I find Mavididi more talented than Akpom, he seems a more natural finisher and thus a more proficient striker. Would you agree?
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General Reserves Talk
- Thread starter M+D
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Also, Hinds' goal was so sick! Crossbar and in is such a satisfying shot to see, though Lampard may disagree 
[longpostalert
]At this current point, I think so.
As a natural footballing talent, I'd have Akpom edging him out but Mavididi appears to be a far more composed and selfless player. I liken it to something I used to say about Gerrard and Lampard: Gerrard's the better footballer, Lampard's the better player.
The small details, the basics that knit things together is important - particularly in a team like Arsenal with such a loose structure. It's why Iwobi made the first team before the arguably better "baller" in Jeff, a player who has power and natural talent but not yet the in-game intelligence of a player like Alex Iwobi.
If we're measuring talent in terms of the whole spectrum of football, then you could definitely argue that Mavididi is the better talent. I've been an Akpom advocate since seeing him debut in the U18s at 15, but he has not progressed as a talent in the way he perhaps should have. He had the all-round game and ambition that should have seen him reach high heights. Ultimately, he does not have the composure or the team ethic. Mavididi is a plucky player IMO, never seems to have a particularly bad performance, mainly because of how selfless he is - in direct opposition to Akpom. Hinds has a similar quality - both are mature performers, maybe partly for their physical attributes as much as technical.
I feel you on the finishing aspect in particular, Mavididi looks a better finisher than Akpom. Their goal records are pretty similar in fact, as Mavididi was our top scorer at U18 level and this season is top scorer at U21 level. I'm a bit more intrigued in his development than I was before, particularly with Malen's competition.
I will say this though: Eddie Nketiah may possibly be a more talented prospect than all of them - particularly in terms of goalscoring, but we'll see how he adapts to U21 level before we draw any conclusions.
getting excited about gnabry again
ricky1985
Established Member
Derby are top of the League on 42 points but have now played all of their games. Arsenal are in second, now on 40 points but have two games left to play. Tomorrow they travel to Wales to face Swansea and on Monday they travel away to the Midlands to face West Brom - if they win one of the those two they'll be crowned Champions and automatically promoted back to Division One. If they don't manage to get a win - two draws almost certainly wouldnt be enough; goal difference is the same at +18 but Derby have scored 6 more goals - then they'll drop into a 4 team play-off, Championship style, to try and gain promotion.
Country: Iceland
Wilshere and ROsicky going to play next game!
Tir Na Nog
Changes Opinion Every 5 Minutes
Country: Ireland
Not sure if the appropriate thread, but I've heard loads of rumours over the past few days that Dan Crowley will be "fast-tracked" to the first-team for next season.
I've read this too - my guess is he'll at least get a chance in pre-season to impress. Still only 18 and has a very attractive skillset.
BobP
Memri Fan
Don't think much stock should be put in Crowley's form since returning from Barnsley, anybody would be downcast at having ones loan cancelled, a loan in which he was doing alright but just didn't fit in with the clubs needs.
If there is one large bonus this season have given us, it's the flourishing of our academy. So many bright prospects are coming through the ranks, led by Iwobi. We are honestly quite spoiled in talents, and it's comforting to know a manager like Wenger will integrate them into our system.
I just hope he balances these youth with proper experienced players that are already producing at a high level...
I just hope he balances these youth with proper experienced players that are already producing at a high level...
I am also hopeful that Jonker stays on in the job. He seems to have done a decent job at giving the academy tactical structure that they have all benefited from. More than anything, Arsenal need players who can somewhat self-manage in-game - under Arsène Wenger, we have always been an off the cuff team with Wenger choosing to build an adaptable team with a fluid style but lately our lack of organization and structure in both attack and defense is beginning to tell.
My worry is that the talents we have may not flourish just as much. It was put to me that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (a Southampton product) may be more useful to a manager like Pep than a manager like Arsène and that sort of makes sense when you see what Pep has done with Bayern Munich - employing strong young dribblers in Costa and Coman and giving them instruction has clearly seen them flourish. Ox may have regressed under Wenger's tutelage because he does not necessarily have the innate footballing intelligence and perhaps needs to be coached more rather than given too much free reign to express his game. A speculation on my part more than an observation, but it makes sense.
Andries Jonker is very similar to Van Gaal in terms of their ideals for football and that may actually bode well in terms of giving the young players more of a structure, tactical understanding - both defensively and offensively - and shaping their game. Thus they will already be endowed with the intelligence necessary to function in the fluid unit that is Arsenal's first team.
BobP
Memri Fan
Jeorge Bird, citing Iwobi, Mensah and Rashford as examples, seemed to suggest on twitter that the best policy with regards to youth players is to just throw them into the first team.
Food for thought...
Iwobi has almost exclusively trained with the 1st team, think that's also been the case with Mensah, not sure about Rashford.
Food for thought...
Iwobi has almost exclusively trained with the 1st team, think that's also been the case with Mensah, not sure about Rashford.
Lancelot
Established Member
It's quite interesting to talk about unrealized potential in the hands of two seemingly different kinds of managers, i.e. Pep and Wenger.
On the one hand, you have pragmatism and tactical flexibility that lead to effectiveness and consistency against various types of opponents, even with 'limited' individuals in the team. On the other, though, you have natural intelligence, overwhelming skillset and unpredictability that lead to superiority and scintillating football; one that, once kept injury-free, you could turn on the cruise control and enjoy the show.
To me, rather than two opposite sides of the coin, I see two stages of evolution - first Pep then Wenger (figurative to the above paragraph) - and it starts with the very word 'limited'. In a way, all the young prospects are limited; be it the lack of particular footballing skill or the necessary brain to make a right decision for the team in a given moment. Although those two aspects of their shortcomings can be developed through Wenger's ideology of self-improvement through intuitive learning experience in training session with the first team and actual top-level competitive football matches, I think it's a bit too advance for the majority of young players, meaning that, in my opinion, he's actually, and indirectly, forcing them to skip one giant step of evolution to become the finished product that we want.
How many of them since the days of the Invincibles that we thought, 'Yep, this lad is a diamond who's a bit rough around the edges and Wenger will make a world-class player out of him', and he didn't. Let's just look at the British Core and imagine these players growing up somewhere else under a manager like Pep (see @MutableEarth's terrific post above too
).
I know that it's tempting to find out about people who pass Wenger's test and come out of it being worthy of the Invincibles - Cesc as a finished product for example - but the real question is what are the odds of finding enough of them within the same age group to recreate Wenger's vision? comparing that to the chances of success from a manager like Pep who would gather 3-4 or maybe a few more of the ready-made players through the club's spending and then he actually polishes all of his players together, limited and non-limited, under a confidence-building platform which is winning football along the way.
The sad truth of the matter is, a manager like Pep isn't just providing his players with a first stage of evolution, but he can also let them evolve into the second stage and become a completed player as well and that's why Wenger will be more and more of a fading force as the years gone by since he has never truly provided his players with the first stage of evolution.
On the one hand, you have pragmatism and tactical flexibility that lead to effectiveness and consistency against various types of opponents, even with 'limited' individuals in the team. On the other, though, you have natural intelligence, overwhelming skillset and unpredictability that lead to superiority and scintillating football; one that, once kept injury-free, you could turn on the cruise control and enjoy the show.
To me, rather than two opposite sides of the coin, I see two stages of evolution - first Pep then Wenger (figurative to the above paragraph) - and it starts with the very word 'limited'. In a way, all the young prospects are limited; be it the lack of particular footballing skill or the necessary brain to make a right decision for the team in a given moment. Although those two aspects of their shortcomings can be developed through Wenger's ideology of self-improvement through intuitive learning experience in training session with the first team and actual top-level competitive football matches, I think it's a bit too advance for the majority of young players, meaning that, in my opinion, he's actually, and indirectly, forcing them to skip one giant step of evolution to become the finished product that we want.
How many of them since the days of the Invincibles that we thought, 'Yep, this lad is a diamond who's a bit rough around the edges and Wenger will make a world-class player out of him', and he didn't. Let's just look at the British Core and imagine these players growing up somewhere else under a manager like Pep (see @MutableEarth's terrific post above too
).I know that it's tempting to find out about people who pass Wenger's test and come out of it being worthy of the Invincibles - Cesc as a finished product for example - but the real question is what are the odds of finding enough of them within the same age group to recreate Wenger's vision? comparing that to the chances of success from a manager like Pep who would gather 3-4 or maybe a few more of the ready-made players through the club's spending and then he actually polishes all of his players together, limited and non-limited, under a confidence-building platform which is winning football along the way.
The sad truth of the matter is, a manager like Pep isn't just providing his players with a first stage of evolution, but he can also let them evolve into the second stage and become a completed player as well and that's why Wenger will be more and more of a fading force as the years gone by since he has never truly provided his players with the first stage of evolution.
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razörist
Soft With The Ladies, Hard With The Mes
Country: Morocco
Will there be a stream on the club website from the u21's game tonight? I quite liked last week, and just read that Wilshere and Rosicky will partake again.
9jagooner
Well-Known Member
The game has started.
Swansea leads 1-0. Rosicky is playing
Swansea leads 1-0. Rosicky is playing
9jagooner
Well-Known Member
Former Arsenal goalkeeper JOsh Vickers is in goal for Swansea
9jagooner
Well-Known Member
2-0 to Swansea
9jagooner
Well-Known Member
For those who got carried away after the game against Newcastle, hope you can now see we can't jump to conclusion after one game?
9jagooner
Well-Known Member
GOAL! @SergeGnabry is the scorer! 1-2 (78) #AFCU21
