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Martin Ødegaard: El Capitanø

Blankety Blank

emoji merchant
Yea Chris was def more naturally gifted than Joe. He was prob the best dribbler I have seen in the academy, apart from Wilshere. I had high hopes for him, thought he could develop like Nasri did, but his shooting technique was never great and he always seemed a bit soft to me, those were the two big things that I questioned about him.
Thats interesting when i said i thought Joe had better running ability i meant engine. As i mentioned on another post i thought iwobi had the potential to be really good & thought it may be a mistake letting him go but seems to have not kicked on & possibly regressed since going to Everton.

What do you think about Balogun, I don't tend to get over excited by youth stats but hes looking like he needs tougher games to see if he can make the 'step up'
Loan move in Jan to try & get him more minutes or keep him around?
If we were in Europa Im sure he would have got some run outs.
 
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Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel
Masterclass v Newcastle tomorrow, imo.

Gonna keep saying this until he actually plays well again!

Won't be v United...but definitely one v Everton!
 

Blankety Blank

emoji merchant
Willock should not have been let go another better player whose future in the club is because Xhaka is here, see something in Xhaka none of us do. Whenever he was given a chance to play he didn’t disappoint and created quite a bit of goals when he was played in the cups. Iwobi it was apparent after a year or two with the senior team at least for me that he was not a premier league attacker. He was a great athlete and good dribbler he just was never able to create anything. People trash Theo but if you have Theo enough chances he would bag some goals and was a better passer than people gave him credit for.
You have tough choices to make at times with younger players. I take it you are talking about Joe willock not Chris?
I thought it was decent money & was not sure if he was technically quite at the level needed, though he had a very good engine & was a goal threat so has/had the potential to be a Ramsey type player.
Again i thought iwobi had potential to be very good.
I woundnt take any of the back in place of Ode though.

While Joe & Alex have better physical attributes & joe may be more of a goal threat I think Ode is technically better & has a superior 'footballing brain'.
 

AbouCuéllar

Author of A-M essays 📚
Iwobi was very good technically. I would say his technique was a little cleaner than Saka and ESR. When he was on, he had quick feet, close control and could link up with the best of them. His touch was also better than those guys. He also had size and strength, Iwobi's biggest issue was the killer instinct, just didn't have it in him.
Iwobi doesn't have any real burst to get past people. When he finally gets going he's a decent ball carrier but in terms of athleticism and athleticity fluidity and explosion there's simply no comparison between him and Saka, and ESR is better here too. I remember watching him here in Madrid against Atlético's juvenil side and thinking this is a player that looks good enough at this level but will suffer at higher levels. His surprising capacity for fluid combination play meant he did much better than I ever thought he would in his early years under Wenger, but he's ultimately one of those guys that just wasn't that naturally talented.

Yea Chris was def more naturally gifted than Joe. He was prob the best dribbler I have seen in the academy, apart from Wilshere. I had high hopes for him, thought he could develop like Nasri did, but his shooting technique was never great and he always seemed a bit soft to me, those were the two big things that I questioned about him.
Totally agree. Chris' dribbling and close control was really fun to watch. I thought he had a chance to make it for this reason but I guess he didn't have much else to his game.


ESR is a powerful runner and had an amazing shot in the academy that has not translated to the first team, but he was not even more gifted than Chris Willock from what I saw.
Very different players. I think you're underrating a bit ESR's prospect status as a youngster, before he even broke into the U18 team Barça were looking at poaching him...he also played very well for England youth levels, something I can't really remember Chris Willock doing. Looked good in the pre-season under Em*ry that season too, where again, Willock never really stood out even in friendlies for first team level. I agree that at youth level there wasn't much between them as prospects but I think it's probably fair to say that ESR had more to his game and thus was a bigger prospect than Willock. But yeah, as said above, completely agree with you about how interesting C Willock's dribbling ability looked. It looked like he was finally starting to add some goals to his game too before he made the jump to Benfica B.

While Joe & Alex have better physical attributes & joe may be more of a goal threat I think Ode is technically better & has a superior 'footballing brain'.

Not really much comparison here. Joe just isn't that good technically, isn't much of a passer, and really isn't very good at the majority of the things that constitute midfield play. He's got good physical conditions, a good work rate, and a good sense of movement and arriving to score goals, but the rest of his game is mediocre to poor.
 

Farzad Stoned

Self-appointed Deprogrammer for the Cult of Mik 🟥

Country: USA

Player:Havertz
You have tough choices to make at times with younger players. I take it you are talking about Joe willock not Chris?
I thought it was decent money & was not sure if he was technically quite at the level needed, though he had a very good engine & was a goal threat so has/had the potential to be a Ramsey type player.
Again i thought iwobi had potential to be very good.
I woundnt take any of the back in place of Ode though.

While Joe & Alex have better physical attributes & joe may be more of a goal threat I think Ode is technically better & has a superior 'footballing brain'.
Exactly I saw Willock as a guy that could of been a Ramsey type with a bit more pace and less brittle, freaking lived Ramsey. Plus you don’t lose as much physically as you do with Ødegaard. He is terrible without the ball where Willock would put a shift in without the ball. Passing wise I don’t think he was ever given enough opportunity to show anything or grow at all. Arteta didn’t rate him enough while throwing Chaka out there to stink up the joint. I think he will become a good midfielder hard to tell as Newcastle are total garbage
 

Blankety Blank

emoji merchant
Exactly I saw Willock as a guy that could of been a Ramsey type with a bit more pace and less brittle, freaking lived Ramsey. Plus you don’t lose as much physically as you do with Ødegaard. He is terrible without the ball where Willock would put a shift in without the ball. Passing wise I don’t think he was ever given enough opportunity to show anything or grow at all. Arteta didn’t rate him enough while throwing Chaka out there to stink up the joint. I think he will become a good midfielder hard to tell as Newcastle are total garbage
👍I totally respect what you are saying but the question always remains will Joe develop into the level of player needed?
If he kicks on he could be a £50m+ player as could Iwobi.

Right now thought it looks like we got very good money for them both tbh.

I honestly think Ode is at a much higher level with the ball & thats why we brought him in. But sure i can see things that Joe & Alex can/could do better than Ode.

It has to be said that since we sold them both, despite not setting the world alight Ode has done more here than Willock has at Newcastle or Iwobi at Everton.
 

AbouCuéllar

Author of A-M essays 📚
Exactly I saw Willock as a guy that could of been a Ramsey type with a bit more pace and less brittle, freaking lived Ramsey. Plus you don’t lose as much physically as you do with Ødegaard. He is terrible without the ball where Willock would put a shift in without the ball. Passing wise I don’t think he was ever given enough opportunity to show anything or grow at all. Arteta didn’t rate him enough while throwing Chaka out there to stink up the joint. I think he will become a good midfielder hard to tell as Newcastle are total garbage
Ødegaard isn’t terrible without the ball, he puts in a fantastic shift pressing, even if he lacks the physicality to recover the ball much (not at all uncommon or much of an issue for a player of his type).

Between Xhaka and Willock there’s just no comparison in terms of passing ability. I know Xhaka is everyone’s favourite punching bag, and there are things about him I really don’t like—built-in lack of intelligence in certain moments that inevitably comes out—but c’mon, in terms of level of central midfielder in a pívot there’s little real comparison between Willock and Xhaka.

Ramsey and Willock comparison is also one I’ve never liked. People forget that, while we all agree about the limitations in Ramsey’s game, that we were talking about a player that all of the big clubs in Europe were chasing at 17 for his technical ability and personality on the ball. He was an average passer and technician but between him and Willock there are several levels there and I just don’t think it’s a very fair or realistic comparison.
 

Farzad Stoned

Self-appointed Deprogrammer for the Cult of Mik 🟥

Country: USA

Player:Havertz
👍I totally respect what you are saying but the question always remains will Joe develop into the level of player needed?
If he kicks on he could be a £50m+ player as could Iwobi.

Right now thought it looks like we got very good money for them both tbh.

I honestly think Ode is at a much higher level with the ball & thats why we brought him in. But sure i can see things that Joe & Alex can/could do better than Ode.

It has to be said that since we sold them both, despite not setting the world alight Ode has done more here than Willock has at Newcastle or Iwobi at Everton.
I think time with tell with Ode and Willock but I just never bought Iwobi after the initial debut when he kind of dazzled with his running. I thought he would develop some end product to his game but he never did. Yeah we need that money certainly to buy some attacking reinforcements so good point there. I just don’t think Arteta gave Willock a fair chance while other players like Xhaka or Willian were preferred, he played well enough to be given more of a chance than he was
 

Farzad Stoned

Self-appointed Deprogrammer for the Cult of Mik 🟥

Country: USA

Player:Havertz
Ødegaard isn’t terrible without the ball, he puts in a fantastic shift pressing, even if he lacks the physicality to recover the ball much (not at all uncommon or much of an issue for a player of his type).

Between Xhaka and Willock there’s just no comparison in terms of passing ability. I know Xhaka is everyone’s favourite punching bag, and there are things about him I really don’t like—built-in lack of intelligence in certain moments that inevitably comes out—but c’mon, in terms of level of central midfielder in a pívot there’s little real comparison between Willock and Xhaka.

Ramsey and Willock comparison is also one I’ve never liked. People forget that, while we all agree about the limitations in Ramsey’s game, that we were talking about a player that all of the big clubs in Europe were chasing at 17 for his technical ability and personality on the ball. He was an average passer and technician but between him and Willock there are several levels there and I just don’t think it’s a very fair or realistic comparison.
I liked Willock and I think Ode is worse without the ball than you make him. He is a luxury player that unless he creates a lot for you he can hurt your cause. I am willing to give him more time but he was better last year which is worrying. As for Xhaka he hurts you more than he helps you. At least if Willock lost the ball he could recover and get back without getting redcard. Xhaka also can’t dribble by my granny so if you really get into him and force his hand and press him he coughs the ball up.
 

Blankety Blank

emoji merchant
Iwobi was very good technically. I would say his technique was a little cleaner than Saka and ESR. When he was on, he had quick feet, close control and could link up with the best of them. His touch was also better than those guys. He also had size and strength, Iwobi's biggest issue was the killer instinct, just didn't have it in him.
This is a very good breakdown of a how despite looking like you have all attributes required there no guarantee you hit the heights.
I thought Ox would be a top player . tbf he can at least blame injuries for stalling his progress.

Remember when everyone thought 16-17 year olds like David Bentley or Jermaine Pennant were going to set the World on fire & neither reached their potential.
 

mirrorstares

Active Member
Had a couple of good moments but overall he was poor. This match really looked like one he could take control of and he ended up making the crucial mistake instead.
 

Riou

In The Winchester, Waiting For This To Blow Over

Country: Northern Ireland

Player:Gabriel
As soon as he scored that goal, you just knew he was going to do something stupid to ruin it :lol:
 

Sniper Mik

Not a Closet Sp**s Fan
Funny cause when I saw his celebration for the goal, I was wondering why is he sliding on his ass? Then he gave the pen away in the exact same fashion
 
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