Reiss Nelson: Time to Shine?

[L3T5 PL4Y]

To be honest, getting great numbers in the BuLi these days ain't a huge measure in itself. The level of talent-homegrown+foreigners- and management has dropped since the Pep, Klopp, Tuchel etc times Favre at BvB, Nagelsmann and Bayern apart. Still, the encouraging thing is that his efficiency in the final third is pretty strong.

Nagelsmann's words are pretty encouraging and reassuring in the sense that he is challenging Reiss to keep growing. That can only do him good if he is up for it and responds to the challenge.

 

[#254]

Ox was an unbelievable talent at 18 tbh, looked like he was destined to be a top class player. I still believe the only thing that stopped him was injuries.

Yeah, I remember that game he came in against United and played unbelievably well only for Wenger to sub him out! How he reached that decision was mind boggling as were most of his sub decisions in the latter stages here!

 

[Gooner416]

Ox was an unbelievable talent at 18 tbh, looked like he was destined to be a top class player. I still believe the only thing that stopped him was injuries.

I thought after Milan that him and Sterling were the future of England and the PL.

 

[Lakersgooner24]

Yeah, I remember that game he came in against United and played unbelievably well only for Wenger to sub him out! How he reached that decision was mind boggling as were most of his sub decisions in the latter stages here!

Probably spouting ****, but I believe that that was one of the nails in the coffin in RVP deciding to leave us. I still vividly remember his expression of disbelief and exasperation when he realized that Wenger was making that sub, not to mention the groans and boos resonating throughout the stadium as Ox trudged off. We subsequently went on to lose the match.

 

[#254]

Probably spouting ****, but I believe that that was one of the nails in the coffin in RVP deciding to leave us. I still vividly remember his expression of disbelief and exasperation when he realized that Wenger was making that sub, not to mention the groans and boos resonating throughout the stadium as Ox trudged off. We subsequently went on to lose the match.

This could actually be true. Am sure you would also get pissed off at your work supervisor for continually making decisions that would effect negatively on the performance of your organization while at the same time boosting your competition. I don't blame RVP at all for wanting to leave.

 

[Mo Britain]

Probably spouting ****, but I believe that that was one of the nails in the coffin in RVP deciding to leave us. I still vividly remember his expression of disbelief and exasperation when he realized that Wenger was making that sub, not to mention the groans and boos resonating throughout the stadium as Ox trudged off. We subsequently went on to lose the match.

Pretty sure you're right. The stated reasons that he wanted more money and wanted to win trophies were probably red herrings.

 

[Sungod]

Hoffenheim: Reiss Nelson named Bundesliga's Rookie of the Month
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/46194613

 

[Beksl]

Hoffenheim: Reiss Nelson named Bundesliga's Rookie of the Month
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/46194613

Rookie of the month, is this NBA ffs?

 

[9jagooner]

Probably spouting ****, but I believe that that was one of the nails in the coffin in RVP deciding to leave us. I still vividly remember his expression of disbelief and exasperation when he realized that Wenger was making that sub, not to mention the groans and boos resonating throughout the stadium as Ox trudged off. We subsequently went on to lose the match.

I have a more interesting conspiracy theory.
I think Wenger wanted to help his friend Fergie win the league so Fergie could retire that year. Chamberlain was chief tormentor of United that night and we would have won the game if he'd stayed on.
Arsène and Fergie's plan didn't work and City went on to win the league. Guess what happened after that? Arsène sold RVP to United and they went on to win the league and Fergie retired.

 

[Nicenho]

I have a more interesting conspiracy theory.
I think Wenger wanted to help his friend Fergie win the league so Fergie could retire that year. Chamberlain was chief tormentor of United that night and we would have won the game if he'd stayed on.
Arséne and Fergie's plan didn't work and City went on to win the league. Guess what happened after that? Arséne sold RVP to United and they went on to win the league and Fergie retired.

Mind. Blown.

 

[Impact]

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/46185982

 

[Drebin]

I want to be an Arsenal legend. And, for England, it's the best. You can't beat playing for your country I don't think.

Good to hear

 

[Sungod]

He is starting to believe.

 

[MutableEarth]

He could very much be a legend but he has to continue to work hard and improve. He has all the tools to be extremely brilliant though - great acceleration, good attacking instincts, an above average finisher (his goal record at youth level is very good), great close control and dribbling - plus he has imagination in terms of things he tries to do. This is a player who can be as good as he wants to be.

 

[Taylor Gang Gunners]

Regardless of what people think of Bundesliga, Nelson has been a phenomenon.

He's playing at a CL club and getting top flight minutes. Many have gone to Bundesliga and struggled, Nelson's talent is obvious for all to see. The fact he's a genuine Arsenal boy makes it all the more exciting.

Like Mutable said, he has the tools to go as far as he wants. And it looks like it's gonna be here. Incredible to think he played right wing back for us, when you consider how good he is in the final third. I love you Wenger but that was a bogus move.

Can't wait to see him back in red and white. People will forget all about the likes of Loftus-Cheek and Rashford. He ****s on both of them.

 

[MutableEarth]

Regardless of what people think of Bundesliga, Nelson has been a phenomenon.

He's playing at a CL club and getting top flight minutes. Many have gone to Bundesliga and struggled, Nelson's talent is obvious for all to see. The fact he's a genuine Arsenal boy makes it all the more exciting.

Like Mutable said, he has the tools to go as far as he wants. And it looks like it's gonna be here. Incredible to think he played right wing back for us, when you consider how good he is in the final third. I love you Wenger but that was a bogus move.

Can't wait to see him back in red and white. People will forget all about the likes of Loftus-Cheek and Rashford. He ****s on both of them.

In the aftermath, I'm prepared to give Wenger the benefit of the doubt. He was caught between honoring his seniors (including former protege Theo Walcott) and knowing that Nelson was talented, had outgrown U23 football and needed to taste first team football. With the formation tweak, he had to fit him in somewhere (it was the same with Maitland-Niles adjusting to wing/full back). Logically, it should have been in Theo's place but it did not work out like that.

Interestingly, because of how well Nelson's doing, it's been suggested that Wenger was right to play him RWB and I disagree - I honestly think his development slowed down a tad. Going to Hoffenheim has reinvigorated his upward trajectory after a minor period of stagnation. He's playing significant minutes in positions of importance to the attack - as a winger, striker and attacking CM.

I think his next mission is to sustain his impact on games. He's effective off the bench because he's capable of massive impact. The parallels to Serge Gnabry are quite pertinent - Gnabry's career up until leaving Arsenal was very much in the vein of feeling his way into confidence for the first team, while bullying youth level once he was used to it. Nelson last season is almost a mirror image of Gnabry's first games in the first team in terms of individual performances - some decent outings along with some difficult games, backed by a stellar U21/23 campaign (PL2 player of the year in Nelson's case). I wrote about it quite a lot in the reserves thread years back, but Gnabry often had impact on games without sustaining his influence, something that carried into his first team life also. Watching him for Bayern the other night, he very much looked like he belonged and was a constant threat. Gnabry's become a great, high benchmark and honestly I think Nelson could match it and surpass Gnabry if he continues his ascent.

But sustaining his influence on games is the next part. We know he can provide key moments in the final 3rd - creating chances and scoring them too. We know he has devastating footwork in tight areas to make openings. What he needs to do is demand possession, keep finding areas to receive and run with the ball and (this will be hard with his teammates at Hoffenheim) create as many combinations as he can. He'll probably score even more goals that way - so far, he's shooting and scoring at an absurdly high level and it's not likely to continue for the entire season. He'll need to do the above once his shooting starts to level out. He's still a dangerous finisher though, and I think he'll continue to score goals even once he starts to miss a few shots - the key is in getting a high shot volume.

 

[HBL]

It's crazy when you think that Dembele scored six goals in his only season in the Bundesliga before moving to Barca, in a much better attacking side as well. What a talent Nelson is, just needs to get involved more in games and then we're golden. All the top wingers can influence a game without having to score/assist, that's his next step.

 

[Toby]

Regardless of what people think of Bundesliga, Nelson has been a phenomenon.

It might not be back to its heights from around the 2013 all German CL final, but this season the league seems back on track. A lot of teams have stacked up on quality with players from foreign leagues and have begun to play a more proactive and attacking brand of football again.

Adi Hutter is doing a great job at giving Eintracht Frankfurt a more playful style on top of their physical, fast paced Kovac style. Kohfeldt at Bremen has a very positive style, Nagelsmann gets his poverty Hoffenheim squad to play decent attacking football in a rather defensive 5 at the back formation, Rangnick is working at his fast paced pressing game at Leipzig, even Dieter Hecking has seemingly reinvented himself at Gladbach this season playing a great positive style. And then of course there's Favre at Dortmund.

In terms of players Frankfurt's attacking trio of Jovic, Rebic and Haller is phenomenal, Alassane plea has been so, so good for Gladbach who also have a class Hazard; Sancho and Nelson have been two foreign revelations, Alcacer has been great, Reus is maybe at his all time best.

In the EL and CL the teams are also doing a lot better than in recent years. Leverkusen is struggling massively in the league, still sit top of their EL group with early KO qualification, Frankfurt already KO qualified and top of their group with 4 straight wins, Dortmund top of their group in the CL, domestically struggling Bayern top of their group, Hoffenheim still with chances to go through although they have a **** squad, Schalke also struggling in the league but with an okay CL performance in 2nd of their group right now.

It's a great league for attackers and attacking football this season - the goals scored by Matchday 11 have almost doubled in comparison to last season - and most teams move away from extremely defensive counter attacking styles. The league is on the upswing in terms of quality of football and players after 3, 4 years of bland ****, and I wouldn't underestimate the performance of Nelson on those grounds.

 

[isop]

It's crazy when you think that Dembele scored six goals in his only season in the Bundesliga before moving to Barca, in a much better attacking side as well. What a talent Nelson is, just needs to get involved more in games and then we're golden. All the top wingers can influence a game without having to score/assist, that's his next step.

But he had something like 21 assists as well, and is really more of an ambidextrous playmaker with great passing and vision who also happens to be speedy and good at dribbling as well.

I'm interested to see if Nelson develops into more of a wide forward or wide creator, or both.

 

[HBL]

But he had something like 21 assists as well, and is really more of an ambidextrous playmaker with great passing and vision who also happens to be speedy and good at dribbling as well.

I'm interested to see if Nelson develops into more of a wide forward or wide creator, or both.

13 in the Bundesliga, but yeah I get your point. Reiss should have a couple at least already but that Hungarian striker is a donkey. Joelinton and Demirbay are about the only decent players in that team, Kramaric just seems really selfish every time I watch them.