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Matteo Guendouzi: Lad of Luscious Locks

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Eduardo_da_Silva

Active Member
Xhaka should be benched for that paralel pass alone. What bothers me the most with him is that he looks like he has no hunger at all. It cant be a coincidence that most of our players lose it soon after they arrive but with xhaka its plain obvious.
 

Cudareli

Antonio Valencia stan
No one has said that he’s the guy to take us to the next level but at least he looks more promising than the guy who it only took one season to take us to the next level below. Ideally we’d sell him in January and replace him with a better player. Then we don’t have to see a 19 year old from the french 2nd division outperform our “elite” “DLP” every week.

I've been on this forum long enough to have gone through this cycle time and time again with all of our new singing.

Last season it was Kolasinac, the best left back in the league, the signing of the season and Wenger was an 'idiot' for not starting him at left back in the first few weeks of the season because he was clearly world class. Come January, there was talk that he maybe wasn't as good as people thought and by May he was one of the players that needed upgrading because he wasn't Arsenal quality.

Last season we also had AMN, the saviour our side needed. Was a better left back than anyone in our squad and we came to that conclusion after watching him play one game. After a few months, talk began that he probably wasn't good enough for a first team spot just yet and come May, he wasn't spoken about as a potential starter anymore.

Coincidentally, it was Xhaka the year before that. Wenger signed him and didn't use him straight away and the 'experts' on this forum hammered him because hey, they had all seen enough Youtube highlights to know that Xhaka was exactly what our side needed and would propel us to the next level. They put an absurd amount of criticism onto Coquelin and threw **** at him for what he couldn't do, not what he could do. Eventually Xhaka came in and what do you know, by January fans were saying he wasn't good enough and by the start of last season, he needed to be replaced.

This buzz around new signings like Toreirra and Guuendouzi is literally classic knee jerking and only those who haven't been around for long enough get carried away by it. It's nothing to do with a love for Xhaka, it's having been around since the days Denilson broke through as the new Fabregas, only to be ridiculed out of the club. I was also here for Coquelin's breakthrough and geez didn't that turn fast.

Reality is that he is a 19 year old kid that we have all seen play 4 competitive games, that is it, 4 games. We are in no position to be making radical calls, nor are we even in a good enough position to judge his potential. While he looks promising, like so many youngsters do in their first few games, he still has miles to do to prove he should be starting, let alone our world class midfielder for the next 10 years like some on here are suggesting.

For now the best player we have in midfield, the most proven player we have, is Xhaka. You can sit there making generic, incorrect statements all you like but from Wenger to Emery, that much seems to be consistent in there eyes. If we find someone better than him, fantastic, lets bring them in, however making a call based on having watched Guendouzi for a few games is immature and naive.

I was once in the Lorik Cana boat and was certain he'd be the next big thing in our midfield. I was also a huge believer in Frimpong when this place were certain he was going to be the new Vieira. I'v made some horrible calls over the years and I can see posters on here, like yourself, doing the same.
 

Cudareli

Antonio Valencia stan
What bothers me the most with him is that he looks like he has no hunger at all.

I'm not sure if what you have said has been lost in translation, but saying the guy has no hunger is downright wrong.

He switches off at times, loses concentration, looks awkward defensively but saying he has no hunger is as bad as the other person who claimed he doesn't show for the ball. He's been captain of every side he plays for and Emery has put him in the leadership group because he's probably one of the hungriest most motivated players in the side. He apparently is one of the best trainers at the club and while he might have his physical and mental faults, I certainly don't think hunger is one of them :lol:
 

CaseUteinberger

Established Member

Country: Sweden
I was once in the Lorik Cana boat and was certain he'd be the next big thing in our midfield. I was also a huge believer in Frimpong when this place were certain he was going to be the new Vieira. I'v made some horrible calls over the years and I can see posters on here, like yourself, doing the same.
So by showing that you were wrong you are proving that others are wrong? Like the logic in that... ;)
 

TheArsenalis

Well-Known Member
I'm not sure if what you have said has been lost in translation, but saying the guy has no hunger is downright wrong.

He switches off at times, loses concentration, looks awkward defensively but saying he has no hunger is as bad as the other person who claimed he doesn't show for the ball. He's been captain of every side he plays for and Emery has put him in the leadership group because he's probably one of the hungriest most motivated players in the side. He apparently is one of the best trainers at the club and while he might have his physical and mental faults, I certainly don't think hunger is one of them :lol:
I dont know what worst you talking a parrot or me reading your reply.
 

Cudareli

Antonio Valencia stan
So by showing that you were wrong you are proving that others are wrong? Like the logic in that... ;)

What am I right about though? I'm not making any big calls here, I'm basically stating logic so won't be beating my chest if I am 'right'.

Guendouzi may go on to start every game this season, grow exponentially and be known as the best midfielder in the league by the end of the season. I don't see him train, I didn't watch him play last season and I don't know what his mentality, drive, attitude, etc are all like.

What I am saying though is that it is difficult enough to predict that from a kid you've been tracking your whole life, let alone a player you've seen play 4 times.

Me pointing out the times I've been wrong is just to show that this process of bigging up new signings and youth players is literally a constant on here. Frimpong, Iwobi, Denilson, Senderos, Eboue, literally the list goes on of players having had their time in the limelight on here. Jay Emmanuel Thomas and Henri Lansbury were going to be the answer to our midfield issues at one point, now look at them.

We all cross our fingers and hope that these young players getting minutes now will develop into better players than those in our first team at the moment, after all, that's a huge sign of growth within a club and justifies the investment we spend in scouting and youth development.

But right now, lets not go overboard and set stupidly high, unrealistic standards for players we have hardly seen. Looking at things objectively, I've noticed as many brilliant things that Guendouzi does as poor things. If he improves on those poor things and continue developing the brilliant things of course he will be some player, but we can't comment on that growth until we see it happening and it doesn't happen in 4 games.

Right now, the biggest influence in our midfield is Xhaka. When he's not on the field we lose shape, and we saw that against Chelsea as well as against Ostersund and CSKA last season. I'm a huge fan of his and understand that others aren't, but lets focus on his strengths and not his weaknesses. If one of these younger players coming through ends up surpassing him, fantastic, that's a good result for the club. Right now though, he is the best option in the squad and one of the best options in the league if played to his strengths.
 

Token Yank

Well-Known Member
I agree with most of what you’re saying Cudareli, but I think it’s Xhaka’s bi-polar performances that drive people nuts. He does a lot of good things, then will self destruct in critical moments. It might be less on him and more on the systems he is asked to play. On his day he can completely boss games. Then the next game be the main reason we lost. It’s frustrating because the talent is there he just can’t seem to string consisten performances together.
 

akhil

Well-Known Member
Mistakes are part of the game. It's just weird how Xhaka's mistakes are almost always costly. There's a really high percentage of his that result in the opposition scoring. That also is directly related to his position being the deepest midfielder most of the time.

I still want him starting though. Still think he's the best midfielder in the team.
 

pikey2000

Well-Known Member
I've been on this forum long enough to have gone through this cycle time and time again with all of our new singing.

Last season it was Kolasinac, the best left back in the league, the signing of the season and Wenger was an 'idiot' for not starting him at left back in the first few weeks of the season because he was clearly world class. Come January, there was talk that he maybe wasn't as good as people thought and by May he was one of the players that needed upgrading because he wasn't Arsenal quality.

Last season we also had AMN, the saviour our side needed. Was a better left back than anyone in our squad and we came to that conclusion after watching him play one game. After a few months, talk began that he probably wasn't good enough for a first team spot just yet and come May, he wasn't spoken about as a potential starter anymore.

Coincidentally, it was Xhaka the year before that. Wenger signed him and didn't use him straight away and the 'experts' on this forum hammered him because hey, they had all seen enough Youtube highlights to know that Xhaka was exactly what our side needed and would propel us to the next level. They put an absurd amount of criticism onto Coquelin and threw **** at him for what he couldn't do, not what he could do. Eventually Xhaka came in and what do you know, by January fans were saying he wasn't good enough and by the start of last season, he needed to be replaced.

This buzz around new signings like Toreirra and Guuendouzi is literally classic knee jerking and only those who haven't been around for long enough get carried away by it. It's nothing to do with a love for Xhaka, it's having been around since the days Denilson broke through as the new Fabregas, only to be ridiculed out of the club. I was also here for Coquelin's breakthrough and geez didn't that turn fast.

Reality is that he is a 19 year old kid that we have all seen play 4 competitive games, that is it, 4 games. We are in no position to be making radical calls, nor are we even in a good enough position to judge his potential. While he looks promising, like so many youngsters do in their first few games, he still has miles to do to prove he should be starting, let alone our world class midfielder for the next 10 years like some on here are suggesting.

For now the best player we have in midfield, the most proven player we have, is Xhaka. You can sit there making generic, incorrect statements all you like but from Wenger to Emery, that much seems to be consistent in there eyes. If we find someone better than him, fantastic, lets bring them in, however making a call based on having watched Guendouzi for a few games is immature and naive.

I was once in the Lorik Cana boat and was certain he'd be the next big thing in our midfield. I was also a huge believer in Frimpong when this place were certain he was going to be the new Vieira. I'v made some horrible calls over the years and I can see posters on here, like yourself, doing the same.


You make a good point, we are all prone to jumping on the hype wagon at times, though for me personally with the likes of Geundouzi and AMN especially you can see they have a few more levels in their game given the game time, therefore i think its natural to want to see them get plenty minutes on the pitch.

I'd love to see a more athletic dynamic midfield duo like Douzi + AMN who can get around the pitch, not suggesting that we should do it now, but its perfectly natural to want to give younger players the time to develop, hoping to see a lot of them in the Europa.
 

ThlRama

Active Member

Country: Greece

Player:Saka
I agree with most of what you’re saying Cudareli, but I think it’s Xhaka’s bi-polar performances that drive people nuts.

Being bipolar is something unacceptable for a midfielder of his ilk though. Very few, if any, players at the top level that are similar to Xhaka have that kind of weakness. Usually they are the safest players in their squad, they will foul stupid, they will lose the ball against great pressing, these things are fair enough, but that pass from Xhaka to Cardiff is rare and unacceptable. It's the one thing you should never see a general midfielder, DLP, roll-the-ball CM, call them whatever you like, ever do: Switch play directly to an opposition player under no pressure and while their own team is breaking the defensive shape trying to counter. Always better to overhit those passes or better yet pass directly to the opposition keeper. That would've been not just forgiveable, but also forgettable. The first thing you need to do as Xhaka in the midfield of Arsenal, a defensively frail top team that needs the points, is to end the siege in their third of the pitch when the half-time whistle is so close and you are ahead.
 

ThlRama

Active Member

Country: Greece

Player:Saka
It happens quite often with him, but most of these horror passes don't end up with the ball in our net so they are quickly forgotten.

Yeah, I meant rare at the top level from players of his ilk. With him this is routine, even when he plays well unfortunately.
 

Cudareli

Antonio Valencia stan
It happens quite often with him, but most of these horror passes don't end up with the ball in our net so they are quickly forgotten.

When does anything negative relating to Xhaka get quickly forgotten? He can have a world class game, make one mistake and you hear about it for weeks.

Yet again, another false comment. Add that to the list next to the comment yesterday that Xhaka doesn't receive the ball from the defence enough and doesn't show any passion.
 

Maybe

You're wrong, no?
When does anything negative relating to Xhaka get quickly forgotten? He can have a world class game, make one mistake and you hear about it for weeks.
You hear about it for weeks because he reminds us almost every game what he is capable of (in a negative way). Until he reduces the number of costly mistakes, fans won't stop talking about it. The blame is on him for making these mistakes regularly, not on the fans for pointing that out.
And as people are already saying, even in his world class games he makes mistakes that are leading to goals or clear cut chances for the opposition team.

And for him not receive the ball from defense, it's a blessing currently because I'm not comfortable with him having possession close to our goal, he is not composed enough for that. He can take the ball further up the field and do things that he is good at, and leave this to more competent players. Xhaka will be great this season as soon as Emery pushes him away from our goal, thats the reason we have 19y old playing every game from start and soon we will have Toreirra for this job.
 

Fewtch

Özil at 10 And Emery Out
I've been on this forum long enough to have gone through this cycle time and time again with all of our new singing.

Last season it was Kolasinac, the best left back in the league, the signing of the season and Wenger was an 'idiot' for not starting him at left back in the first few weeks of the season because he was clearly world class. Come January, there was talk that he maybe wasn't as good as people thought and by May he was one of the players that needed upgrading because he wasn't Arsenal quality.

Last season we also had AMN, the saviour our side needed. Was a better left back than anyone in our squad and we came to that conclusion after watching him play one game. After a few months, talk began that he probably wasn't good enough for a first team spot just yet and come May, he wasn't spoken about as a potential starter anymore.

Coincidentally, it was Xhaka the year before that. Wenger signed him and didn't use him straight away and the 'experts' on this forum hammered him because hey, they had all seen enough Youtube highlights to know that Xhaka was exactly what our side needed and would propel us to the next level. They put an absurd amount of criticism onto Coquelin and threw **** at him for what he couldn't do, not what he could do. Eventually Xhaka came in and what do you know, by January fans were saying he wasn't good enough and by the start of last season, he needed to be replaced.

This buzz around new signings like Toreirra and Guuendouzi is literally classic knee jerking and only those who haven't been around for long enough get carried away by it. It's nothing to do with a love for Xhaka, it's having been around since the days Denilson broke through as the new Fabregas, only to be ridiculed out of the club. I was also here for Coquelin's breakthrough and geez didn't that turn fast.

Reality is that he is a 19 year old kid that we have all seen play 4 competitive games, that is it, 4 games. We are in no position to be making radical calls, nor are we even in a good enough position to judge his potential. While he looks promising, like so many youngsters do in their first few games, he still has miles to do to prove he should be starting, let alone our world class midfielder for the next 10 years like some on here are suggesting.

For now the best player we have in midfield, the most proven player we have, is Xhaka. You can sit there making generic, incorrect statements all you like but from Wenger to Emery, that much seems to be consistent in there eyes. If we find someone better than him, fantastic, lets bring them in, however making a call based on having watched Guendouzi for a few games is immature and naive.

I was once in the Lorik Cana boat and was certain he'd be the next big thing in our midfield. I was also a huge believer in Frimpong when this place were certain he was going to be the new Vieira. I'v made some horrible calls over the years and I can see posters on here, like yourself, doing the same.
That’s a very nice story mate but once again you keep ignoring everything I say in my posts and now you’ve even gone on a long rant about things I’ve never actually said. Not sure what’s the point of having this discussion with you tbh, do you want to me to argue for things I’ve never said while you simultaneously ignore everything I say?

You seem to be more worried about Xhaka losing his place in the team than the team doing well for some reason. Calm down, none of us have any influence on the team whatsoever. No matter how much I dislike Xhaka or you dislike Torreira and Guendouzi our angry posts on AM won’t change a thing. All we know is for now is that Matteo has been given the chance by Emery for four games straight now and some of us hope that he continues to give him the chance when Torreira is eventually integrated in the team.

Xhaka has been part of the 2016 spine (Cech, Mustafi, Xhaka, Giroud) that has given us the two worst years in decades and a historical CL defeat ( 2nd worst knockout stage defeat in history). We’ve done a great job with getting Auba/Laca in to upgrade the top of our spine and the sooner we get rid of and replace the rest with better players the sooner we’ll get back to where this club is supposed to be.
 

Jae

Well-Known Member
Everything there is to say about Xhaka has already been said on here... Like... A billion times.

Don't know why we bother arguing about him anymore. I'll wait for Xhaka to be worthy of the badge on his chest or I'll wait for him to be sold, whichever comes first. Until then I will continue to be disappointed.
 

CanadianGooner1608

Active Member
Always in a spirit of positivity, I would like to ask a question I've been asking myself which has been pinpointed by Cudarelli.
It is true that be it under Wenger or Emery, Xhaka has so far been handed a starting role.

Some (and I'm amongst those) argued that Wenger was too stubborn to drop him.
That being said, Emery has showed that he isn't afraid of dropping players if they don't work hard enough (i.e. Xhaka, Özil), but has kept on giving Xhaka a starting role.

My question would be why do you think it he does it?
 
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