticed that we were not the only supporters disappointed last weekend. Despite Aston Villa overcoming, an out of form Nottingham Forest, this has not stopped widespread criticism from Villains of Snodgrass’s performance.
Snodgrass had quite a lot to say about the alleged failings of West Ham and Bilic when he arrived at Villa. Yet he has taken the poor form that he demonstrated for both us and Scotland to Villa. He is reported as having little impact throughout the game. He was described as lacking fitness, whilst repeatedly surrendering possession. He was variously described as “poor”, “out of form”, “shocking”. And as “not at the races”. His departure from West Ham appears not a day too soon.
This made me reflect on the importance of our succeeding in making key transfers out over the summer and equally importantly not bringing dead wood in.
Many of us were disappointed to see Fletcher go. Yet Fletcher, like Snodgrass, has not set the world alight at Middlesbrough. He also has received negative comments from fans that are comparing him unfavourably to Patrick Bamforth. He has been denounced as “anonymous” and “simply not good enough”. He has at least scored one goal but this is his sole return in 8 appearances for Middlesbrough. I personally hope that Fletcher recovers from this poor start and makes it. However Bilic’s judgement that he was not ready to make the step up into the Premier League appears completely correct.
In fact Bilic seems more and more vindicated as the season progresses. Famously David Sullivan in his “throwing Bilic under the bus” statement defensively pointed out that Renato Sanchez had been offered as a loan option to Bilic which the manager had refused.
In the end Sanchez with his enormous £60 million price tag was sent on loan from Bayern Munich to Swansea. Despite his alleged huge potential, Sanchez has been underwhelming. Occasionally he demonstrates his renowned strength on the ball but his end product has disappointed. On debut commentators were unanimous that he had made no impact. The most striking aspect of his play was unforced errors and repeated loss of possession. Since then his mistakes and erratic passing has plagued him, especially in their games against Newcastle and Tottenham. One theory is that he is a young man, trying too hard to justify the transfer hype which accompanies him. Yet the Premiership, as he is finding, is a tough arena to learn your game and strengths in.
It seems unlikely that Sanchez would have fared any better for us, certainly it is difficult to see how he could have helped us in our own defeats at the hands of Newcastle and Tottenham. So despite the pressure endured by Bilic through his refusal to take Sanchez he now appears completely justified.
Bilic was placed under similar pressure over his refusal to sign Kelechi Iheanacho, despite the Board having apparently agreed terms. Yet Iheanacho appears to have also sunk without trace at Leicester, He has so far managed only 3 appearances and has yet to register a single goal for the Foxes. It is difficult to tell definitively how Iheanacho is playing as there is literally nothing I can find which praises or even condemns his performances. He seems anonymous so far. All I could find was a brief statement from Craig Shakespeare that he will “come good in the end”. What is undeniable is that Iheanacho is not winning matches, creating headlines or “pulling up trees”. So far, Bilic’s decision to instead plump for Chico, seems vindicated. Chico, despite our losing start has already grabbed 3 goals for the Irons.
So to be fair, I have been vocal in criticising Bilic for not recruiting central defensive cover, and reacting slowly to the defensive crisis we suffered in early games. There has also been a thinly disguised complaint from the Board that Bilic has frustrated their transfer ambitions.
However we should now give credit where credit is due. I cannot think of a single player we have released over the summer that we would now regret leaving. Bilic correctly steered the pruning of the squad. So far he also appears vindicated in rejecting the alternative Board transfer offers. If Sanchez starts to become worthy of his hype in the game against us, or Iheanacho starts to score a hatful for Leicester then we make have to reassess. At this time, Bilic’s ability to make the right call is supported by performances elsewhere.
COYI
David Griffith