Sometimes our expectation levels lead to us demanding too much too early when it comes to new signings.
I must admit I am as guilty as the next man when it comes to Carlos Mendes Gomes.
Recently, here on Vital Luton Town, I ran the following article – the-carlos-mendes-gomes-mystery – which reflected on why our summer signing had failed to get many match minutes.
As if by magic, Nathan Jones explained that the lad needed time to adjust to his new surroundings on and off the pitch.
With a raft of summer signings thrust upon us, it was, perhaps, easy to forget that Carlos was making a huge step up when it came to his career, moving from League Two to the Championship, a move that demands an adjustment of skill sets, attitude, fitness and sharpness.
Recently, especially last night, Carlos has started to be given match time, with Nathan obviously trusting the lad.
Coming on in the 74th minute last night, Carlo showed some of his abilities, providing the assist that Danny Hylton capably converted from close range.
However, there were some aspects of his game that still need working on, his decision making needs to be quicker, being one example.
But his efforts last night were appreciated by those who post on social media, as the following posts illustrate:
Good cameo from the bench today lad keep improving and aiming higher boy
— Heather Trott (@Jxydxn___) September 15, 2021
Quality tonight Carlos 🤝🤝
— h (@ltfchaz) September 15, 2021
Assist number one of many!
— 𝗧𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗲 (@TraceTrace04) September 15, 2021
Great impact tonight Carlos!
— Mat Phillips (@MatPhillips2) September 15, 2021
Sat here in the editorial chair, I have every reason to believe that Carlos will be a huge success at Kenilworth Road, but, like myself, patience is a virtue we must all show as he settles into what could be considered the foreboding environment that the Championship is.
COYH’s
Should The Championship Have VAR?
Yes!
No!
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I think you are right with carlos , needs a season to settle in get up to speed with the higher level . By the end of Christmas we could be looking at our next star , working alongside JC and DH he will learn from them . As someone said a while back next season we could see a team really pushing on with carlos as the main man up front . Coyh
It was obvious he wouldn’t feature much before Christmas as is he needs to strengthen a lot to cope with the physical demands.
The biggest barrier further up the football pyramid is the physical barrier, even a change from premier league mid-table to title challengers requires increased physicality to cope with the expectations.
Raheem Sterling went through it and CMG will have to as well. Otherwise he would either get fouled all the time, lose his 1v1s and duels and only make an impact the limited time he has a bit of time on the ball.
CMG will be a revelation after Christmas but its not like Adebayo who had the physical foundation to compete straight away, the leap from lg2 to championship is mainly in terms of speed and strength rather than technical.