He most definitely didn't peak in his debut season at Millwall :roll:

If he doesn't get an offer he'll end up back in the J-League or something.

Hope he gets a new contract in europe and one day returns to Perth , who helped him become the player he is today.

God I love the haters...

Lucas was a late bloomer.
What the hell is Frank Arok talking about? I've never heard such a thing.
Has anybody read 'Why England Lose: And other curious phenomena explained'. It's a good read and talks about this very subject. A player isn't a sure bet until he is about Ruka's age and I expect that's why FC Twente picked him up. I hope he gets another contract in Europe and learns a bit more. You can teach someone technique but you can't teach them raw speed.

great raw talent if he puts on 2-3 really good impact player types roles to show off his raw pace and such i cant see why a semi-decent euro team wouldnt pick him up.

also even if he is in the top 10 worst players at the WC(im not saying he is) he cant be that bad since he's actually AT the WC

good first post

:shock:













[size=1]is he stalking us? i'm scared mum![/size]

He was in the Belgian first division spankerton...and although Belgian football is technically called semi-professional, it's still a very high standard. And why didn't you just say that comment first, instead of something stupid like 'he's one of the worst ten players at the world cup'...of course people are going respond to that

I was suprised he got let go for the price he was bought for and the game time he was given. He probably shouldn't come home just yet. He has a lot to offer in Europe. A goal or two in the world cup would help his cause no end.

all you need to know is pim has picked him in our NT. that itself speaks volumes.

I didn't agree with your first post Spankerton, but I did with the last post. I loved the guy when he was with us (The Glory), but even in his last season with us defenders had worked him out, totally dependant on his left side and his speed.

I think back to what Frank Arok used to say, "if a player hasn't shown 'it' by the time they are 11 years old, they're not going to ever show it". Nikita will improve with experience and/or game time, but he'll never be the player that some people are making him out to be

The parochial reactions to my last post show how small minded and myopic most fans are in this country. I hope the guy does become a good player but let's face it when he was in the A League he was OK but speed was really his only weapon. Hios movement wasn't great, he could't head the ball etc.

Which is why he has been on loan to a semi professional club in the Belgian Second Division, playing with plumbers and accountants. He may be youngish but he's not 18, so if he's going to be any good he's got to improve his game and do it quickly. As I said earlier I hope he does.

But Jesus, a lot of people on this forum need to look beyond this country and put it's football and footballers into a global perspective.

I would say the worst forumite would have to be :cool cat: all he does is bag everyone , knock everything, a disgrace really

I often regret that the fathers of some forumites peaked when they did... :-"

he's got a sick surname so thats 30% of job done. can see him playing in turkey or something, wont go to england. maybe german 2nd division or lower level eridevese

I think some people peaked before they uttered their first words on this forum ;)

Ruka will improve maybe not in the same vein as messi or a young kewell but ruka has the makings to become an accomplished striker. It can only benefit australia if this is the case and I don't think his age has anything to do with it. if he fades out of the spotlight fair enough but he's in the squad because he impressed Pim and from what I've seen of him at glory, he's was worth bringing into the 23 man squad.

Good luck to him finding a new club, I don't expect him to start but he can certainly do the role that kennedy was giving in 06 and hopefully he'll strike in a goal or two if he gets the chance!

...What?

Cahill was at his peak between 2006 and 2009.

Now he will probably start to decline.

Cahill was at his peak at 21.

Players can be early or late bloomers. there are no rules to how good you can get and at what age. hahahahaha douches.

Yeah and as I stated about Ruka, he HAS been getting that game time, especially in that loan stint in Belgium, where not only he was a regular starter, but he was scoring some goals too (Which not all of our striking stocks can claim)!

And the reason why Ruka, in recent times, hasn't seen more opportunity with the NT (Despite he scoring goals in Belgium), is the same reason why McDonald and some others haven't - Because of Pim's preference for one upfront. If we played a 4-4-2 or what have you, like in the Farina era, then Ruka may have even started a couple matches for Australia by now and the Kennedy-McDonald partnership would be a regular occurrence. But I must say, it's unlikely we would have made it through Asia, certainly not with our qualifying record, with Farina in charge and ofcourse we may've lost to Uruguay again in those WC 06 Qualifying play offs and IF we had qualified, we surely would not have been as well prepared so would not have performed as well once we got to Germany. Though it's unlikely Farina could've done any worse than Arnie did at the 07 Asian Cup, heck, he may've even done 'slightly' better!

So under a Pim I'm quite happy to see one upfront, infact I barely care about his formation, except that it tactically works for the scenarios it faces and by and large it did (And we qualified easily, results wise) and more than that, Pim managed and prepared the team well and is known to be a quality analyst of the game, scouting opponents etc... which all helped. /End tangent.

Edited by GloryPerth: 10/6/2010 12:29:30 AM

I dont know about Ruka he imo is a player that could of became a good player if he was born in a place that nutured his talent.

People need to understand 23 is old for a football player to be developing. By 22 you should be at least coming off the bench as a striker.

Ruka would have been a good player if he was developed properly at a young age. IMO he is to old to have "potential" Ora has potential because he is young.

Arsena Wanger "by 21 a players technical skills have to be at the peak you can improve, you can only learn to read the game better and understand the way the game is player"

well he said something like that and i personally agree...of course there is always expection to every rule.

And in the award for top 10 worst FFT forumers:

#10: Spankerton.

I hope he gets some decent game time. It looks more likely that he'll only be on the pitch if the likes of Kennedy and Kewell are not having any impact. I hope he gets some opportunity in Europe still.

In terms of game time, yes. In terms of quality, no.

Ruka has the potential to be an amazing player. I already rate him higher than Kennedy.

^^^^
Do you even watch football??

Shop window? He's one of the 10 worst players at the world cup. Not that he'll get any game time.

nothing better than a world cup goal to raise your stock price!

Too right!


What do you think about the FourFourTwo article No Oz Return For Ruka?
SOCCEROO speedster Nikita Rukavytsya has slammed the door on any talk of an A-League return with the youngster keen to remain in Europe despite his release by FC Twente.

Have your say.