Who got the best buy?

[reggiepaul]

When you say physical how does that dampen a players ability? Now we're talking about world class ability here and you can't say someone shoving and pushing and surrounding you will stop that because they go around with tutu's like ballerinas in France.

I can understand the reasoning some have for it, which is :-

New player from abroad - the belief the English is hard and overseas they are pansies - New player from abroad is scared of English play.

That's silly though. Sometimes a player simply improves at a club. I find Pires has been phenomenal since he's been here. Yes he may have not been the favoured person but the over-riding principle is Arsenal have evolved as a team since then as well.

Look at the way our players play internationally and how they play for arsenal.

We were not the defend as a unit attack as a unit team then - we were counter attacking as smoothly only since the late 0102 season when we found our feet amongst each other for this type of game.

I don't think the English game is anyway as tough as the other leagues. This is just some idea that floats around that people adopt.

Sometimes there are thousands of other reasons why a player doesn't live up to someones personal expectations. We all like the english way of playing maybe or we like a player to play in a certain way. Hell even some English players are total nobodies for loads of seasons and then BAM they hit the scene as superstars THEN even English players stop scoring and become lesser players like before.

Sometimes it's not as quick and fast as "the english game is tough". Sometimes you have a manager like Wenger who understands you more and helps you improve or sometimes you have docile managers who have no idea how to play you. It could be a million and one different reasons other than to say - he hasn't the ability to handle a push.

 

[JazzG]

The football may prove a culture shock initially. "The English game isn't easy, it's very physical," warned Pires. "I was sitting on the bench next to Arsène at Sunderland when I first came to England and my initial reaction was, 'Wow, what's all this? It's a war'. I realised it was very physical, that nothing was given away.

"It was clear that one had to play intelligently in order to succeed, and to rise above provocation. Arsène warned me about some of the traps that exist." And so he sees the challenges coming in, riding them, occasionally going to ground far too easily for many tastes. "I don't consider myself a diver," countered Pires. "I'm not a cheat. Never." Others may disagree but Arsenal's attacking brio, embodied by Pires, remains undoubted.

From the Guardian and that is Pires talking himself.

It is easy sitting from the outside saying it shouldn't be a problem but it obviously is. Wenger even said Cygan struggled due to the more physical nature of the game, now Cygan seems to have adapted his game. It doesn't affect their ability, however mentally they ain't right at first as they are simply abit scared.

 

[reggiepaul]

Where does it say in there that he won't be able to handle it?

 

[JazzG]

Where did I say he wouldn't be able to?

 

[reggiepaul]

You didn't but it doesn't say in there he wouldn't be able to handle it and neither does it imply that he wasn't up for the job and it would take him a year or more to adapt to it.

All he says is he found it physical and Arsène gave him pointers on it. Nothing else. He has the ability and he performs above and beyond it and always has done.

 

[JazzG]

He has said in the past he struggled with the english game in the past due to the way it is played. Quite a few foreign players have needed time to adjust. I remember Henry saying Keown helped him settle in coz he was real physical against him in training and it toughened him up.

 

[lewdikris]

Of course it takes time to adjust. Not to some big aspect of playing football. Of course Reyes is gonna still be able to do what he can.

But the examples of Bergy and Bobby show what adjustment means. Bergkamp has talked about how at Ajax he didn't need to be physically strong because he was given so much time on the ball that he never needed to hold people off. At Inter he said he needed to be a bit stronger, but he was still given time. He said that he found it really hard when he came to England because as soon as he got the ball he would get whacked by some fat hairy lug. So he needed to adapt physically and in the way he played. When he got the ball he'd need to be prepared to get rid of it or move much quicker than he did in Holland or Italy. Both a tactical and a physical adaptation.

Bobby - same point. First year here, did very little because he wasn't physically tough enough, or understanding enough of that same quickness of English defenders to move on you. Second year, he adapted: Player of the Year...

It's not about the team you play for. Reyes is already able enough for us. But being able to deal physically with the sheer harassment he'll get from the Simon Charlton's, Alan Stubbs' etc etc he'll have to play AGAINST on a week by week basis will take a little longer.