LamieRobertson
Not awoke
I'll go with this...but would add that often Ali took the wrong option...probably keen to impress and make an impact rather than make a decision for the team....Locadia was I thought ok especially first half
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[Albion] Which one of our BIG Eredivisie signings took his chance last night?
- Thread starter Bozza
- Start date
I'll go with this...but would add that often Ali took the wrong option...probably keen to impress and make an impact rather than make a decision for the team....Locadia was I thought ok especially first half
Charlie Austin , came on with fire in his belly , got the winner.
That's what you want from your striking understudy.
Locadia - I've nearly seen enough to know this signing won't work out for us in the prem.
Ali J - Didn't have a great game but not too concerned , wingers are like that. Pretty sure he can help us this season.
That's what you want from your striking understudy.
Locadia - I've nearly seen enough to know this signing won't work out for us in the prem.
Ali J - Didn't have a great game but not too concerned , wingers are like that. Pretty sure he can help us this season.
MattBackHome
Well-known member
- Jul 7, 2003
- 11,730
Yeah I'm with you.
Locadia certainly put in more effort than I've seen him do in the past, and made a number of decent runs which were ignored. The worry is that when he was targeted he was rarely on the same wavelength as whoever was passing to him.
Bizarre midfield shape from CH, with Gross in an ineffective deep lying playmaker role behind Kayal & Bissouma (who was excellent again).
Well that isn't entirely true, Alireza looked like he really fancied running at players and beating them with tight control when he had the ball at his feet. However, he's not going to overlap the full back on a through ball and play it first time often.
For what it is worth, I thought Locadia looked alright but was playing a bit of a thankless role. He's clearly comfortable with the ball at his feet but we seemed to be intent on not giving him the ball in the area. Couple of golden opportunities to pass to Locadia in acres of space last night but we (Gyokeres in particular) seemed far more intent on laying it off to a midfielder to shoot from outside the area. I reckon if we put the ball in the area and he's on the end of it, he'll score 9/10.
spanish flair
Well-known member
How much was that decision due to the fee we paid for Locadia rather than the impact either player had on the team Personally I would rather have kept Hemed and I am really concerned as to how important Andone is a success, our striking options depend on it
agree with all this.
Locadia could be our Van Wolfswinkle. People been jumoping in to defend him and that's fair enough but at some point it goes from a few , then many , then the majority , then everyone in knowing when a player wont be a fit for the side. We've all seen the same thing with numerous players over the years. For me , the jury was out and whilst I am loathed to completely write off , I'd say it's pretty obvious Locadia isn't going to work.
Lot of pressure on Andone.
Madness getting rid of Hemed IMO.
Just a shame we looked ot have the strikers well sorted early summer but somehow we are now weaker than last year.
the right footed denilson
New member
I wasn't there but I will add...
I'm almost certain many Albion supporters have gotten a little confused about AJ- he is absolutely not a rapid, tricky winger. He's a an inside forward/attacking midfielder. He will need to adapt to the pace and physicality of the English game- he'll also need to build up a rapport with his teammates too as his game is clearly much more team- focussed than a traditional winger (who just gets his head down and runs). He'll need time but I think he has the attributes to be a top player.
Locadia on the other hand looks lost. He looks like a Man U player- unsure of his position or the managers instruction and bereft of belief. No idea what the solution is to that.
I'm almost certain many Albion supporters have gotten a little confused about AJ- he is absolutely not a rapid, tricky winger. He's a an inside forward/attacking midfielder. He will need to adapt to the pace and physicality of the English game- he'll also need to build up a rapport with his teammates too as his game is clearly much more team- focussed than a traditional winger (who just gets his head down and runs). He'll need time but I think he has the attributes to be a top player.
Locadia on the other hand looks lost. He looks like a Man U player- unsure of his position or the managers instruction and bereft of belief. No idea what the solution is to that.
the right footed denilson
New member
Agreed about Hemed too. He deserves to be in the squad currently.
casbom
Well-known member
- Jul 24, 2007
- 2,581
Everyone slagging off Ali J need to remember he is the type of player who needs to time to settle in and time to show what he can do. If you read anything on him when he went to the first Dutch club it took him like a year to be worthy of a first team place. When he went to AZ, it took him 6 months before he was a regular member of the first team, even then I think it was because their right winger got injured but he took his chance and he never looked back.
So for me, I'm going to be patient with how he plays.
As for Locadia I'm not sure whether he's going to fit into the team. I guess he is almost the Baldock replacement as needs to play in a 2. Maybe when we're chasing the game he'll come on along side Murray/And-one, not instead of them.
So for me, I'm going to be patient with how he plays.
As for Locadia I'm not sure whether he's going to fit into the team. I guess he is almost the Baldock replacement as needs to play in a 2. Maybe when we're chasing the game he'll come on along side Murray/And-one, not instead of them.
Not writing him off, but any signing we bring him in needs to ‘hit the ground running’, at £17m I also don’t think that is an unreasonable expectation.
There is no time for ‘bedding in’ in the PL.
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Personally think it's difficult, and perhaps a tad unfair, to compare either with our other options when they were in a side that was unlikely to provide anything like the same level of understanding or service.If Ali J had Bruno or Montoya behind him, for example, or Locadia had Gross with him and Knocky/March on the wings then we might have seen more of what they're hopefully capable of..........
Locadia - some nice touches, looks strong and reasonably pacy. Seemed to spend a lot of the time looking for someone to either give to, or run off, but there was usually no-one close enough - looks like he needs a 442 or 433 formation because he looks unable to play a lone striker role. No idea how he is going to fit into the formations CH usually uses. Doesn't have the required work ethic yet either.
Ali J - quick and skillful, and defends well so looks to fit the CH winger requirement in that respect. However, for me he was drifting inside (looking for the ball) far too often when we needed width - but I think that's how he usually plays. Gross seemed to look to the wing quite often, but Ali wasn't there. Think there is enough there to be encouraged though.
Both were totally eclipsed by Bissouma though. Going to be a star.
Locadia - some nice touches, looks strong and reasonably pacy. Seemed to spend a lot of the time looking for someone to either give to, or run off, but there was usually no-one close enough - looks like he needs a 442 or 433 formation because he looks unable to play a lone striker role. No idea how he is going to fit into the formations CH usually uses. Doesn't have the required work ethic yet either.
Ali J - quick and skillful, and defends well so looks to fit the CH winger requirement in that respect. However, for me he was drifting inside (looking for the ball) far too often when we needed width - but I think that's how he usually plays. Gross seemed to look to the wing quite often, but Ali wasn't there. Think there is enough there to be encouraged though.
Both were totally eclipsed by Bissouma though. Going to be a star.
Kneon Light
Well-known member
Seen a lot of people saying that Locadia showed he couldn't play the Murray role. Feel that is really harsh on him as he had no support whatsoever.
When Murray plays alone upfront he at least has Gross alongside or at least close to him. Yesterday was basically the same formation but with Gross playing behind the midfield two instead of infront of them. This led to the striker (Locadia in this instance) being hopelessly isolated. Not sure Murray could have done much more in such a defensive formation and I have no idea why we changed the usual formation - it certainly wouldn't help prepare Locadia if he needed to step in.
I thought in these circumstances Locadia played well and held the ball up reasonably well on his chest a few times. He had a nice touch and rarely gave the ball away BUT he needs someone closer to him - even if it is Gross in an advanced role.
AJ had a shocker imo but it's early days and certainly not writing him off.
When Murray plays alone upfront he at least has Gross alongside or at least close to him. Yesterday was basically the same formation but with Gross playing behind the midfield two instead of infront of them. This led to the striker (Locadia in this instance) being hopelessly isolated. Not sure Murray could have done much more in such a defensive formation and I have no idea why we changed the usual formation - it certainly wouldn't help prepare Locadia if he needed to step in.
I thought in these circumstances Locadia played well and held the ball up reasonably well on his chest a few times. He had a nice touch and rarely gave the ball away BUT he needs someone closer to him - even if it is Gross in an advanced role.
AJ had a shocker imo but it's early days and certainly not writing him off.
Murray 17
Well-known member
- Jul 6, 2003
- 2,159
That's a possibility, although Chris has shown in the past that he rarely puts new players into the first team as soon as they join. He waits until he thinks they're ready.
I don't think Hemed is a PL striker, but I feel he's better than JL at the moment.
To be fair on Locadia, he's only been here for 6 months, of which the first two were ruled out for injury. It took Jose MONTHS to look any good at all and as others have said, Ryan, Propper and also Gross were written off early last season. Locadia is in the same boat as AJ for me, consider him a signing for this summer. He needs to be slowly blooded in over a number of weeks.
I really don't know how anyone can make any informed judgements on any players this early in the season.
ewe2
Well-known member
The problem,as i see it is that in the whole scheme of things,these two players are not expensive. .........(Although to us they are )
- Aug 8, 2005
- 26,556
Locadia did the odd nice thing, but nothing to suggest that he is anywhere near replacing either of our current attacking options.
Ali J did just okay. It is hard to judge wingers in a poor team performance because he just didn't get the ball very often and when he did he was generally not one on one with a full back. So 4/10 for Locadia, 6/10 for Ali J.
Ali J did just okay. It is hard to judge wingers in a poor team performance because he just didn't get the ball very often and when he did he was generally not one on one with a full back. So 4/10 for Locadia, 6/10 for Ali J.