Tam wrote:
Ricky1985 wrote:
I'm fairly certain he has played within himself because he knows it's only pre-season and the real stuff is yet to come-- right it wrong, there's a marked difference to his performances this time last year. I know that he did similar in the few chances he got in the first team toward the end of last season, but I think that's understandable given how young he was and not only what a state the team was in but also the level of negativity around the team in every game they played.
Let's see what he does when he gets his chance, maybe I've got him wrong and it's all gone too his head, but I'm confident I haven't.
I think the worry with that is that this is a new manager, pre-season itself is a chance for him. If he isn’t willing to bust a gut impressing during this spell then who is to say he’ll be given a chance in competitive games if the perception is that he is lazy, lacks drive or has an attitude problem. I’m speculating but I think it’s a valid concern where you have a young player that appears capable of more but isn’t producing.
I have been critical of Reiss throughout pre-season for that reason--I' d like to have seen him trying to seize every opportunity to make it impossible for the manager not to pick him. He definitley hasn't done that, decent end product aside.
He was, however, very aggressive and enthusiastic this time last year, so I'm inclined to believe he has decided that these games don't really matter. I've also seen a lot of him at U23 level and he is certainly not normally lazy or lacking in drive to win a game.
Hopefully he's smart enough to know that if he doesn't step it up significantly when he gets his chances in the first team this season, even with all his talent, he still won't make it at Arsenal.
