Think all his injuries have just accelerated his decline, seems to have lost that little bit of acceleration he used to have.
Injuries may have has some impact, but he was never rapid. He has never been a player who put fear in defenders with his pace.
As I said before, when you have a slight frame and aren't physically imposing, to compensate for this you need to be either A.rapid or B.technically great on the ball. He is neither.
Sturridge, who we would rank among our second tier fowards, ie. great but short of being world class, had far more to his game than Jota.
From the day he arrived, Jota has only ever been a bench option. But for Nunez stinking the place out that's where he would be now. In fact he should be regardless, as there are far better options, Nunez included, than starting a physical lightweight in the side whose contribution to general play is negligible. The reason we got to this final was the performance of Nunez. 100% I'd have started him, if we were playing with a #9, if not then Jones as an extra midfielder.
And Jota is 28. So this is not a case of a player the wrong side of 30 (Mo).
Too often he is a passenger. And we cannot carry passengers at this level.
With such nothingness upfront, the focal point of attack, also hinders the others. Without Firmino neither Mo or Mane do what they did. Or to use a more physical forward, without Heskey to feed off Owen does not do what he did. When Jota plays there, a complete lightweight and not particularly creative, the others have nothing to work off.
Tidy finisher, and had he been on the field for pens we'd have been very confident he would have scored as he did at a crucial point in the FA Cup final after Sadio had missed, but you need more than that to be a starting #9 at this club, and the same applies with Portugal.
When we are on top and camped in the opposition half, then Jota comes into his own, as he can finish chances. But in a more even game, when more is asked of the #9, he is lacking, and in such games is largely anonymous.
