Youth team development: Page 47 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Youth team development

Jed

Looks so comfy on the ball.

Meatwad

i always prefer the players you say: he only needs to get stronger. over the ones you say: he has the physical tools, just needs to work on his technique.

Bold Tone

That's because strength can be increased more easily than ability.
It is not always cut-and-dried, though, as physical tools like speed, height, etc are advantageous in many situations.

Rex

Zelalem looks like he is going to be a really, really well built, physically strong player. He is never going to be pacy, but he has a turn of pace, and his technique and vision are already top class. Don't laugh, but I imagine a 19 year old Yaya was pretty similar to the Zelalem we see today. No pressure...

lorddulaarsenal

😆

est

Zelalem has that Özil-swagger about him.

Mirth

est wrote:
Zelalem has that Özil-swagger about him.

Oh great, he'll spend his entire career being called lazy by Michael Owen...

Bold Tone

He looks so much better in that game compared to the snippets of our youth team, i've watched this season.

Ricky1985

He is frighteningly clever; every touch oozes intelligence and awareness. Reminds me of Thiago Alcantara in his style of play - another player I really rate. Think he needs to really work hard at his game to become a better all-round midfielder because he is obviously very special in possession. Although, maybe not as much of a goal threat as he should be.

Think he's our biggest talent in and around his age group, though, without question - way ahead of the much talked about Daniel Crowley (who's also very talented).

Mirth

He'll have to be really fucking good to breakthrough into the first team though.

lorddulaarsenal

Loved zelalem when he first appeared but something tells me he's not the real deal. Looks naive and too safe in his passing.

Dan Crowley though is a better talent. Has a better vision of the play coupled with a more dynamic and direct approach

Hope both make it

Big Willie

Have to agree with Ricky. Zelalem looks a bigger prospect than Crowley to me. The guy has all the tools needed to be a quality player and whether or not he makes it here, I have a feeling he'll be a special player somewhere. Too much natural talent to not succeed for me. Reminds me of a mix between a young Fabregas and a young Wilshere with his passing, vision, dribbling and touch.

Rohit

He is always on the move, not once in the video does he just stop in his position after a pass. In that he resembles young Cesc a lot.

Mirth

Gnabry makes it into the final squad for the U-21 Euros - despite virtually missing 12 months of the season. I think that's a strong endorsement of his quality.

flobaba

Zelalem was extremely shit today.

Ricky1985

He's a very strange case. Absurdly good at times and then nothing, for long stretches of even reserve level football. He doesn't cope well at this point with physical opponents that deny him time and space. Don't think it's a question of ability either, just don't think he has been exposed to that in his football education in the US.

flobaba

It's why I don't see him making the cut here despite his obvious talent. Doesn't have any consistency whatsoever.

Early days yet, but it's not as signed, sealed and delivered to me as it seems to be to others

goon

Seems far too laid back.

Klaus

Ricky1985 wrote:
He's a very strange case. Absurdly good at times and then nothing, for long stretches of even reserve level football. He doesn't cope well at this point with physical opponents that deny him time and space. Don't think it's a question of ability either, just don't think he has been exposed to that in his football education in the US.

When I watch Zelalem I see someone who would have benefited a lot from street football. He looks like an attacking player without any honed skills to me. I read a while back about how Özil grew up playing in a steel monkey cage in a suburb in Gelsenkirchen, and he attributes a lot of his development as a footballer to that fact. You simply needed to be better than everyone else if you wanted to succeed. It's not players like Lee Cattermole who are glorified in that environment. It's the ones who have the skills to beat you in small spaces, to move the ball before someone kicks the shit out of them.

Rorz

General Mirth wrote:
Gnabry makes it into the final squad for the U-21 Euros - despite virtually missing 12 months of the season. I think that's a strong endorsement of his quality.

Really hope we see more of Gnabry next season. The way he came into the team in the early stages of the 13/14 season and didn't look out of his depth impressed me.

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