I agree with you.
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Player Dominic Solanke
- Thread starter Tomo
- Start date
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I agree with you lol I’m just adding more to your agreement.
He's okay but not a world beater. But it isn't disrespectful to put him to the same standards as everyone else. Compare his stats with Son's, and it's pretty even. But Solanke had way more game time. He may not be involved as much as he should, but he's still in the centre after all, and therefore gets much more involved than Son stuck on the wing.
And unlike Solanke, Son has actually accomplished something here and he didn't even cost half of Solanke. Son is capable of playing in Solanke's position, as well as on the left and right. Solanke can only play through the middle.
Don't tell me Solanke is the superior player. He's not half the player Son is and you know it. So don't be so fucking disrespectful to a club legend and don't give Solanke a pass that you wouldn't give to everyone else.
He's so underutilized that even a back to basics type manager that'd allow good crossers like Porro to hoof it up inside the box would get more out of him. This obsession with low crosses, underlapping full backs, and trying to play out from the back at all costs nullifies almost all of his aerial ability that we saw glimpses of yesterday.
He was more than okay in the air against an intimidating duo of Botman and Burn, yet we'll probably continue treating him like a typical 5ft7 poacher.
He was more than okay in the air against an intimidating duo of Botman and Burn, yet we'll probably continue treating him like a typical 5ft7 poacher.
Because he has to do so much running it’s hardly a surprise some of his finishing isn’t as good as it should be. He’s probably knackered by the time he has to take a shot and that impacts the quality.
Had Richy been injured the whole time he’d be a lot more fresher. I’d like to see how many 90 minutes he completed for Bournemouth last season or whether he was withdrawn in some games.
Had Richy been injured the whole time he’d be a lot more fresher. I’d like to see how many 90 minutes he completed for Bournemouth last season or whether he was withdrawn in some games.
Solanke is doing lots off the ball, he’s bringing others in to the game and he’s scoring at a relatively alright rate. Not sure why he’s getting stick after a game he scored in.
Is he world class? No. Is he anywhere near peak Son? God no. Finding a peak Son is like a one in a million deal.
Solanke is a good CF. We probably overpaid but we needed a striker and he’s got English tax. Shit happens.
Football is not just stats, and who else is comparing the 2 players? They don’t even play in the same position. If you want look at Son as a lone striker then sure, Solanke is light years better in 2025. I love Son, he is a legend for the club but he doesn’t have the touch, hold up play, ariel ability and workrate that Solanke does.
You said before Solanke isn’t as good as Kane, well we spent £65m on Solanke in his prime and sold Kane for £100m past his prime with a year left on his deal. To replace Kane you would be looking at someone like Isak who would be over £100m.
Solanke has been our most consistent attacker all season and has been starved of service. I don’t know why £65m is a stick to beat him with, it’s not that much money anymore.
Kane is the best striker on the planet. He is not past his prime.
Both things can be true simultaneously.
He needs to link up better with Son and Madders but all our play is through Kulu right now and I don't think he's doing a good job of getting Solanke involved.
Previously our play went through Madders. Our epic run last season ended when Madders got injured. Since then, he's lost his position more and more. Nowadays he doesn't even start despite being our top scorer. He's been replaced by Kulu as the playmaker and we need to swap back. Kulu has creative qualities but only works against certain teams and he's been really bad lately.
Everyone has been raving about Kulu this season but he still only has 5 goals and 4 assists. He played 1,588 minutes.
Madders only played 1,158 minutes but scored 8 and assisted 5. Maddison is also a more balanced player. He's not as one footed as Kulu and a more natural player in the middle.
But I also have to point out that Solanke has to do more to link up with Son. If Son has a good striker next to him, he can provide. He's proven it over and over, creating one of the best partnerships we've seen. So if it's failing there, don't tell me it's on Son. You don't just lose that ability. When has Solanke ever been in a world class partnership? So now is his time. He has a good enough player in Son. True, he doesn't have a good enough player in BJ, but then it's up to him to make something happen with Sonny.
Kulu is a fucking ball hog who loses it 500 times a game but now and again scores a nice goal or makes a nice pass and everyone calls him world class, yeah.
Yes, but it looks like our instructions is to only play through him. And he's always on the right side. That's why Son and also Solanke are not getting involved. Maddison's natural position is behind Solanke so naturally he would get Solanke more involved. He is more efficient than Kulu in most situations. Kulu is so very awkward and overly reliant on his left foot. He can't just make things happen fast and direct. But that's exactly what you must do to involve a striker. His favourite move is to put a low cross in the middle/ back of the penalty area. But it's always behind the front man. Kulu can't move with pace and hit the ball in the spot between the striker and the keeper. BJ can't do that either. Only Son *and to some extent Werner) can do that.
Our attack is too heavily weighted to the right. It's clogged with BJ, Kulu and Porro trying to create something. Porro's cross yesterday worked because it was a bit surprising. Not after the usual Kulu ball hogging which makes it so easy for the defence to regroup.
Put Madders bang in the middle of the pitch and let him dictate. He will find Solanke way more than Kulu is. He will also find Son way more who in turn can combine with Solanke. With those three we could actually have a very dangerous attack, but leave it in the hands of BJ and Kulu and you end up in 12th position and maybe even lower.
I like Solanke and I think he will improve with a more functional attacking line.
It's literally the state of the striker market
Hoylund
Havertz
Nunez
Richy
Nkunku
Rutter cost Brighton £40m FFS, he was playing in the Championship lmao
It's what we thought we were paying for with richarlison. Knows the League, 12-20 goals a season "guaranteed". It obviously didn't play out that way.
Just not true. Last season his non-penalty xG was 0.47 per 90. This season it's slightly better at 0.49.
It was 0.56 up to and including Chelsea game but has only averaged 0.32 since then as we've struggled playing out from the back due to absence of Vic/Romero/van de Ven and he's had to drop back deeper.
He’s been an absolute warrior this season so far. How he’s still able to put so much work in after this schedule is almost freakish.
How Bournemouth are better off WITHOUT Dominic Solanke - ANSON-WALSH
TARA ANSON-WALSH: The way Iraola has managed to not only recover this team following Solanke's departure, but improve it, is testament to his forward-thinking and coaching prowess.
Bournemouth are better off WITHOUT Dominic Solanke's goals - and Andoni Iraola can take the credit, writes TARA ANSON-WALSH
- Bournemouth are scoring more goals off the bench than anyone else this season
- They are also spreading around the goals nicely after Solanke's departure
- LISTEN NOW: It's All Kicking Off! New formation, some new faces, but the optimism has gone at Old Trafford
Published: 14:32 GMT, 5 January 2025 | Updated: 14:32 GMT, 5 January 2025
Just outside Pokesdown railway station, the nearest train station to Bournemouth’s Vitality ground, there’s a small football memorabilia shop with a framed Dominic Solanke shirt propped up in the window for passers-by to admire.
It serves as a reminder of the influence of the former Cherries striker, whose £65-million move to Tottenham in the summer after netting 19 Premier League goals last season was supposed to derail Andoni Iraola’s second season in charge.
But the way in which Iraola has managed to not only recover this team following Solanke’s departure, but actually improve it, is testament to the Spaniard’s forward-thinking and coaching prowess.
Antoine Semenyo, Justin Kluivert and Marcus Tavernier were the most used attackers last season behind Solanke, and the three of them produced 18 goals. At the midpoint to this season those three have already scored 12.
Evanilson, Solanke’s £40-million replacement, has five of his own and impressed against Everton, but crucially the goals are no longer coming from just the one man.
Iraola has instilled self-belief in this squad, epitomised by the way in which Bournemouth now top the leaderboard for most goals scored by substitutes in the Premier League this season.
David Brooks was the one to do this against Everton on Saturday with a sublime volley which Jordan Pickford, who had an otherwise outstanding game, was none the wiser to.
‘That finish is the definition of clinical from David,’ Iraola said. ‘Everyone in the club trusts David. I think in the last month he has started two games, he has come on from the bench all the other games, so he’s played more minutes lately because we have the injuries [to Marcus Tavernier and Luis Sinisterra] in his position.’
And, he added: ‘Everyone is fighting for minutes and it’s good for the team.’
The one-goal scoreline aside, Bournemouth's overall superiority in front of goal compared to Everton’s was glaring. The hosts had eight shots on target while Sean Dyche’s side were unable to threaten Mark Travers’ net at all and the Toffees have now failed to score in a league-high 11 games this season.
Dominic Calvert-Lewin extended his goalless run to 15 games and there is a sense that something will soon have to give if Everton are to avoid another late relegation scrap.