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Amadou Onana

Barry

Definitely Not An Old Poster
I swear you are like the omega wolf of AM.

You have the alpha Arteta fans and the beta anti Arteta brigade consisting of followers and need for likes.

Then there is you. Elite, own vision out of the bunch. Best part is nobody disagrees with you.
@Mitch is like your mad uncle who's been drinking Vermouth all Christmas and now is basically blind drunk and spitting out occasional random, inappropriate comments... And yet... The booze has brought him a strange kind of clarity and so no one is quite sure whether he might also be a wise prophet and a sage (as well as an alcoholic, mad uncle, of course).

Reckon he's probably right on this lad anyway.
 

Rasmi

Negative Nancy

Country: England
6'5 is too tall, what are we basketball team now? No cm that is 6'5 or above has been any good.

Already seen someone mention Diaby ( who was complete dog ****) comprasion which instantly brought back PTSD and I vomited a little.
Diaby was one of the most talented players ever at Arsenal. He was gonna start at 19 CL final for the best Arsenal team ever
 

Yousif Arsenal

On Vinai's payroll & misses 4th place trophy 🏆
Trusted ⭐
Agreed but I think at this moment of time Lokonga would be better off as an 8. There’s no rush to put him at 6.
Maybe in future at the moment we seem him more as 6 but i can easily see him play 8 he like pass forward and press high
 

Xln

Get me Jesus on the phone 📲
@Mitch is like your mad uncle who's been drinking Vermouth all Christmas and now is basically blind drunk and spitting out occasional random, inappropriate comments... And yet... The booze has brought him a strange kind of clarity and so no one is quite sure whether he might also be a wise prophet and a sage (as well as an alcoholic, mad uncle, of course).

Reckon he's probably right on this lad anyway.
This accuracy is unreal ffs :lol:
 

lomekian

Essays are my thing
This is the part I would dispute.

When you look at the stats that could quantify this a bit, Sambi is 85th, 76th, 87th percentile, and 92nd percentile to Xhaka's 82nd, 90th, 96th, and 95th in Key Passes, Passes into the Final Third, Passes into the Penalty Box, and SCA (live ball), respectively.

Perhaps the slight advantage in key passes could speak a bit to your claim, that Lokonga is more likely to make or try a defence splitting pass, but we're talking about a marginal advantage there.

Regardless, I take your point about Lokonga's personality, I agree that he definitely has some creativity to his game, but my point would be that Xhaka's creativity is in turn underrated (because of us being bored of him and the biases involved, and his creativity being a more subtle type-- his key passes don't really look to us like key passes when we're watching them, they tend to be more prosaic looking), and that in terms of actual production I don't think there's a strong argument for Lokonga currently being better than Xhaka in this aspect.

Given his personality perhaps you can make an argument that he could get there (to a higher level of actual production than Xhaka in this facet) this season.

Anyways, we're splitting hairs here and I'm getting a bit pedantic, I respect you as a poster, my point here is just to basically say that we tend to carry a negative bias when talking about pretty much any quality of Xhaka's, and especially take for granted his passing level, and that with him especially it's worth looking at the stats and checking on the biases and giving him the appreciation he is often due (which I don't think is an issue in your case at all, it just came up in this discussion organically wrt to Sambi).

You're certainly right about the part that I took out of this sentence quoted, btw, of course, that Sambi is the superior ball carrier. That we agree on from the start. And I understand how that factors into your original argument re: Lokonga's use in certain situations.
1) I've been one of Xhaka's staunchest defenders since he arrived. His flaws are common knowledge, but when he's playing well (and not exposed by Unai Emery's second season idiot-ball) he is one of the pillars holding the team together. My line has been the same for some time - he's not at the level of our aspiration, but for the level of our immediate targets, he's really not the problem.
2) Xhaka is a very good passer, and at his best forms a great relationship with a number 10. But he's very very rarely a final ball guy. Sambi is instinctively more of a final ball guy, and I've seen him play final 3rd passes that Xhaka just can't and doesn't play.
3) Xhaka is the better and more consistent player, so should show up better on season long metrics. Sambi has greater potential for me, but much depends on how his personality and physicality develop. He has greater ambition when he's feeling good, and clearly has better athletic potential.
4) If we buy Tielemans, I'm not sure where that leaves either...
 

drippin

Obsessed with "Mature Trusted Members"

Country: Finland
but my point would be that Xhaka's creativity is in turn underrated (because of us being bored of him and the biases involved, and his creativity being a more subtle type-- his key passes don't really look to us like key passes when we're watching them, they tend to be more prosaic looking), and that in terms of actual production I don't think there's a strong argument for Lokonga currently being better than Xhaka in this aspect.
This is a good point about Xhaka's play. Sometimes you forget some killer pass because it is so efficient.

Arsenal fans are also kind of biased because they always remember Xhaka's horror shows regarding bad mistakes.
 

Diesel

Well-Known Member
I swear you are like the omega wolf of AM.

You have the alpha Arteta fans and the beta anti Arteta brigade consisting of followers and need for likes.

Then there is you. Elite, own vision out of the bunch. Best part is nobody disagrees with you.
And then we have wannabe hire horse my **** dont stink posters. Who post drivel and think everybody should be in line with company policy. If your a sheep stay a sheep. Dont pretend u understand everyone else tho.
 

Xln

Get me Jesus on the phone 📲
And then we have wannabe hire horse my **** dont stink posters. Who post drivel and think everybody should be in line with company policy. If your a sheep stay a sheep. Dont pretend u understand everyone else tho.
Okay how many shots did you have today mate. What is this hahaha
 

Tourbillion

Angry & Miserable
Ceballos was our best player from when the season resumed after covid restrictions until the end of that season.

I wish Partey could produce peformances of that level and with that consistency.
Ceballos showed good fight and defensive work but he was still far from elite at the job he was brought in for.

Bar the occasional telegraphed through ball that my aunt could pull off, he did **** all for us.
 

RunTheTrap

Kai Havertz Offense League
Ceballos was our best player from when the season resumed after covid restrictions until the end of that season.

I wish Partey could produce peformances of that level and with that consistency.
Uncle Mitch is GOAT and anyone who tries to disagree with him should slap themselves.

“Now Uncle this why you gotta take your meds. You’re scaring everyone”.
 

Big Poppa

Established Member
Trusted ⭐

Country: USA

Player:Saliba
Lokonga has had one season, and frequently played in disadvantageous situations. He just needs to EL games and to occasionally play in a functional team, and lots of opinions will change. Good touch, fairly mobile, lovely eye for a pass, can carry the ball, looks like he can shoot reasonably well too.
Needs to get stronger, add more urgency/ aggression to his game and maintain his self belief more. Despite being a fairly experienced 21 year old, last season he was not the most physically mature.

Hopefully we'll see more from him this season, and he can start to build himself by bossing the Europa League
This is why I wanted Bissouma.

Lokonga is better as an 8 than a 6 in my opinion. Partey can do both but I prefer him as an 8. He'd also allow the likes of Patino and Azeez to develop without the pressure of additional defensive responsibilities.

I don't like the way we've been managing that area at all.
 

drippin

Obsessed with "Mature Trusted Members"

Country: Finland
This is why I wanted Bissouma.

Lokonga is better as an 8 than a 6 in my opinion. Partey can do both but I prefer him as an 8. He'd also allow the likes of Patino and Azeez to develop without the pressure of additional defensive responsibilities.

I don't like the way we've been managing that area at all.
I don't think we had much chance or interest in Bissouma.

Bissouma gets now UCL and Sp**s can basically promise him a starting spot over their midfield players. Here he would have Partey in front of him.

We don't have two important midfield players going to AFCON in the future.
 

Red London

Anti-Simp Culture
Trusted ⭐
Ceballos was our best player from when the season resumed after covid restrictions until the end of that season.

I wish Partey could produce peformances of that level and with that consistency.
And how about when we extended his loan and he was trash for a whole season?
 
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