Sone Aluko to China!

[NewCorkSeth]

To be fair Aluko has played 208 of his 346 career total games as a winger scoring 28 of his 51 goals from there.

Hes played 94 games as an AMC scoring 19 goals and 42 games as a ST scoring 4 goals. Also 2 games as a CM. No goals.

Well, it depends how they classify winger. For example, he was often called a winger at Fulham but he wasn’t. He was more of a right forward/right attacking midfielder. Sounds pedantic but there’s quite a big difference

Erm. He played most of his games their on the Right Wing. He played 11 games as an Attacking Central Mid that season.

[Whore Jackie]

Vydra was a strange one - could see he had it in him, it just didnt quite happen. Don't think it was the system etc, though obvs lost his confidence

Never got over being released by Watford, after playing a significant role in their promotion. Properly gutted apparently.

[Hendo]

I, for one, absolutely h8 all the newfangled position classifications.

Right forward/right attacking midfielder

This also suggests that players doesn't change wings throughout a game, which is rubbish.

[Snowflake Royal]

I am amazed this was even a suggestion. oxf*rd no. No chance. He must be on 20,000 a week too. Sack him off asap. I would happily see the club pay him 10k a week for the remainder of his contract to leave.

More like 25 to 30 IMO.

[NewCorkSeth]

I, for one, absolutely h8 all the newfangled position classifications.

Right forward/right attacking midfielder

This also suggests that players doesn't change wings throughout a game, which is rubbish.

A "Right Attacking Mid" is a number 10 who either plays in a pair or a trio of attacking mids, on the right hand side. Nobody calls it that. It's just called an attacking mid.

[NewCorkSeth]

I am amazed this was even a suggestion. oxf*rd no. No chance. He must be on 20,000 a week too. Sack him off asap. I would happily see the club pay him 10k a week for the remainder of his contract to leave.

More like 25 to 30 IMO.

You have a better idea of the wage expenditure than I so you're probably correct.

[URZZZZ]

To be fair Aluko has played 208 of his 346 career total games as a winger scoring 28 of his 51 goals from there.

Hes played 94 games as an AMC scoring 19 goals and 42 games as a ST scoring 4 goals. Also 2 games as a CM. No goals.

Well, it depends how they classify winger. For example, he was often called a winger at Fulham but he wasn’t. He was more of a right forward/right attacking midfielder. Sounds pedantic but there’s quite a big difference

Erm. He played most of his games their on the Right Wing. He played 11 games as an Attacking Central Mid that season.

Well, from what I recall of Fulham that season, Aluko played very narrow for Fulham (like an attacking midfielder but drifted over to the right side) with the width on the right side coming from the overlapping Fredericks. Factor in Piazon also played a similar role to Aluko I the left hand side and he wasn’t a winger either. Infact even watching Fulham’s first goal against us when they beat us 5-0 illustrates my point

I think a while ago on one particular thread, someone compared the crossing stats between 16/17 and 17/18 which had dramatically fallen since Aluko replaces McCleary/Beerens (natural wingers). And they said on that particular thread that Aluko attempted even less crosses at Fulham than he did for us. So I’m not sure he can be classified as an out and out winger personally

Naturally though, we couldn’t emulate Fulham’s style with the width coming from the fullbacks because we had Gunter at right back who was no where near as effective as Fredericks going forward

[URZZZZ]

To be fair Aluko has played 208 of his 346 career total games as a winger scoring 28 of his 51 goals from there.

Hes played 94 games as an AMC scoring 19 goals and 42 games as a ST scoring 4 goals. Also 2 games as a CM. No goals.

Well, it depends how they classify winger. For example, he was often called a winger at Fulham but he wasn’t. He was more of a right forward/right attacking midfielder. Sounds pedantic but there’s quite a big difference

Are you actually arguing against cold, hard facts? He is a winger.

That depends how you classify winger. Can you paint him in the same brush as someone like McCleary. Absolutely not

[Old Man Andrews]

Well, it depends how they classify winger. For example, he was often called a winger at Fulham but he wasn’t. He was more of a right forward/right attacking midfielder. Sounds pedantic but there’s quite a big difference

Are you actually arguing against cold, hard facts? He is a winger.

That depends how you classify winger. Can you paint him in the same brush as someone like McCleary. Absolutely not

I count him as wherever he is officially listed as playing. He played the majority of his games in his career as a winger, he is therefore a winger.

[Stranded]

Well, it depends how they classify winger. For example, he was often called a winger at Fulham but he wasn’t. He was more of a right forward/right attacking midfielder. Sounds pedantic but there’s quite a big difference

Erm. He played most of his games their on the Right Wing. He played 11 games as an Attacking Central Mid that season.

Well, from what I recall of Fulham that season, Aluko played very narrow for Fulham (like an attacking midfielder but drifted over to the right side) with the width on the right side coming from the overlapping Fredericks. Factor in Piazon also played a similar role to Aluko I the left hand side and he wasn’t a winger either. Infact even watching Fulham’s first goal against us when they beat us 5-0 illustrates my point

I think a while ago on one particular thread, someone compared the crossing stats between 16/17 and 17/18 which had dramatically fallen since Aluko replaces McCleary/Beerens (natural wingers). And they said on that particular thread that Aluko attempted even less crosses at Fulham than he did for us. So I’m not sure he can be classified as an out and out winger personally

Naturally though, we couldn’t emulate Fulham’s style with the width coming from the fullbacks because we had Gunter at right back who was no where near as effective as Fredericks going forward

The last sentance summing up why he was a stupid signing. He is effective playing a certain position in a certain style and we did not have the players to do that and couldn't afford them as we spent all our budget getting him in.

[NewCorkSeth]

Well, it depends how they classify winger. For example, he was often called a winger at Fulham but he wasn’t. He was more of a right forward/right attacking midfielder. Sounds pedantic but there’s quite a big difference

Erm. He played most of his games their on the Right Wing. He played 11 games as an Attacking Central Mid that season.

Well, from what I recall of Fulham that season, Aluko played very narrow for Fulham (like an attacking midfielder but drifted over to the right side) with the width on the right side coming from the overlapping Fredericks. Factor in Piazon also played a similar role to Aluko I the left hand side and he wasn’t a winger either. Infact even watching Fulham’s first goal against us when they beat us 5-0 illustrates my point

I think a while ago on one particular thread, someone compared the crossing stats between 16/17 and 17/18 which had dramatically fallen since Aluko replaces McCleary/Beerens (natural wingers). And they said on that particular thread that Aluko attempted even less crosses at Fulham than he did for us. So I’m not sure he can be classified as an out and out winger personally

Naturally though, we couldn’t emulate Fulham’s style with the width coming from the fullbacks because we had Gunter at right back who was no where near as effective as Fredericks going forward

I think you'll find Floyd Ayite played most their games that season playing at Left Wing and Piazon replaced him that season during injury. Tom Cairney central with 2 wingers.

[URZZZZ]

Erm. He played most of his games their on the Right Wing. He played 11 games as an Attacking Central Mid that season.

Well, from what I recall of Fulham that season, Aluko played very narrow for Fulham (like an attacking midfielder but drifted over to the right side) with the width on the right side coming from the overlapping Fredericks. Factor in Piazon also played a similar role to Aluko I the left hand side and he wasn’t a winger either. Infact even watching Fulham’s first goal against us when they beat us 5-0 illustrates my point

I think a while ago on one particular thread, someone compared the crossing stats between 16/17 and 17/18 which had dramatically fallen since Aluko replaces McCleary/Beerens (natural wingers). And they said on that particular thread that Aluko attempted even less crosses at Fulham than he did for us. So I’m not sure he can be classified as an out and out winger personally

Naturally though, we couldn’t emulate Fulham’s style with the width coming from the fullbacks because we had Gunter at right back who was no where near as effective as Fredericks going forward

I think you'll find Floyd Ayite played most their games that season playing at Left Wing and Piazon replaced him that season during injury. Tom Cairney central with 2 wingers.

If I could find the thread I was looking for, I could show you what I mean. But I remember it showing Aluko attempting a pitiful amount of crosses at Fulham. Surely, as a winger, the main objective is crossing the ball in the box?

Another thing. Under Stam and Clement, Aluko was hopeless. You can agree with that, right? They played with width. When Gomes came in, he changed from a wide formation to a narrow one (actually a formation like Fulham’s that season). And Aluko started to play better. Because the emphasis on him wasn’t to hug the touch line and cross the ball in. Yiadom was able to do that because he was better offensively than Gunter was

Ejaria played the role on the right of the three attacking midfielders when he first came in. He’s not a winger is he?

[URZZZZ]

Are you actually arguing against cold, hard facts? He is a winger.

That depends how you classify winger. Can you paint him in the same brush as someone like McCleary. Absolutely not

I count him as wherever he is officially listed as playing. He played the majority of his games in his career as a winger, he is therefore a winger.

Interestingly enough, when we signed Aluko, the BBC reported it as “Reading have signed forward Sone Aluko”

[NewCorkSeth]

Well, from what I recall of Fulham that season, Aluko played very narrow for Fulham (like an attacking midfielder but drifted over to the right side) with the width on the right side coming from the overlapping Fredericks. Factor in Piazon also played a similar role to Aluko I the left hand side and he wasn’t a winger either. Infact even watching Fulham’s first goal against us when they beat us 5-0 illustrates my point

I think a while ago on one particular thread, someone compared the crossing stats between 16/17 and 17/18 which had dramatically fallen since Aluko replaces McCleary/Beerens (natural wingers). And they said on that particular thread that Aluko attempted even less crosses at Fulham than he did for us. So I’m not sure he can be classified as an out and out winger personally

Naturally though, we couldn’t emulate Fulham’s style with the width coming from the fullbacks because we had Gunter at right back who was no where near as effective as Fredericks going forward

I think you'll find Floyd Ayite played most their games that season playing at Left Wing and Piazon replaced him that season during injury. Tom Cairney central with 2 wingers.

If I could find the thread I was looking for, I could show you what I mean. But I remember it showing Aluko attempting a pitiful amount of crosses at Fulham. Surely, as a winger, the main objective is crossing the ball in the box?

Another thing. Under Stam and Clement, Aluko was hopeless. You can agree with that, right? They played with width. When Gomes came in, he changed from a wide formation to a narrow one (actually a formation like Fulham’s that season). And Aluko started to play better. Because the emphasis on him wasn’t to hug the touch line and cross the ball in. Yiadom was able to do that because he was better offensively than Gunter was

Ejaria played the role on the right of the three attacking midfielders when he first came in. He’s not a winger is he?

Aluko is left footed. Playing on the right wing while being left footed is bound to create issues crossing. If you had argued he plays an inside forward role (similar to Meite when he plays on the right wing) I would agree with you.

I mean Hazard is a left winger and he doesnt play a high crossing game does he.

[URZZZZ]

I think you'll find Floyd Ayite played most their games that season playing at Left Wing and Piazon replaced him that season during injury. Tom Cairney central with 2 wingers.

If I could find the thread I was looking for, I could show you what I mean. But I remember it showing Aluko attempting a pitiful amount of crosses at Fulham. Surely, as a winger, the main objective is crossing the ball in the box?

Another thing. Under Stam and Clement, Aluko was hopeless. You can agree with that, right? They played with width. When Gomes came in, he changed from a wide formation to a narrow one (actually a formation like Fulham’s that season). And Aluko started to play better. Because the emphasis on him wasn’t to hug the touch line and cross the ball in. Yiadom was able to do that because he was better offensively than Gunter was

Ejaria played the role on the right of the three attacking midfielders when he first came in. He’s not a winger is he?

Aluko is left footed. Playing on the right wing while being left footed is bound to create issues crossing. If you had argued he plays an inside forward role (similar to Meite when he plays on the right wing) I would agree with you.

I mean Hazard is a left winger and he doesnt play a high crossing game does he.

That’s a good point but you still see Hazard hugging the touchline at times. Granted, he doesn’t cross the ball in a lot but he plays wider game than Aluko

For example, you would rarely see Hazard take the ball off of the centre backs like Aluko would. If Aluko was comfortable playing as a winger, I’m not sure you’d see him try and take the ball of Moore and Ilori and co as much as he did

To be fair I’m not exactly sure what the difference is between a RAM and RF. I’m just not sure Aluko can be classified as an out and out winger

Edit : Didn’t Jobi register quite a few assist as a left midfielder when he was right footed?

[NewCorkSeth]

If I could find the thread I was looking for, I could show you what I mean. But I remember it showing Aluko attempting a pitiful amount of crosses at Fulham. Surely, as a winger, the main objective is crossing the ball in the box?

Another thing. Under Stam and Clement, Aluko was hopeless. You can agree with that, right? They played with width. When Gomes came in, he changed from a wide formation to a narrow one (actually a formation like Fulham’s that season). And Aluko started to play better. Because the emphasis on him wasn’t to hug the touch line and cross the ball in. Yiadom was able to do that because he was better offensively than Gunter was

Ejaria played the role on the right of the three attacking midfielders when he first came in. He’s not a winger is he?

Aluko is left footed. Playing on the right wing while being left footed is bound to create issues crossing. If you had argued he plays an inside forward role (similar to Meite when he plays on the right wing) I would agree with you.

I mean Hazard is a left winger and he doesnt play a high crossing game does he.

That’s a good point but you still see Hazard hugging the touchline at times. Granted, he doesn’t cross the ball in a lot but he plays wider game than Aluko

For example, you would rarely see Hazard take the ball off of the centre backs like Aluko would. If Aluko was comfortable playing as a winger, I’m not sure you’d see him try and take the ball of Moore and Ilori and co as much as he did

To be fair I’m not exactly sure what the difference is between a RAM and RF. I’m just not sure Aluko can be classified as an out and out winger

Edit : Didn’t Jobi register quite a few assist as a left midfielder when he was right footed?

I think the problem here is that Aluko is a winger. Hes just shit at it. He should be a number 10 but whether he prefers playing on the wing or coaches see something we dont I'm not sure. When watching him and analysing his play style and attributes (as well as an amateur can) it seems fairly clear he is much more suited to a central attacking role.

Maybe hes been unfortunate to have played in a Fulham and Reading side where there was a much better option at number 10 than him (Cairney and Swift) and has thusly been played on the wing. Either way, for me, he has no way back into the team. For 1 we dont play with wingers and more importantly Swift and Ejaria are miles better than him in the central role.

[URZZZZ]

Aluko is left footed. Playing on the right wing while being left footed is bound to create issues crossing. If you had argued he plays an inside forward role (similar to Meite when he plays on the right wing) I would agree with you.

I mean Hazard is a left winger and he doesnt play a high crossing game does he.

That’s a good point but you still see Hazard hugging the touchline at times. Granted, he doesn’t cross the ball in a lot but he plays wider game than Aluko

For example, you would rarely see Hazard take the ball off of the centre backs like Aluko would. If Aluko was comfortable playing as a winger, I’m not sure you’d see him try and take the ball of Moore and Ilori and co as much as he did

To be fair I’m not exactly sure what the difference is between a RAM and RF. I’m just not sure Aluko can be classified as an out and out winger

Edit : Didn’t Jobi register quite a few assist as a left midfielder when he was right footed?

I think the problem here is that Aluko is a winger. Hes just shit at it. He should be a number 10 but whether he prefers playing on the wing or coaches see something we dont I'm not sure. When watching him and analysing his play style and attributes (as well as an amateur can) it seems fairly clear he is much more suited to a central attacking role.

Maybe hes been unfortunate to have played in a Fulham and Reading side where there was a much better option at number 10 than him (Cairney and Swift) and has thusly been played on the wing. Either way, for me, he has no way back into the team. For 1 we dont play with wingers and more importantly Swift and Ejaria are miles better than him in the central role.

Yep, good points, agree with most of that, agree to disagree on a little part

Out of interest, do you know where he played at Hull? From what I can remember, they played a 5 at the back formation there, but don’t really remember where Aluko fitted in there

[NewCorkSeth]

That’s a good point but you still see Hazard hugging the touchline at times. Granted, he doesn’t cross the ball in a lot but he plays wider game than Aluko

For example, you would rarely see Hazard take the ball off of the centre backs like Aluko would. If Aluko was comfortable playing as a winger, I’m not sure you’d see him try and take the ball of Moore and Ilori and co as much as he did

To be fair I’m not exactly sure what the difference is between a RAM and RF. I’m just not sure Aluko can be classified as an out and out winger

Edit : Didn’t Jobi register quite a few assist as a left midfielder when he was right footed?

I think the problem here is that Aluko is a winger. Hes just shit at it. He should be a number 10 but whether he prefers playing on the wing or coaches see something we dont I'm not sure. When watching him and analysing his play style and attributes (as well as an amateur can) it seems fairly clear he is much more suited to a central attacking role.

Maybe hes been unfortunate to have played in a Fulham and Reading side where there was a much better option at number 10 than him (Cairney and Swift) and has thusly been played on the wing. Either way, for me, he has no way back into the team. For 1 we dont play with wingers and more importantly Swift and Ejaria are miles better than him in the central role.

Yep, good points, agree with most of that, agree to disagree on a little part

Out of interest, do you know where he played at Hull? From what I can remember, they played a 5 at the back formation there, but don’t really remember where Aluko fitted in there

No idea! Wing probably considering the previously mentioned career stats. Probably a fair few games as a striker seeing as they didnt come from us or Fulham.

EDIT: Just checked. Mostly as an AMC. 68 games there.

[Old Man Andrews]

Where is Hound? I am worried that after this latest Urzzz meltdown he has lost the will to live.

[Hound]

I have, but not particularly due to Urrzzzz this time

Bringing Sone Aluko back up and reminding me he was still a Reading player with 18 months left on his contract contributed to it though