[Albion] Alireza Jahanbakhsh joins Feyenoord

[yxee]

But it's still possible that Ali J is doing well in training and only isn't being picked due to competition. Whereas there was not much competition for Locadia and Andone.

 

[Bozza]

But it's still possible that Ali J is doing well in training and only isn't being picked due to competition. Whereas there was not much competition for Locadia and Andone.

Other than Murray, Maupay and Connolly - the three strikers entrusted with scoring the goals to keep us in the Premier League (at least until January)?

 

[Bozza]

Someone, on here, offered up the theory that one of Big Jurg or Ali was coming off the books, and the club didn't get any viable offers for Ali.

I can see how every aspect of that would make sense.

I have no idea if any worthwhile offers came in for Ali J or not, but I have it on pretty good authority that the three loan outs that took place were to get the bad eggs away from the club. From that, I can only surmise that whatever failings Ali J has, he's not perceived to be a bad sort to have around the place.

 

[Stat Brother]

But it's still possible that Ali J is doing well in training and only isn't being picked due to competition. Whereas there was not much competition for Locadia and Andone.

Were it not for his failure of 'the' test, I'm sure Andone would have had a field day v Spurs, in whatever capacity he was used.

Sure Connolly, Maupay & Andone is very one dimensional, but with the 8 players behind starting to show some serious self-belief I don't think that matters.
Few defences could repel that kind of rotating attack for a full 90 minutes.

 

[Harry Wilson's tackle]

I have no idea if any worthwhile offers came in for Ali J or not, but I have it on pretty good authority that the three loan outs that took place were to get the bad eggs away from the club. From that, I can only surmise that whatever failings Ali J has, he's not perceived to be a bad sort to have around the place.

I had heard that his enthusiasm and humility are unrivalled (er, someone posted that on NSC). I gather he has a bit of an injury at the moment (no international trip) and am hoping the club are retraining him to be the new Ozil (Ozil of 5 years ago, I mean).

 

[Bold Seagull]

Ali was part of that injury crisis, in his own little way.

I'd be Spencesque if the club dropped Gross for Christiano Ronaldo, so I don't see how Ali would get a look in.

That said no, it's not looking good.

Part of my defence of Ali was my faith in the process that bought him here.
Seemingly that faith wasn't shared by the current manager, and who am I to argue with that.

Part of your and others defence of Ali was also massive criticism of the previous manager for not playing him how Ali should be supposedly played, not that I ever bought that argument.

It's all very well now having faith that the current manager knows what he's doing, but perhaps the criticism of Hughton should be revised that it wasn't that he played him wrong, but that he played him at all.

 

[yxee]

Other than Murray, Maupay and Connolly - the three strikers entrusted with scoring the goals to keep us in the Premier League (at least until January)?

But in August there were 2-3 places and Connolly hadn't broken through. It was hard not to play Andone/Locadia back then.

 

[Bold Seagull]

I have no idea if any worthwhile offers came in for Ali J or not, but I have it on pretty good authority that the three loan outs that took place were to get the bad eggs away from the club. From that, I can only surmise that whatever failings Ali J has, he's not perceived to be a bad sort to have around the place.

There is also the possibility that he refused to go out on loan in view of there being no adequate transfer offers either. Locadia and Andone may well have welcomed the potential for a loan moves and agreed to them. If Jahanbakhsh refused to go out on loan, there wouldn't be a lot the club could do.

I'm not saying that's the case, but any of us could suppose reasons why certain players left and while others stayed.

 

[Sheebo]

A player doesn't have to feature in the first team to have had a chance.

He's had a chance to impress Potter from the first day of pre-season training. His new gaffer has seen him day in, day out for over three months now.

Now, that's not to say he still won't come good, but let's not pretend he's not had a chance to impress yet.

Fair point. But again it is down to one man’s opinion so not writing him off yet. I don’t rate him though - not at all from what I’ve seen.. but let’s see.

I do think Andone offered so much more than Locadia and Ali J and it’s harsh he’s grouped with them. But his issue seems to be more personality innit.

 

[zefarelly]

perhaps the criticism of Hughton should be revised that it wasn't that he played him wrong, but that he played him at all.

Well we haven't seen a sniff of either yet this season . . . . before he's completely written off it would be good to do do. I can't help but feel his ( and many other players) confidence was sucked dry last season.

 

[Kalimantan Gull]

From what I've seen of Ali j so far, I think he'll love the formations and style of play we're putting out there he'll get a chance at some point and I believe he'll impress

 

[Marshy]

Fair point. But again it is down to one man’s opinion so not writing him off yet. I don’t rate him though - not at all from what I’ve seen.. but let’s see.

I do think Andone offered so much more than Locadia and Ali J and it’s harsh he’s grouped with them. But his issue seems to be more personality innit.

Andone certainly offered more when he was on the pitch... sadly he cant be trusted to remain on it for any period of time !

I have not totally written off Ali J as yet, wether he will get a chance to prove himself is a different matter with all the young lads stepping up

 

[Stat Brother]

Part of your and others defence of Ali was also massive criticism of the previous manager for not playing him how Ali should be supposedly played, not that I ever bought that argument.

It's all very well now having faith that the current manager knows what he's doing, but perhaps the criticism of Hughton should be revised that it wasn't that he played him wrong, but that he played him at all.

We'll just agree to differ.

We've both seen Ali's heat maps from the past 2 seasons and we've both seen the stark contrast therein.
That, for me, very much validates the line 'Ali wasn't played in his favoured position', which in turn, gives me pause for thought.

Ali was dropped or moved by Hughton so he could placate his favoured child, who, one goal aside, did very little to repay that faith.

Now everything has changed but one thing still remains the same, Ali's not playing.
This time he's out of the team because of a combination of Montoya and Gross, I'll hazard a guess, at the moment, even Ali is looking on saying 'yep fair enough'.

But that's not stopping his 'I want him to succeed' fans pointing at their current excellent form as a failure of Ali.

 

[Simster]

At the end of the day [MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION], you have form for never daring to form a negative opinion of any of our players until it is blindingly obvious they need moving on. It is actually OK to simply believe your own eyes over a number of games and conclude that Ali J (or anybody else) isn't actually very good, as long as it is backed up with reasoning. Far better that than just clap like a seal at absolutely everything.

Also, wind your neck in over [MENTION=30242]spence[/MENTION] too. I've known him since he was 8 years old and whilst he and I have moved in different circles since we were about 10 years old, I'll tell you now he does know his football - I'd take his opinions on football over yours all day long. He's got two things wrong recently. Firstly, he was wrong about Maty Ryan being too short. Secondly, he's acted like a petulant schoolboy over Potter, simply because he threw his toys out of the pram after 7 games. That said, he has been right on here many, many times, and he does at least give reasons for his occasional negativity. You banging on about "spencisms" is f*cking tedious. It would be a dull board if we were all clapping seals talking like our players were world beaters when some of them blatantly aren't.

 

[Bold Seagull]

We'll just agree to differ.

We've both seen Ali's heat maps from the past 2 seasons and we've both seen the stark contrast therein.
That, for me, very much validates the line 'Ali wasn't played in his favoured position', which in turn, gives me pause for thought.

Ali was dropped or moved by Hughton so he could placate his favoured child, who, one goal aside, did very little to repay that faith.

Now everything has changed but one thing still remains the same, Ali's not playing.
This time he's out of the team because of a combination of Montoya and Gross, I'll hazard a guess, at the moment, even Ali is looking on saying 'yep fair enough'.

But that's not stopping his 'I want him to succeed' fans pointing at their current excellent form as a failure of Ali.

The tactics on Saturday Mooy kept Jahanbakhsh out just as much as Gross given Gross could have played either inside left or right without too much bother. In fact, if you were to check Mooy's heat maps over his career, they wouldn't be as a wide left midfield player, but that has been his chance in the side and he used his quality to adapt to a new position and franky excel at it. Why? Because he is a quality footballer that can play a number of roles as required, much as Burn, a natural centre half has adapted to playing left full back or wing-back when needed.

So I personally don't buy Gross is solely keeping Ali J out of the team given Gross is as flexible as anyone in the team as to where he could play. Even toward the end, 3-0 up and cruising, Potter doesn't even give Jahanbakhsh a few minutes to register a PL appearance at least.

 

[Two Professors]

Don't think the Dutch want him back.Quickest cone collector ever though.

 

[Stat Brother]

The tactics on Saturday Mooy kept Jahanbakhsh out just as much as Gross given Gross could have played either inside left or right without too much bother. In fact, if you were to check Mooy's heat maps over his career, they wouldn't be as a wide left midfield player, but that has been his chance in the side and he used his quality to adapt to a new position and franky excel at it. Why? Because he is a quality footballer that can play a number of roles as required, much as Burn, a natural centre half has adapted to playing left full back or wing-back when needed.

So I personally don't buy Gross is solely keeping Ali J out of the team given Gross is as flexible as anyone in the team as to where he could play. Even toward the end, 3-0 up and cruising, Potter doesn't even give Jahanbakhsh a few minutes to register a PL appearance at least.

Are you sure about Mooy's positioning?

Although I'm not one to argue as I never saw Saturday's performance coming and clearly have been loud wrong about him, long before he even joined us, and since he did.

Potter can't make 4 substitutions, all three that were made needed to be made.
That said Bong in the opposition penalty area in the 90th minute is going to take some getting used too.

I take your point re flexibility and if Ali were as good as Gross we'd be very fortunate indeed.
All I'm saying is if he isn't as multi-tasking as others he should have at least been given a fair crack at the one task he's proven in.

CH never did that.
GP, at the moment at least, doesn't have too.

 

[Bold Seagull]

At the end of the day [MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION], you have form for never daring to form a negative opinion of any of our players until it is blindingly obvious they need moving on. It is actually OK to simply believe your own eyes over a number of games and conclude that Ali J (or anybody else) isn't actually very good, as long as it is backed up with reasoning. Far better that than just clap like a seal at absolutely everything.

Also, wind your neck in over [MENTION=30242]spence[/MENTION] too. I've known him since he was 8 years old and whilst he and I have moved in different circles since we were about 10 years old, I'll tell you now he does know his football - I'd take his opinions on football over yours all day long. He's got two things wrong recently. Firstly, he was wrong about Maty Ryan being too short. Secondly, he's acted like a petulant schoolboy over Potter, simply because he threw his toys out of the pram after 7 games. That said, he has been right on here many, many times, and he does at least give reasons for his occasional negativity. You banging on about "spencisms" is f*cking tedious. It would be a dull board if we were all clapping seals talking like our players were world beaters when some of them blatantly aren't.

It was a spectacular ejection of toys to be fair on a premise that after just 7 games wasn't deserving of such obstinate defense. For that premise to be so roundly turned on it's head only 6 days later, perhaps [MENTION=30242]spence[/MENTION] will take it on the chin and realise there is no malice in it, and perhaps happy to be wrong...at this point. [MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION] takes more than his fair share of criticism roundly on the chin. You're extolling the virtue of varied opinion and ways of putting them across on these boards, but you sometimes seem to have very little tolerance for certain poster's yourself.

 

[Stat Brother]

It was a spectacular ejection of toys to be fair on a premise that after just 7 games wasn't deserving of such obstinate defense. For that premise to be so roundly turned on it's head only 6 days later, perhaps [MENTION=30242]spence[/MENTION] will take it on the chin and realise there is no malice in it, and perhaps happy to be wrong...at this point. [MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION] takes more than his fair share of criticism roundly on the chin. You're extolling the virtue of varied opinion and ways of putting them across on these boards, but you sometimes seem to have very little tolerance for certain poster's yourself.

Which is fine by me.

 

[Simster]

It was a spectacular ejection of toys to be fair on a premise that after just 7 games wasn't deserving of such obstinate defense. For that premise to be so roundly turned on it's head only 6 days later, perhaps [MENTION=30242]spence[/MENTION] will take it on the chin and realise there is no malice in it, and perhaps happy to be wrong...at this point. [MENTION=435]Stat Brother[/MENTION] takes more than his fair share of criticism roundly on the chin. You're extolling the virtue of varied opinion and ways of putting them across on these boards, but you sometimes seem to have very little tolerance for certain poster's yourself.

I'm accutely aware of my sometimes angry intolerance of others thanks - we all have our crosses to bear I suppose. I'm just getting a little tired of certain people constantly rounding on spence, especially while he has no right of reply. It's totally unneccessary.