Yannick Bolasie

[Khalekan]

He's not anonymous though Khal.

McCarthy was anonymous. Kev has been the past few games, same with Del when he's played and even Lennon the other day.

Bolasie was literally involved in every one of our attacks the other day that resulted in a chance (decent or not).

That's not anonymous.

And that took up what.....about three minutes out of the ninety +

The rest of the time he was indeed anonymous

 

[BlueToff]

This is why I laugh at "assist" stats, Toff.

That goal you speak off.......Rom is credited with an assist but he did bugger all to create the chance or the goal.

Remember?

Rom was running with the ball and Bolasie actually pushed him off the ball so he could have a shot himself.

A jolly good goal and no mistake but if Rom is to be credited with an "assist" then it ijust makes a joke of it

Well, an assist is an assist.

While Rom may well have just been running with the ball, none of Bolasie's assists have been that...

His 1st, against Sunderland, was a brilliant run to the byline and a very good cross to Rom. He made that goal.

His second, against Boro, was another dangerous cross into the six-yard box.

His 3rd, against City, was a clever flick-on, but more importantly it was a ball that Kev or Del would never have the strength or desire to get to. Same goes for the one against West Ham.

So aye, in the instance where an assist is a miscued shot or something, you have a point.

In the case of Bolasie's four assists so far, the point is moot.

Anyway, my original point was just that Bolasie and Rom have formed a good partnership. Which is right.

 

[eurosrees]

You know what I think?

If Niasse had been given the chance Bolasie has been given this season he would have contributed as much.

There, I have said it

Agreed lol

He'all play every week regardless of how hopeless he is, give any of our wingers the same chance and they would get the same amount of assists, no doubt about that, they might even add goals too.

I've never seen a player before being defended to the point where people say 'If so and so had scored that chance then he'd have another assist', it's utter nonsense. He's a dud, sell him to Sunderland and move on.

 

[BlueToff]

That's not necessarily evidence of a partnership as such though.

Lukaku's 'assist' for Bolasie was basically a touch meant for himself which just ran into Bolasie's path.
One of Bolasie's for Rom was a little touch which led to Lukaku running half the length of the pitch to score, and another was him reacting quickest to a loose ball and putting across the goal line. Bolasie did really well, don't get me wrong, but it wasn't exactly a telepathic connection between the 2.

I don't think he's getting the best out of Rom in the same way Deulofeu was at this stage last season. It seemed like they were very much on the same wavelength and Rom could make runs knowing that the right ball would come. The ball that Bolasie absolutely rocketed at Lukaku on saturday is evidence that these two aren't on the same wavelength in that sense. I also think Kone brought more out of Lukaku, with his ability to take the knocks and do the donkey work. Again, there were more instances of those 2 being involved in nice interplay than I've seen from Rom and Bolasie so far.

Bolasie suits Koeman's style of play more than our other wide players, that's clear. That's why he's involved in most of our attacks, because the game plan makes him a very important figure. Is he 'better' than Deulofeu? In my opinion, no. Not even close. Is he more effective in our current style? Yes. Still don't think he does anywhere near enough to justify his fee or the fact that we want to utilise him so much.

I see the point, but I'm bot having that he's been poor.

He's been inconsistent, and bloody frustrating, but he makes stuff happen.

The worrying thing for me is that we seem to be relying on him to be our main creative outlet and he isn't consistent enough for that.

We use him so much because he is better than Kev or Del mate as it stands. I like Kev and Del, but neither of them have justified taking a place in the first team. Bolasie makes stuff happen, even as dozy and haphazard as he can be.

Deulofeu strops and Mirallas goes missing.

 

[davek]

Agreed lol

He'all play every week regardless of how hopeless he is, give any of our wingers the same chance and they would get the same amount of assists, no doubt about that, they might even add goals too.

I've never seen a player before being defended to the point where people say 'If so and so had scored that chance then he'd have another assist', it's utter nonsense. He's a dud, sell him to Sunderland and move on.

The money paid for him was insane. I still cant believe it. If he was bought as a back up winger to come off the bench and run at tiring defences and the club paid about £8M I'd accept it. But he was our marquee signing last summer. How did that happen? Palace must still be pissing themselves.

 

[eurosrees]

The money paid for him was insane. I still cant believe it. If he was bought as a back winger for about £8M I'd accept it. But he was our marquee signing last summer. How did that happen? Palace must still be pissing themselves.

When we sent over a fax with the price on it and they (presumably) replied straight away with a "yes please", that should have raised a few eyebrows within our board surely?

That's a completely made up scenario, but it does seem like our bid was accepted straight away, it's always a bit worrying when that happens.

 

[Khalekan]

Well, an assist is an assist.

It is just a word, Toff.

A verb which was given "stat" status when they were trying to get a soccer league off the ground in the States in the mid seventies and they came up with all these stats because regular American sports live and die by stats.

The days of New York Cosmos and Tampa Bay Rowdies.

In reality it means if you score a goal, the last player in your team to touch it is credited with an "assist" provided no one from the opposition touched the ball in between times.

Another absurd example was when Tim Howard launched the ball from his hands and it landed in the Barcode's box and Rom netted


BTW.....that "assist" Bolasie was credited with v Boro?

He should never have been awarded that.

That was actually his goal.....Rom never touched it IMO

And Gana was the "assister"

 

[davek]

When we sent over a fax with the price on it and they (presumably) replied straight away with a "yes please", that should have raised a few eyebrows within our board surely?

That's a completely made up scenario, but it does seem like our bid was accepted straight away, it's always a bit worrying when that happens.

If someone offered us £25M for Mirallas I think the answer would be a swift 'yes' followed by 'when can I drop him off?'.

Same with that feller. Chicken with no head.

 

[Lanolin]

I see the point, but I'm bot having that he's been poor.

He's been inconsistent, and bloody frustrating, but he makes stuff happen.

The worrying thing for me is that we seem to be relying on him to be our main creative outlet and he isn't consistent enough for that.

We use him so much because he is better than Kev or Del mate as it stands. I like Kev and Del, but neither of them have justified taking a place in the first team. Bolasie makes stuff happen, even as dozy and haphazard as he can be.

Deulofeu strops and Mirallas goes missing.

Yeah I think it's fair to say he's not been poor, simply because he has influenced games with his goals and assists.

He needs to do much much more in a general sense though, he can't just coast through a game and then leather a ball at 100mph across the box and say 'Job done.Can't believe nobody finished that'. Also the idea that we need to count how many assists he 'could' have - if every single half decent ball resulted in a goal and we also count things weren't really 'assists' at all but just passes to someone who then does all the hard work themselves - really needs to be knocked on the head immediately.

 

[BlueToff]

The money paid for him was insane. I still cant believe it. If he was bought as a back up winger to come off the bench and run at tiring defences and the club paid about £8M I'd accept it. But he was our marquee signing last summer. How did that happen? Palace must still be pissing themselves.

£23-25mil is a lot.

And, yes, too much. We paid over the odds.

But, we needed 'something' more.

Bolasie - as previously stated - has provided the most clear-cut goalscoring opportunities in the league so far (of any player). He's our leading assister.

He is the only one of our attackers who presses or has the pace to do so to any effect (at this moment, I'm hopeful that will change) and while we should be looking for better I can't believe the stick that he gets given when there's players who literally let games just pass them by without doing a thing who seem to be the fandom darlings.

Give the lad a chance. He's played 11 league games for us and bar Chelsea there's not one game in which he hasn't created an excellent goal-scoring chance and/or assisted/scored.

 

[BlueToff]

Yeah I think it's fair to say he's not been poor, simply because he has influenced games with his goals and assists.

He needs to do much much more in a general sense though, he can't just coast through a game and then leather a ball at 100mph across the box and say 'Job done.Can't believe nobody finished that'. Also the idea that we need to count how many assists he 'could' have - if every single half decent ball resulted in a goal and we also count things weren't really 'assists' at all but just passes to someone who then does all the hard work themselves - really needs to be knocked on the head immediately.

True, and again I half agree with you.

But the main thing is people who were criticising his signing in the first place for 'no end product' - it clearly isn't the case.

What is true is that given the amount of times he gets into good situations, the amount of times he delivers the goods needs to improve.

 

[mkrudden]

He's miles more effective than Mirrallas + 11million only gets you Ross McCormack these days
I'm happy with the signing.

 

[davek]

£23-25mil is a lot.

And, yes, too much. We paid over the odds.

But, we needed 'something' more.

Bolasie - as previously stated - has provided the most clear-cut goalscoring opportunities in the league so far (of any player). He's our leading assister.

He is the only one of our attackers who presses or has the pace to do so to any effect (at this moment, I'm hopeful that will change) and while we should be looking for better I can't believe the stick that he gets given when there's players who literally let games just pass them by without doing a thing who seem to be the fandom darlings.

Give the lad a chance. He's played 11 league games for us and bar Chelsea there's not one game in which he hasn't created an excellent goal-scoring chance and/or assisted/scored.

Look at his career stats: they're a car crash for a forward player. Has he piled up a few chances? Yes. But they weren't taken for the most part and that's the case with all players in his position.

It was a position we didn't desperately have to address. We needed three key positions filled: second striker; number 10; GK. We got none and spent nearly all the cash from Stones on positions we could have got by on.

 

[Mickey]

If someone offered us £25M for Mirallas I think the answer would be a swift 'yes' followed by 'when can I drop him off?'.

Same with that feller. Chicken with no head.

Exactly. Another headless winger was probably the last thing we needed during the window. Literally last priority and we blew our load on it. Smells like a panic buy lately.

 

[Nil Satis Niasse Optimum]

It was a position we didn't desperately have to address. We needed three key positions filled: second striker; number 10; GK. We got none and spent nearly all the cash from Stones on positions we could have got by on.

And that is the be all and end all of the situation.