Mendieta

He was rarely played in his best position. We played him as a winger for most of his time which he never was. He never had the legs to be a winger. He should have played in a midfield 3. Some of the dross we were playing in midfield it is baffling that he never got a chance. By the time he left he probably didn't have the fitness but several years of not playing will do that to you. If he had been a regular he might have had the required fitness.

I got the impression that Southgate was trying to show leadership by dropping the senior player and playing hardball (something he also did with England) but it was a stupid decision because our midfield was mostly rubbish. is contract must have been massive so he was trying to freeze him out but it was cutting our nose off to spite our face. Even if he wasn't 1st choice he should have been on the bench/in the squad because our midfield wasn't exactly great.
 
Norman_Conquest said:
Prior to him playing for us, I always got Mendieta mixed up with Zended. I remember my son correcting me on this and me saying "I wouldn't mind either of them playing for the Boro." Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would happen.

He reminded me of this when they both made the Bor o's starting 1
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The only reason we have silverware Mendietta was superb in the final and Zenden scored.

Zenden was mediocre until the switch to the middle, then he became something else. Strange that's what brought him to the attention of Liverpool, who ridiculously put him back out on the wing.
 
Mendieta was excellent his first season for us. Probably not Valencia level good, but he oozed class.

Second season he picked up a bad injury and was never really the same (bar the Man United game, which really came out of the blue).

That season we finished 7th we lost Mendieta early on. Viduka was injured half the season. Ehiogu for most of it and Boateng for a crucial run of games (where we really struggled).

If those 4 had stayed fit I think it's almost certain we'd have finished in the top 4. We weren't that far behind Everton.
 
PhillySpecial said:
Exactly this. I'm glad he played for boro, but let's be honest, he did not stand out in the vast majority of games he played for us.
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Vast majority? Give over.

He was class the season we won the Carling cup. It was only after a bad injury the season after his form fell off a cliff. A Boro career of two halves but the second half was certainly nothing like a "vast majority".
 
indeedido said:
You talk about the relegation season and Mendieta being missed.
He left the club in June 2008, having made no appearances for his last full contracted season, 7 the entire prior season and just 31 in the 4 years after we signed him fully.

He couldn't run.

He was a brilliant player at Valencia, absolutely fabulous.
We got him on a free because he was done.
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Dunno why I thought he was still rattling round with the U21s?

I remember thinking that Karanka should have brought in Mendieta as his assistant over Hignett to help bridge the Spanish\Middlesbrough gap.. would have been pretty cool.

Maybe Karanka’s ego wouldn’t allow it.. I do feel we should have done more with Mendieta
 
festa5 said:
Vast majority? Give over.

He was class the season we won the Carling cup. It was only after a bad injury the season after his form fell off a cliff. A Boro career of two halves but the second half was certainly nothing like a "vast majority".
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I said games he stood out. I genuinely cannot think of many games he stood out. Most people only remember and refer to his game vs Man Utd, perhaps the assists vs Arsenal in the Semi's and the assist in the final. I'm not saying he was poor, but tell me all of these games he stood out.
 
wilkos_perm said:
When he first came in he wasn't the Valencia version, but he was still good until that injury vs Portsmouth. Then he sort of gradually declined but had a little resurgence around the Man Utd game. I think we changed formation slightly and he played on the right of a midfield 3 and it suited him for a bit
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That Man Utd game we played 532 for the first and only time. Not sure why we didn’t stick with it.
 
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