Was he broken, or just not suited to the EPL? Those players that were bought in with the Bale money, were under the 'Moneyball' experiment, with a heavy reliance on statistics. AVB didn't want most of the players that were signed during that period.
Maybe cynically, but i sometimes think a player (a person) can have such a big ego which makes them fragile and vulnerable to toppling, like an upside-down pyramid. so one little slight knock and they're reeling, like not being in the team Saturday, when that gets back to their mum and sisters and friends on the street and they start texting about it, then one of their brothers goes to the press for cash and is out one night walking his dog on a rope to spend the cash and meets a man he likes who becomes his brother's new agent... i don't really know but words like snowflake and narcissist come to mind. the weaker victim side of our male psychology. i try to keep high hopes whilst managing low expectations. truth is they mostly break themselves because they aren't built of what Bill Nick or Danny Blanchflower or Dave Mackay or Graham Roberts had. they just snap like a little pencil. they're fine really, just need a new shirt and plenty of hugs. my job studies and works with male psychology WW so this is the cynical side shared with spurs people. the professional side is that such a person needs to develop themselves (with help) psychologically in order to be self-efficacious, appropriately resilient, and stop reacting from archaic victimhood and respond with their own creative/constructive chosen path forwards (all with help). Ex will better know just how much this kind of psychological assessment is done these days by our club prior to purchase and during playing years, but lemon jokes aside, i am sure Poch is very switched onto this so we don't end up with a Sanchez (Chile) or Ooozil type. We all need support as men, but much of it needs to start within self if it is to be healthy man. To briefly add there's considered to be around 5 psychological levels that all people can develop or NOT develop through. The second bottom level is child stuff and clearly this needs to be gone beyond for someone in high stakes professional environment. it's part of their job. look at someone like Toby, i love his human maturity. Jimmy too, i just love as a man how much self-respect he has had, didn't put his ire out their, got on with life and has been beloved by many. Ali is different. Gazza was too. it can of course be very delicate and difficult to dictate exactly what to do. sorry, long post but like you i get pissed off with how glib stuff like "spurs broke me" can be used by players and media.
Sorry Mutters , should have been “ under Jol with Fulham “......... not “us “ .
