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General Reserves Talk

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MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Finishes 2-2.

Was an ugly performance for about 80 mins, until finally some cut and thrust was able to find it's way through.

Balogun and Amaechi changed the game in the 2nd half and the former was the best player for us tonight. Osei-Tutu also had a much better 2nd half and Tormey was game when he came on and looked pretty decent in his auxiliary midfield role. Gilmour was also improved in the 2nd half.

Was a really poor first half though. Team very much misses Willock's dribbling, competitiveness and passing from midfield. With no other player like that, Ljungberg might have to start fast tracking Yunus Musah or Miguel Azeez.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
James Benge rated Amaechi as our best player in his ratings. I thought he was excellent when he was on the ball but wasn't enough. Wonder if anyone else felt the same way? Probably over the course of the 90 mins he was our best player but Benge gave him 8/10. Tiny bit generous.
 

HBL

Established Member
Very frustrating we couldn't get Amaechi in the game more, Saka was bright in the first half but didn't really do anything in the second half. The team will have to get used to playing without Willock/Nketiah and most likely Amaechi/Saka in the near future so others will have to step up. Balogun, John-Jules should be able to do so and the midfield will get a nice injection of creativity once Matt Smith becomes a regular next season.

Sheaf/Gilmour need to be a lot more progressive with the ball and take more risks. Still think Sheaf is probably a better CB.
 
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Country: Iceland
I think Ljunberg got it wrong in the midfield and that cost us a lot in the first half.

We did put a lot of pressure on in the second half and we could maybe even have won the game if one of the corner would have gone in!

Saka and Amiechi quiet tonight but Swansea defended very well. Shows that there is a lot more work to be done and they need to keep working hard!
 

HBL

Established Member
I replied to a Jeorge Bird tweet saying that John-Jules should have moved into midfield and Balogun replaced one of the midfielders.

Tyreece John-Jules himself liked the tweet :lol:. That's genuinely quite funny :lol:
Seems like John-Jules didn't rate that performance from Sheaf/Thompson either!
 

HBL

Established Member
In an ideal world we hammer Rennes on Thursday so Saka & Amaechi have a chance of making the squad for the home match but I think I'm being optimistic.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
In an ideal world we hammer Rennes on Thursday so Saka & Amaechi have a chance of making the squad for the home match but I think I'm being optimistic.
That would be the optimum outcome for me - Eddie will travel anyway but I reckon he might be lucky to see the pitch on Thursday, I just hope he gets a nice little run out in the home leg aswell. Saka and Amaechi defo have momentum and ability to make something happen but Nketiah and Willock have definitely paid their dues too. It's an exciting time and all of them have to be in the picture.

@MutableEarth what's your opinion on the interest in Amaechi from Bayern and other teams? Can we keep him or do you think he might be tempted to go somewhere else?
Interest has been high since his return from injury. Arsenal's academy is predictably top heavy in it's distribution of talent so naturally some talents are fighting for the same spots - Bundesliga teams are looking to cash-in and Xavier Amaechi&Emile Smith-Rowe have been high on the list since the Youth Cup run last year. RB Leipzig have been scouting them for a long time and they actually wanted ESR with an option to buy which we flat out refused I believe. Amaechi, on the other hand, has been followed by both Leipzig and Dortmund. Dortmund I can imagine, are keen to stock up in case they decide to cash in on the jewel that is Jadon Sancho. Amaechi - super fast, versatile dribbler, regular chance creator and two-footed finisher - seems perfect on paper.

My opinion is nuanced: I think we should keep him, but given the competition for places and Emery likely shunting the majority of these talents wide, the fallout will be some players rocking up in the Bundesliga and Amaechi is definitely a vulnerable target for those German teams. A huge talent, England youth international, Euro U17 TOTT member, FAYC final goalscorer etc - yet under the radar and briefly usurped by the slightly younger Bukayo Saka, and may yet find his pathway blocked further by a returning Reiss Nelson (a vaguely similar player also) and Emile Smith-Rowe. It's very possible he could decide to leave and be somebody else's jewel.

In an ideal world (my world anyway :lol:), we keep all of Saka/Amaechi/ESR/Nelson/Nketiah/Willock, sell the deadwood and integrate them into the squad. In my opinion, a good chunk of those players are better centrally anyway - ESR on paper is an Emery #10. Has Ramsey's endeavor and intelligence but is closer to Wilshere's technical security. And I think ESR could have an extremely bright future as an #8 because his game exploded once he was played in that position for the U23s. Willock could also play both roles to a high standard, and has the physicality to dominate games. Reiss Nelson is the maverick because he often plays wide but he's increasingly becoming a more centrally oriented player - does lots of combination play, comes to life when he drifts inside, likes being involved and drops to receive, and scores goals. Which leaves Saka and Amaechi - who are the most predominately wide players of the bunch. Nketiah is a CF mostly. Theoretically, you could field an U23 lineup like this:

Smith-Rowe Willock
Amaechi Nelson Saka
Nketiah
That would play into all of their strengths. I think if we want to salvage any of this though, we need to use the loan system and use it smartly.
 

BobP

Memri Fan
I'm a big fan of sending our best prospects out on loan.

Keeps them grounded, as they end up adopting a more realistic view regarding their development.

For example, I doubt Nelson will be up in arms about a lack of game time when he returns from loan when he's struggled to break into the starting 11 at Hoffenheim.
 

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