With many of the Middlesbrough faithful keen for manager Tony Pulis to address the lack of pace in the team, the arrival of Huddersfield’s Rajiv van La Parra looked to have answered their prayers.
However, van La Parra’s start to life on Teesside has been far from straight forward, with the Dutchman yet to start a Championship game for Middlesbrough. The most time he has played in a fixture in any competition for the North-East side has been 45 minutes, and Pulis has revealed his reasoning.
In an interview which appeared on Gazette Live, the Boro boss explained that the winger is simply yet to settle in.
“I still don’t think he’s found his feet and that takes time” said Pulis. “For some people it takes them a lot longer.”
“It took Sav [George Saville] quite a while to settle in and he’s been fantastic over the last month but it took us three or four months to get Sav up to speed with what we wanted and what we didn’t want. Sometimes it happens, sometimes it doesn’t.
“You can hit the ground running like John [John Obi Mikel] has or you can be one of those players like Sav where it takes time.
“It’s not just about playing a game of football it’s about getting your life in order and everything else and this is what happens with the lads.”
van La Parra has been subject to short cameos off the substitutes bench and has been impressive in a small number of minutes on the pitch. He will be hoping for more chances between now and the end of the season, as Boro push for promotion.
