Sambi Lokonga: Sam Be the Man in Midfield?

[samspade]

My non Arsenal mate said Saka had Burnley centreback numbers, i thought he was joking but then he showed me this tweet and then I looked it up.



Tbh, Saka is a star so I’m not getting at him, it’s just clear that many on here chat copious amounts of sh*t and believe whatever they want.

So he’s a star that produces Burnley CB numbers, what’s your conclusion then? What’s your point regarding saka, what does this tweet say about his quality and the rest of the Arsenal forwards line’s quality?
Sometimes it seems like you make all these statements without ever saying anything definitive on any player.

 

[Macho]

So he’s a star that produces Burnley CB numbers, what’s your conclusion then? What’s your point regarding saka, what does this tweet say about his quality and the rest of the Arsenal forwards line’s quality?
Sometimes it seems like you make all these statements without ever saying anything definitive on any player.

My point is simple, he’s not productive yet there are people who will barefaced tell you he is.

The same people say x,y,z about our more productive players.

Not being an edgelord and it’s not me who called Saka Tarkowski, I just shared a tweet.

 

[Trilly]

People on here trying to claim he was the clubs biggest C/M prospect since Cesc, Lokonga is good, but he's miles away from Cesc level.
Still rating my boy Guendouzi as a bigger prospect than Sambi, hopefully we get a new manager that can convince Douzi to stay

I believe Marseille have a super cheap option to buy. Doesn’t that take the matter out of our hands or is it still ultimately down to the player?

 

[samspade]

My point is simple, he’s not productive yet there are people who will barefaced tell you he is.

The same people say x,y,z about our more productive players.

Saka is a star, but he’s not what some of you seem to think. Not being an edgelord and it’s not me who called Saka Tarkowski.

A forward who’s not productive sounds pointless to me, is it his fault or the teams fault? Do you think he should be in the team? If you think he’s intrinsically not productive no matter what you do with him rn why’s he in the team?
Imo everything about the way that right hand side operates is **** when Pepe’s hugging the touch line.

 

[Trilly]

So he’s a star that produces Burnley CB numbers, what’s your conclusion then? What’s your point regarding saka, what does this tweet say about his quality and the rest of the Arsenal forwards line’s quality?
Sometimes it seems like you make all these statements without ever saying anything definitive on any player.

You can be a good player without being the type of good player that a misinformed fanbase thinks you are. That’s the point basically.

 

[samspade]

You can be a good player without being the type of good player that a misinformed fanbase thinks you are. That’s the point basically.

If you think a forward’s good you have to think they’ll be a consistent source of goals/attacking threat in the right environment.

 

[Macho]

A forward who’s not productive sounds pointless to me, is it his fault or the teams fault? Do you think he should be in the team? If you think he’s intrinsically not productive no matter what you do with him rn why’s he in the team?
Imo everything about the way that right hand side operates is **** when Pepe’s hugging the touch line.

My thing is don’t play Pepe, we will still be what we are. Furthermore not every player has to be a numbers machine to be good, so there’s no reason to get uptight with me - Saka is a starter he just has to be accommodated.

Saka being more productive on the right was bollocks anyways, that was my main point.

Interesting you say I don’t say definitive things, not sure how much clearer I can be about only liking Auba and Pepe in this entire team. Even with that, Pepe is becoming difficult.

 

[Trilly]

If you think a forward’s good you have to think they’ll be a consistent source of goals/attacking threat in the right environment.

Yeah and I think only Auba, Pepe and Saka match than definition in our squad.

Saka has looked the best of the three because it’s easier to be a source of attacking threat than it is to be a source of goals.

 

[MikelHadADream]

My thing is don’t play Pepe, we will still be what we are. Furthermore not every player has to be a numbers machine to be good, so there’s no reason to get uptight with me - Saka is a starter he just has to be accommodated.

Saka being more productive on the right was bollocks anyways, that was my main point.

Interesting you say I don’t say definitive things, not sure how much clearer I can be about only liking Auba and Pepe in this entire team. Even with that, Pepe is becoming difficult.

Not sure it's bollocks, saw a stat that said Saka has 15 g/a from 23 appearances from the right, which I'd guess dwarf his numbers from the left.

Not sure about the legitimacy of the stat, but if true, they're impressive numbers. As @Trilly said, these numbers could be inflated, but I think its fair to say Saka is best off the right.

 

[samspade]

My thing is don’t play Pepe, we will still be what we are. Furthermore not every player has to be a numbers machine to be good, so there’s no reason to get uptight with me - Saka is a starter he just has to be accommodated.

Saka being more productive on the right was bollocks anyways, that was my main point.

Interesting you say I don’t say definitive things, not sure how much clearer I can be about only liking Auba and Pepe in this entire team. Even with that, Pepe is becoming difficult.

You’re kind of going back on your self in that last sentence. I suppose I find it hard to understand why you’re playing him down atm when no one on AM is bigging him up rn and I’ve seen a lot of criticism of his finishing. Arsenal have been flat two games in a row and he’s played poorly from the left.

Arsenal have a great generation of academy talent on their hands, Azeez, Taylor-Hart, Patino looks like a star. I don’t get why we have to be so negative about these boys when it’s literally the only good thing about Arsenal. Without them this would be ****ing waste of time and I wouldn’t be paying any attention.

 

[Macho]

You’re kind of going back on your self in that last sentence.

How? No I'm not. One of the players I like most isn't starting really, it's not encouraging.

Arsenal have a great generation of academy talent on their hands, Azeez, Taylor-Hart, Patino looks like a star. I don’t get why we have to be so negative about these boys when it’s literally the only good thing about Arsenal. Without them this would be ****ing waste of time and I wouldn’t be paying any attention.

Yeah, I dunno where you've been for the past 10 years or so, but yeah I am not interested in them at all. Not even a little bit.

 

[Macho]

Not sure it's bollocks, saw a stat that said Saka has 15 g/a from 23 appearances from the right, which I'd guess dwarf his numbers from the left.

Not sure about the legitimacy of the stat, but if true, they're impressive numbers. As @Trilly said, these numbers could be inflated, but I think its fair to say Saka is best off the right.

Well the guys blanked for like 5/6 games? with and without Pepe? Stretching back even further if you want to count last season?

It is what it is man numbers aren't his forte, I don't know what you guys want me to say.

 

[MikelHadADream]

Well the guys blanked for like 5/6 games? with and without Pepe? Stretching back even further if you want to count last season?

It is what it is man.

Well yeah, I think it takes into account every game he's played in the position since he's been in the first team, which is a few years.

 

[Riou]

I can't believe our best player, is only as good as one of Burnley's CBs :confused:

 

[Garrincha]

wouldn't mind seeing him play on the left with Nuno behind a couple of times

 

[Malky]

I believe Marseille have a super cheap option to buy. Doesn’t that take the matter out of our hands or is it still ultimately down to the player?

Yes I think so.
I'm sure it's an 'option to buy' Marseille have so he personally can still reject their offer if a new man comes in here that he's wanting to work with. Unless it's an 'obligation to buy' then yeah, he's gone, unfortunately.

 

[samspade]

Yeah, I dunno where you've been for the past 10 years or so, but yeah I am not interested in them at all. Not even a little bit.

Not sure what to say to this, pretty much all the great sides were built on homegrown talent.

 

[Macho]

Not sure what to say to this, pretty much all the great sides were built on homegrown talent.

Good luck with that.

 

[RunTheTrap]

Gonna play Devil’s Advocate here. I don’t think Sambi is bad. Raw but not bad. People saying Elneny is better are full blown alcoholics or meth heads. I can’t tell. That’s for you to decide. I think he’s probably a couple years away from being a first teamer. I think there’s a lot of animosity thrown his direction because of the mishap of the Guendouzi situation. Personally, I think Guendouzi is overrated and only really excelled in chaotic games. In more structured environments I don’t think he’s much different to Sambi. People are forgetting he lost his place to Torreira and Cellabos.

Now when analysing yesterday’s game. I find it worrisome that our entire midfield was poor. Not just Partey and Sambi (who made the mistakes) but, Ødegaard was largely frustrating and ESR messed up on some simple decisions. When one person is poor that’s on him; if multiple players are poor, that tells me it’s a structure/managerial issue.

 

[Monstar-Gunn4r]

Gonna play Devil’s Advocate here. I don’t think Sambi is bad. Raw but not bad. People saying Elneny is better are full blown alcoholics or meth heads. I can’t tell. That’s for you to decide. I think he’s probably a couple years away from being a first teamer. I think there’s a lot of animosity thrown his direction because of the mishap of the Guendouzi situation. Personally, I think Guendouzi is overrated and only really excelled in chaotic games. In more structured environments I don’t think he’s much different to Sambi. People are forgetting he lost his place to Torreira and Cellabos.

Now when analysing yesterday’s game. I find it worrisome that our entire midfield was poor. Not just Partey and Sambi (who made the mistakes) but, Ødegaard was largely frustrating and ESR messed up on some simple decisions. When one person is poor that’s on him; if multiple players are poor, that tells me it’s a structure/managerial issue.

Arteta based his entire strategy around fullback runs and then tells them to not make runs for no apparent reason. He then doesnt coach Lokonga how to position himself within his setup and expects him to just slot in. Lokonga has made enough passes to show he has the talent but is a bit raw and could really benefit from a manager who knows what theyre doing. Could say this about a few of our younger players.

What Lokonga has shown is something we badly need in midfield but he is being thrown to the dogs without any proper instructions. Reminds me a bit of Song but he seems to have a far better attitude and is happy to sit and dictate the game.