Time is running out for Huntelaar

There have been many cases where world class footballers move to a new club and where for some reason or another, they struggle to show their talents and end up being total flops. Such an occurrence may be due to sheer bad luck or poor form, maybe injury or perhaps the coach is the reason. One suspects most of the time however it is perhaps a combination of these.

The point is that, just because a player possesses undoubted class does not mean that he will always be a success no matter where he plays. Many things can and do go wrong and for this reason there are many cases of big time football flops. Shevchenko’s move to Chelsea is one, as was Veron’s move from Lazio to Manchester United and Mendieta’s move to Lazio from Valencia, just to name a few.

Now, I have to admit that I did not watch the entire match the other night against Novara, however, having seen enough to get an idea of the performance of Huntelaar, one suspects that he may soon just be considered a total flop too.

Many of you may seem shocked by my mentioning of this as I have repeatedly voiced my belief and faith in Huntelaar’s ability and I have even pushed for him to replace Borriello in the starting lineup. This is a view that I still hold, though, I have to admit it is to a lessening degree.

The midweek Coppa Italia game served as a great chance for Huntelaar to stake his claim for a starting berth. I had high hopes that he would seize his chance and make Leo perhaps think twice before he awarded Borriello the starting berth for the match tonight against Siena. However, this did not happen as Huntelaar was a total flop in the match and though he did go off injured after an hour, his hour performance surely did nothing to sway Leo’s thoughts.

The fear is as time go on, with the second half of the season now well underway, Huntelaar’s time may just run out. If things continue as they are for him, he will surely be regarded as a total flop and will probably be offloaded in the summer if not before.

Many will claim that his failure to perform against Novara was proof that he is simply not deserving of receiving more first team action. However, in his defense it can be said that with the players fielded around him for the Novara match, the service was just not there for him.

Granted that this may had something to do with his poor performance, however, for a player apparently desperate for first team action and against a lesser side like Novara, he should be able to put in a better performance than he did.

And this is what is so disappointing. I still believe that Huntelaar has the ability to succeed in Italy and do well for Milan, however, I do fear that time is running out for him and even I am losing some patience with him. Just a little bit anyway.

I still contest that Huntelaar simply has not been afforded a proper chance in the Milan team that we have now and not the one we had at the start of the season. However, having started against a lesser side like Novara and being in the predicament he is, he should have done better and why he did not is mystifying.

My theory is that he simply has lost all confidence and for a striker this is a serious problem. The person at fault for this is Leo. Though Leo has arguably been justified in preferring Borriello to Huntelaar, it cannot be refuted that Leo has passed up numerous opportunities to give Huntelaar some much needed playing time. Whether by introducing him into matches with little time to spare or not introducing him at all, Leo has undermined Huntelaar’s confidence greatly and if Huntelaar proves a flop in the end, Leo will have to take some of the blame.

Unless Leo affords him more playing time and a chance to rebuild his shattered confidence then a time not so far off may just arrive where the best solution is for the Dutchman to leave. It will be a huge disappointment if this occurs. But just like the magnificent flops before him, it will not be due to a lack of talent that Huntelaar flops but rather due to a combination of reasons. Leo is one, the good form of Borriello is another but the most significant one is that Huntelaar has simply not had the luck. By this, I mean that Huntelaar was given his chance in the atrocious Milan side that we had early in the season and not the entertaining and ruthless Milan side we have now. If he can be given the playing time he was afforded early on in the season in the Milan side of now, I believe that he would do rather well.

But this is not likely to occur barring an injury to Borriello and therefore I suspect that Huntelaar’s time at Milan may be already coming to an end.