gdm Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 If we end up with Rolan as our main striker we are in trouble We won't, we have Gayle. Who is relatively still unproven at PL level Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlies Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Andre Gray hasn't been mentioned in a while, didn't Dyche say they couldn't compete with us? Or something like that? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanji Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Seen a fair bit of Rolan going back a few years, really liked him at the beginning but he's lost his way since being asked to be the main man at Bordeaux after Diabate went. He always seems to be better when played in a two up front rather than leading the line alone, although we could still hold interest because he's a real Swiss army knife forward who can play to a similar standard out wide as well (on either side). Will work hard and make a lot of diagonal runs to join in, has a bit of pace and isn't the worst dribbler. Still, he would be uninspiring based on last season's form, but would plug a gap and effectively take up the Gouffran role. He retains a fair bit of upside, but doubt he'd be considered an automatic starter or serious competition for Gayle immediately. i like the swiss army knife analogy Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
54 Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 If we end up with Rolan as our main striker we are in trouble We won't, we have Gayle. Who is relatively still unproven at PL level Not really, he's a proven 1 in 3 PL goalscorer while never being the main striker. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasy Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 His goal record for a striker who is consistently played through the middle is a bit shit, mind. Well I mean 10 goals in 36 games last season looks ok. But better when you see it was 1765 minutes total (so basically just under 20 full matches). Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teasy Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Seen a fair bit of Rolan going back a few years, really liked him at the beginning but he's lost his way since being asked to be the main man at Bordeaux after Diabate went. He always seems to be better when played in a two up front rather than leading the line alone, although we could still hold interest because he's a real Swiss army knife forward who can play to a similar standard out wide as well (on either side). Will work hard and make a lot of diagonal runs to join in, has a bit of pace and isn't the worst dribbler. Still, he would be uninspiring based on last season's form, but would plug a gap and effectively take up the Gouffran role. He retains a fair bit of upside, but doubt he'd be considered an automatic starter or serious competition for Gayle immediately. i like the swiss army knife analogy Rafa's new Dirk Kuyt? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sho Time Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 He honestly sounds like Gouffran mkII to me. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
AyeDubbleYoo Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 TBF, Gouffran would've probably been a lot more useful if we hadn't used him mostly as a second LB. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
TRon Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 TBF, Gouffran would've probably been a lot more useful if we hadn't used him mostly as a second LB. He ended up playing an auxiliary LB because he wasn't good enough to play as a forward outright. I'd be wary of buying another player who struggles to be an out and out striker. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Where on the pitch would he have been useful? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
HaydnNUFC Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 His goal record for a striker who is consistently played through the middle is a bit s***, mind. Well I mean 10 goals in 36 games last season looks ok. But better when you see it was 1765 minutes total (so basically just under 20 full matches). I thought that for our first season back in the PL we'd be looking at a striker who's going to get 15+. Maybe Gayle can be that man, I hope so, but I can't see it. I thought Rafa would be looking in Spain for a striker tbh. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Varadi Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 His goal record for a striker who is consistently played through the middle is a bit s***, mind. Well I mean 10 goals in 36 games last season looks ok. But better when you see it was 1765 minutes total (so basically just under 20 full matches). I thought that for our first season back in the PL we'd be looking at a striker who's going to get 15+. Maybe Gayle can be that man, I hope so, but I can't see it. I thought Rafa would be looking in Spain for a striker tbh. I think if Gayle plays 38 games as our main striker he'll get 15+, it's his fitness that worries me most, definitely need reliable backup. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Strikers from Spain often don't work over here even if they kill it in La Liga. There are, of course, isolated examples like Torres and Costa but different attributes are required to be successful. I think Rafa would rather target someone fairly proven in this league. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pilko Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Strikers from Spain often don't work over here even if they kill it in La Liga. There are, of course, isolated examples like Torres and Costa but different attributes are required to be successful. I think Rafa would rather target someone fairly proven in this league. I think Rafa will still be very wary because of the way Morientes went for Liverpool. He's quite a good example of the type of Spanish striker you're referring to. Most people at the time expected him to bang them in at a similar rate to what Torres eventually did, and obviously he was crap. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 In general strikers in Spain are not the shining example of the league either. I'd suspect Rafa will be looking at midfielders from there rather than strikers. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
sempuki Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Think he's been mentioned before: http://turkish-football.com/west-ham-in-talks-with-turkish-minnows-over-transfer-of-8-5m-senegal-international-badou-ndiaye-newcastle-also-interested/ Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Optimistic Nut Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Some mention of Carillo in the Portuguese press. Shut up Mole. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ikon Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Some mention of Carillo in the Portuguese press. Shut up Mole. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mole_Toonfan Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Some mention of Carillo in the Portuguese press. Shut up Mole. Wew testy Didn't know giving my opinion would garner such a reaction. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sho Time Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Shut up Mole. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 One thing mentioned in "Rafalution" was Benitez' concern at not having enough unpredictability in attacking areas at times last season. Murphy solves that to some degree, but I wouldn't be surprised to see us looking to go for a wildcard like Carrillo. We need a bit of a mavrick™ with fret™. Hopefully we're still in the market for another winger, although I appreciate there's other areas most would want to focus on first. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Aye, I haven't read the book, but that was a major issue. We basically played with 1 winger for most of the season, and Ritchie is more solid and proctive than he is unpredictable. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 We have 4 wingers now, unless there's a plan to loan Aarons out, so somebody who can play behind a striker as well as out wide would be a good shout. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ronaldo Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 I've posted it many times before but that's first and foremost what you want from a winger imo. Unpredictability. I'd always take that over solid consistency in the right circumstances. We've actually none of that in the wide areas since Robert left, apart from Hatem of course. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
ponsaelius Posted July 20, 2017 Share Posted July 20, 2017 Aye, I'd agree. Routledge for 6 months in the Championship too arguably. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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