Olabade Aluko

[sm1]

Its a wonder what our managers watch. Luke is rubbish and Ricky badly out of form, and still Aluko has barely played all season. 

Edited 15 February by sm1

[JimJams]

3 minutes ago, Pliskin said:

it’s so sad to see what’s happened to Riccy, would we consider making him more of a coach? Get him on the sidelines? 

For any reason other than sentimentality?

He's shown he's not captain material.  Quite possible he's not coaching material either.  

[Clever Fox]

8 hours ago, kenny said:

Unfairly hooked.

 

Kristiansen and aluko are clearly first choice fullbacks, but you get the feeling king reverts to tried and tested next match.

I just couldn't see the logic in taking them both off for Ricky anf Thomas and again thats what possibly cost us the game. 

 

I thought Aluko was possibly our best  player along with Nelson. He brings an energy to the position that we haven't seen for years.

 

We need to sign a few high tempo players like him when we get back to signing players. Just a breath of fresh air.

[PSR Fox]

I like Aluko & he clearly cares . He needs game time to get settled but he struggles to come inside & play centre midfield when we are in possession which is how the team ate playing, that’s something that only Ricardo has been able to do effectively . Hamza looked suspect in there & Aluko has really struggled with that part of the game .

 

If you are looking for a full back to get up & down the wing to support the winger then Aluko is the best we have.

[Tommy Fresh]

3 minutes ago, PSR Fox said:

I like Aluko & he clearly cares . He needs game time to get settled but he struggles to come inside & play centre midfield when we are in possession which is how the team ate playing, that’s something that only Ricardo has been able to do effectively . Hamza looked suspect in there & Aluko has really struggled with that part of the game .

 

If you are looking for a full back to get up & down the wing to support the winger then Aluko is the best we have.

Have him move in to centre half then from left back

[Chelmofox]

4 minutes ago, PSR Fox said:

I like Aluko & he clearly cares . He needs game time to get settled but he struggles to come inside & play centre midfield when we are in possession which is how the team ate playing, that’s something that only Ricardo has been able to do effectively . Hamza looked suspect in there & Aluko has really struggled with that part of the game .

 

If you are looking for a full back to get up & down the wing to support the winger then Aluko is the best we have.

Ricardo is play certainly not doing it effectively!

[PSR Fox]

Just now, Tommy Fresh said:

Have him move in to centre half then from left back

He can quite comfortably play there don’t get me wrong but I personally feel Nelson & Okoli have been ok so don’t need replacing at the moment . 
 

I feel the full back area is where he is best suited IMO

[PSR Fox]

1 minute ago, Chelmofox said:

Ricardo is play certainly not doing it effectively!

He is struggling in the full back area & there has clearly been a decline in that area of his game .

 

But of the 3 options ( Ricardo , Hamza & Aluko) he is still the best on the ball when he comes inside to play in the CDM role . 
 

That was the point of my post .

[Buzzell]

8 minutes ago, PSR Fox said:

He can quite comfortably play there don’t get me wrong but I personally feel Nelson & Okoli have been ok so don’t need replacing at the moment . 
 

I feel the full back area is where he is best suited IMO

Okoli is a terrible defender and an absolute liability and Nelson is suspect at times. If anything, if Lascelles isn’t fit, then Aluko should be given a go there because he’s looked decent there.

[Buzzell]

11 minutes ago, PSR Fox said:

He is struggling in the full back area & there has clearly been a decline in that area of his game .

 

But of the 3 options ( Ricardo , Hamza & Aluko) he is still the best on the ball when he comes inside to play in the CDM role . 
 

That was the point of my post .

I honestly wonder if Ricardo could play a more holding role in midfield instead of being at fullback. He’s capable with the ball at his feet but has lost a few yards of pace so always wondered if there’s a role there for him next to somebody like Skipp.

[Tommy Fresh]

20 minutes ago, PSR Fox said:

He can quite comfortably play there don’t get me wrong but I personally feel Nelson & Okoli have been ok so don’t need replacing at the moment . 
 

I feel the full back area is where he is best suited IMO

I'm saying play full back but move him in to centre back as and when the other full back moves forwards

[PSR Fox]

5 minutes ago, Buzzell said:

I honestly wonder if Ricardo could play a more holding role in midfield instead of being at fullback. He’s capable with the ball at his feet but has lost a few yards of pace so always wondered if there’s a role there for him next to somebody like Skipp.

I think he is more than capable of playing the role I seem to remember Enzo starting him there for 1 game during the 23/24 season.

 

 

 

[LCFCJohn]

7 hours ago, PSR Fox said:

I like Aluko & he clearly cares . He needs game time to get settled but he struggles to come inside & play centre midfield when we are in possession which is how the team ate playing, that’s something that only Ricardo has been able to do effectively . Hamza looked suspect in there & Aluko has really struggled with that part of the game .

 

If you are looking for a full back to get up & down the wing to support the winger then Aluko is the best we have.

Maybe we just accept Maresca has gone and drop the stupid system then? It’s not working for us. We don’t look solid in the middle and look massively vulnerable in the full back areas whilst our wingers are isolated. A much better way to use the full backs would be them bombing on the overlap and providing support to the wingers. This bringing them in field achieves nothing.

[DJW1]

1 hour ago, LCFCJohn said:

Maybe we just accept Maresca has gone and drop the stupid system then? It’s not working for us. We don’t look solid in the middle and look massively vulnerable in the full back areas whilst our wingers are isolated. A much better way to use the full backs would be them bombing on the overlap and providing support to the wingers. This bringing them in field achieves nothing.

Yes, in a 4-4-2

[LCFCJohn]

4 minutes ago, DJW1 said:

Yes, in a 4-4-2

Doesn’t have to be 4-4-2.

 

The key would be a proper defensive midfielder. Obviously not Kante as he was a one off but someone who can offer us a similar assurance in that the central area of the pitch is covered. This would avoid the need to think that one of the full backs has to come into this area. 
 

If you had this, you could play with the 2 8’s either side and 2 full backs with the licence to get forward. It requires the discipline to say not all 4 of them to go at the same time. 
 

Just feels that way you are not leaving a particular area of your defence exposed whist also having the capability to overload the opposition going forwards. 

[Chelmofox]

11 hours ago, PSR Fox said:

He is struggling in the full back area & there has clearly been a decline in that area of his game .

 

But of the 3 options ( Ricardo , Hamza & Aluko) he is still the best on the ball when he comes inside to play in the CDM role . 
 

That was the point of my post .

So let me get this right.

 

You don't think Aluko is a good as Riccy as playing in a system that hasn't worked for us since the 2nd half of the Enzo season (when he got exploited horribly by Millwall, Plymouth etc), and that Riccy can barely play himself. I've not seen many decent moves from Riccy in midfield, and when gets caught out (there are a lot of misplaced passes from him), he cant track back. Teams have been exploiting this for nearly 2 years.

 

At RB, Aluko looked like a huge upgrade on Riccy and was very good getting forward as well. 

 

I would suggest that we are nearly at the point where Riccy can't play Aluko's system anymore, and Aluko has the added benefit of being able to play CB or LB.

[LCFCCKEANO]

3 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

So let me get this right.

 

You don't think Aluko is a good as Riccy as playing in a system that hasn't worked for us since the 2nd half of the Enzo season (when he got exploited horribly by Millwall, Plymouth etc), and that Riccy can barely play himself. I've not seen many decent moves from Riccy in midfield, and when gets caught out (there are a lot of misplaced passes from him), he cant track back. Teams have been exploiting this for nearly 2 years.

 

At RB, Aluko looked like a huge upgrade on Riccy and was very good getting forward as well. 

 

I would suggest that we are nearly at the point where Riccy can't play Aluko's system anymore, and Aluko has the added benefit of being able to play CB or LB.

Aluko is also a tall lad and you’d expect the back post stuff would improve on his side, and he doesn’t seem too weak despite his build. On the attacking end he had some really quite excellent moments against Southampton they were just negated immediately by whoever he’d give the ball to afterwards. Out of him, Monga and Page he is the one who has shown the most ‘starting senior’ quality for me, Monga as a close second for his early part of the season 

[dmayne7]

10 minutes ago, LCFCCKEANO said:

Aluko is also a tall lad and you’d expect the back post stuff would improve on his side, and he doesn’t seem too weak despite his build. On the attacking end he had some really quite excellent moments against Southampton they were just negated immediately by whoever he’d give the ball to afterwards. Out of him, Monga and Page he is the one who has shown the most ‘starting senior’ quality for me, Monga as a close second for his early part of the season 

Personally I think he's looked a lot more dubious than some people have made out, and I say that as somebody who was desperate for him to be involved. Definitely would get him in the team but he does tend to switch off and go AWOL defensively (even moreso than some of these other jesters).

 

But he's definitely bottom of those 3 in terms of his 'starting quality'. Monga gets doubled up on immediately and whilst he does have to get used to that, he shows that when he has a little space he can make good decisions and carry a threat. Should be given a run of games over Mavididi. Page is a completely different beast from the start of the season and he should be a certain starter, at least whilst James is out. Aluko's big advantage is that the other full backs have been absolutely cack when they've played.

 

Unfortunately, I suspect all 3 might find game time limited for the next 14 games and whilst I'm not happy about it, I can't blame Rowett too much given it's going to be hard to trust a bunch of kids to handle the pressure (even though they'd do a better job of that then their more senior team mates)

[Chelmofox]

22 minutes ago, dmayne7 said:

Personally I think he's looked a lot more dubious than some people have made out, and I say that as somebody who was desperate for him to be involved. Definitely would get him in the team but he does tend to switch off and go AWOL defensively (even moreso than some of these other jesters).

Footmob rated him 7.6 in the FA Cup, our 2nd highest rated player. Nothing dubious about him at all, and if i'm right, the first time he's had significant minutes in his preferred position.

Edited 17 February by Chelmofox

[dmayne7]

45 minutes ago, Chelmofox said:

Footmob rated him 7.6 in the FA Cup, our 2nd highest rated player. Nothing dubious about him at all, and if i'm right, the first time he's had significant minutes in his preferred position.

I really like him but he was weak in the build up for the penalty they got (Skipp then Okoli the main culprits) and Edozie caused him loads of problems. He does get caught out a lot. And those rating systems are massively flawed so I'd rather rely on what I saw happen.

 

As I say, big fan and would rather he was in the team than any other option on either side just think he looks a lot more raw than he did in pre season

[honeybradger]

21 minutes ago, dmayne7 said:

I really like him but he was weak in the build up for the penalty they got (Skipp then Okoli the main culprits) and Edozie caused him loads of problems. He does get caught out a lot. And those rating systems are massively flawed so I'd rather rely on what I saw happen.

 

As I say, big fan and would rather he was in the team than any other option on either side just think he looks a lot more raw than he did in pre season

He does make defensive errors but so does everyone else.

 

This team desperately needs extra athleticism, especially in the fullback position, which Aluko provides.

 

Aluko is also young so with gametime he is more likely to iron out those mistakes, whereas in Ricky's case he seems to be getting more error prone each week.

[LCFCCKEANO]

1 hour ago, dmayne7 said:

Personally I think he's looked a lot more dubious than some people have made out, and I say that as somebody who was desperate for him to be involved. Definitely would get him in the team but he does tend to switch off and go AWOL defensively (even moreso than some of these other jesters).

 

But he's definitely bottom of those 3 in terms of his 'starting quality'. Monga gets doubled up on immediately and whilst he does have to get used to that, he shows that when he has a little space he can make good decisions and carry a threat. Should be given a run of games over Mavididi. Page is a completely different beast from the start of the season and he should be a certain starter, at least whilst James is out. Aluko's big advantage is that the other full backs have been absolutely cack when they've played.

 

Unfortunately, I suspect all 3 might find game time limited for the next 14 games and whilst I'm not happy about it, I can't blame Rowett too much given it's going to be hard to trust a bunch of kids to handle the pressure (even though they'd do a better job of that then their more senior team mates)

Do think the 3 are fairly close together at the current moment and that the other two probably have significantly more potential. Having said that Page looks extremely raw, and Monga has fallen off a cliff lately (albeit has been doubled up on). Same time, Aluko I would say seemed to get targeted vs Southampton, and held his won pretty well. The penalty wasn’t ideal but as easy as it was to get into the position for the foul, I have genuinely no clue what Okoli is even thinking to dive in like that. That should have been a half chance, not a penalty.

 

I’d have Aluko starting here on out beside Lascelles when he is back, I would be rotating Monga and Page would be a back up for the 10 role until he develops enough to be back in the 8, which I think is his natural position. Aluko could also give us the flexibility to go from a 4 at the back to a 3 pretty easily, and from his interviews Rowett values the positional flexibility highly and likes to start players with adjustment in mind, think out of the 3 he is most likely to give Aluko trust.

[Shane]

Anyone know if he’s injured tonight? Our other fullbacks shouldn’t be starting ahead of him

[Mark]

14 minutes ago, Shane said:

Anyone know if he’s injured tonight? Our other fullbacks shouldn’t be starting ahead of him

Gone the same way as Page, Monga and Mukasa in favour of those experienced at failing

[moore_94]

Called up to England under 20s