"He is not a fighter"- Fulham boss criticises Lewis Holtby

[whitesocks]

Going against the grain here but i can see a little what Felix is saying. I like Lewis, he's technically pretty sound,a nice passer, and he does work his socks off and run around a lot. But he's one of these players who just doesn't know how to tackle or get his foot stuck in. He'll run all day, chase back and shadow but ask him to tackle and i've never seen him make a good one. ...
The question is whether Lewis is good enough to play for us as a number 10. I like him but for me he isn't quite good enough. Sorry!

Agree with this but will add that he has goals in him, and that cant be a bad thing.
However, he never made a position his own under AVB, and I feel Eriksen effectively replaced him as our Am/wide creative.

Many fans love his enthusiasm though, and since we cannot provide anything else for them to cheer, then sure, lets keep him and give him some games - what difference does it make?

 

[slartibartfast]

What a twat. Feel my gash can do one.
Thats all I have to contribute.

 

[ConfusedOnlooker]

Going against the grain here but i can see a little what Felix is saying. I like Lewis, he's technically pretty sound,a nice passer, and he does work his socks off and run around a lot. But he's one of these players who just doesn't know how to tackle or get his foot stuck in. He'll run all day, chase back and shadow but ask him to tackle and i've never seen him make a good one. He's a bit like Soldado in this respect, who often comes on and gives away bad fouls, because he just doesn't do tackling properly.
Rafa Van Der Vaart was similar but due to his position playing as a number 10 it didn't matter if he didn't tackle so much. (But like the other two, if he ever did make a tackle i'd always be worried he'd get sent off!). The question is whether Lewis is good enough to play for us as a number 10. I like him but for me he isn't quite good enough. Sorry!

Pretty much as wrong as you can get, given that the only Fulham player to manage more tackles per game than Lewis was Steve Sidwell, and he committed very few fouls.

http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/ben-mcaleer/lewis-holtby-england-germany_b_5199131.html

 

[Lufti]

Going against the grain here but i can see a little what Felix is saying. I like Lewis, he's technically pretty sound,a nice passer, and he does work his socks off and run around a lot. But he's one of these players who just doesn't know how to tackle or get his foot stuck in. He'll run all day, chase back and shadow but ask him to tackle and i've never seen him make a good one. He's a bit like Soldado in this respect, who often comes on and gives away bad fouls, because he just doesn't do tackling properly.
Rafa Van Der Vaart was similar but due to his position playing as a number 10 it didn't matter if he didn't tackle so much. (But like the other two, if he ever did make a tackle i'd always be worried he'd get sent off!). The question is whether Lewis is good enough to play for us as a number 10. I like him but for me he isn't quite good enough. Sorry!

Gettin' kinda bored of constantly saying this to people who keep saying that he can't tackle, but he actually holds the PL record for most tackles in a game this season, plus he averages 3.1 tackles a game - higher than ANY Tottenham player. So go and work out how that can be if he can't tackle..

 

[Lufti]

I live not far from Craven Cottage so I know a fair few Fulham fans

Those I have spoken to about Holtby were not impressed either to be fair


I think they were maybe expecting more and had unrealistic expectations for such a young player still adapting to a new country and then having to adjust to yet another new club

I have to admit from watching Fulham highlights only I thought he'd done pretty well - he seemed to get the odd goal and assist, but I have to respect the views of those Fulham fans who've watched him for the regularly for 90mins

I'd be lying if I said I was not hoping for him to be more of a success there - but ultimately I don't care what he does for them I care about how his development there helps him perform for us. So I hope his time there was a good learning experience and the game time has benefitted him in a way that will result in him playing well for us (just like Carroll at QPR who's not played as well for them as I'd have expected either)

All that really matters is how well they go on to play for us - this is all part of a young players development, gaining experience and adapting to first team PL football in the long run to oerform to their best for us.

Who cares what Fulham's manager has to say?

Gotta be honest, he's had a lot of praise from the Fulham fans I've seen on the other forums - I posted a fair bit of it the loan watch thread. Maybe the ones you've spoken to either have very unrealistic expectations or don't really know what they're on about?

 

[UbeAstard]

Going against the grain here but i can see a little what Felix is saying. I like Lewis, he's technically pretty sound,a nice passer, and he does work his socks off and run around a lot. But he's one of these players who just doesn't know how to tackle or get his foot stuck in. He'll run all day, chase back and shadow but ask him to tackle and i've never seen him make a good one. He's a bit like Soldado in this respect, who often comes on and gives away bad fouls, because he just doesn't do tackling properly.
Rafa Van Der Vaart was similar but due to his position playing as a number 10 it didn't matter if he didn't tackle so much. (But like the other two, if he ever did make a tackle i'd always be worried he'd get sent off!). The question is whether Lewis is good enough to play for us as a number 10. I like him but for me he isn't quite good enough. Sorry!

How does that make him 'not a fighter'? No one said that about Paul Scholes

 

[mawspurs]

I believe he and the manager have history from Germany that is carrying over here. I can see no other reason for the comments.

 

[worcestersauce]

Perhaps Lewis had let it be known that he didn't want to stay at Fulham permanently.