chessygoal
Well-Known Member
A bit depressing to see that most of our young loaned players are bench warmers : http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/20160418/loan-watch-zelalem-scores-penalty
As long as his crazy mother doesn't get in the way......
You could also make the same case for Maitland-Niles - I honestly believe he has a future in central midfield personally. There are options there.
True!As long as his crazy mother doesn't get in the way...
@MutableEarth may have said this before, but I feel like we need to trim our main squad down. We must sign some top players to keep up with competition, but more needs to leave than get in.
The reason for this is so that we can properly nurture our young talents. We have so many midfielders and wingers at the moment that it seems the likes of Toral, Gnabry, Adelaide, and Willock won't be getting a chance next season. I wouldn't be surprised if the Walcott and Ox rumors turned out to be true because of this, which at least would mean that the club is headed in a positive direction for the next manager when Wenger's contract runs out.
True!
Now that I think about it, Maitland-Niles would make a great needle player once he fully refined his game. Showed his versatility and aptitude for defending when Wenger brought him on to mark Wesley Sneijder. In the games I saw for Ipswich, his workrate was probably his best asset - got back and tackled a lot on the wing. Think his future's in central midfield. Can dribble and pass pretty well - although his passing hasn't really been much of an asset at Ipswich, I think that would improve here.
A number of our attacking midfielders could potentially have a future at CM, along with the CMs that we do have at U21 level. They need better coaching though - they are great individual talents but you can see the benefit that better coaching and structure gives at that level when you look at Chelsea and Man City or even Man Utd at youth level. I don't think we are far behind them in terms of talent but our set-up is very much behind theirs at the moment in terms of structure and innovation. Jonker has a job on his hands IMO.
@MutableEarth may have said this before, but I feel like we need to trim our main squad down. We must sign some top players to keep up with competition, but more needs to leave than get in.
The reason for this is so that we can properly nurture our young talents. We have so many midfielders and wingers at the moment that it seems the likes of Toral, Gnabry, Adelaide, and Willock won't be getting a chance next season. I wouldn't be surprised if the Walcott and Ox rumors turned out to be true because of this, which at least would mean that the club is headed in a positive direction for the next manager when Wenger's contract runs out.
Good point, maybe it is why the Ox rumors have surfaced, the emergence of Iwobi and his comparatively better performances may have seen a reductions in faith in Ox. You also probably have Campbell leaving.
That's potentially 3 spots available, we may bring an attacker or not but regardless there will be space for someone to come through there, it's also the same case in midfield, there will be space for somebody to come through there.
Crowley's feeling his way back into some form, which will do him some good IMO. Same with Gnabry - I think pre-season will be important for both of them, as both have the quality to give Wenger a potential selection headache and it would depend on how hard they work and how much they impress.Highlights of the latest game of the U21s vs West Brom:
http://player.arsenal.com/videos/7734/under-21s-v-west-brom-h?autoplay=true
Gnabry did some neat things though couldn't finish (typical problem of ours these days), and Wilshere is looking good. I heard Crowley played pretty well, and the video shows glimpses of that. I haven't been too impressed with Macey over the past viewings though, has a Szczesny feel of uncertainty to him.
I don't understand why you think every promising attacking midfielder can become the top 4 level CM we need here. I notice a lot of people saying Wilshere can play CM at a high level too but Wilshere actually doesn't have the discipline, telescopic passing range and/or physicality to make up for it. His only top 4 level position is attacking midfielder. He'll probably disappoint anywhere else if we want to win the league. Forward is likely Maitland Niles' position too.
Also wanted to reiterate again that we won't know exactly how capable some of these players are of balling at a high level unless they are actually given the chance to play for Arsenal. An example - a lot of us lately have ripped on Chuba Akpom (myself included - and I'm a fan of his) for his lack of performances, but I can remember both Afobe and Kane struggling very badly on loan at points. That's not to say that Akpom's a guaranteed success but - and I agree wholeheartedly with Jeorge Bird here - they need to be given a chance at Arsenal if we're going to see what they're made of.
That's the hope - that he regains some composure. I'm not even really fussed about him being a greedy striker - I think it would be useful to have one who is all about goals but as long as he supplements that with his all-round game - which is much better than people think.Akpom's loan might have a similar effect to Gnabry's, making him work even harder to get games when he gets back. You never know.
U18s thrashed Sunderland u18s 4-1.
Nketiah scored 2, with Malen and Nelson grabbing one each. Nketiah now has 21 goals this season. Phenomenal return.
Exciting times with all the strikers and midfielders we have.
If we don't sign striker in the summer and given our horrendous quality up front I can see Akpom or Mavidi do a Iwobi. And then we still have Nketiah and Malen!
Not saying that would be ideal. It would be like one of those time when someone in front of you went all in, and you have a pair of nines or tens and you really want to call it.