Klaus wrote:
I don't think he's anywhere near guys like Özil, Wilshere or Cazorla. Claiming he's got the best touch at Arsenal is essentially saying he's got the best touch in Premier League and probably sits proudly in the top 5 in the world. Now why on earth did we loan this fantastic prodigy to West Bromwich for a whole season when we have 2.5 wingers in the squad on a good day?
The more reasonable view is that Gnabry is not anywhere near the elite bracket of talents. I don't know how he compares to Crowley - whom I've watched a whooping ten minutes of - but I know he's a long cry from the sort of guy who turns into a starter for Arsenal. He was on course to maybe turn into a solid Premier League player who, with a lot of luck, could have been a mainstay in our squad for a few years. He's not - and was not - on a comparable level to the better German talents who have come through in recent years. He's not the sort of youth player anyone would spend stupenduous money on.
When I say that he has no outstanding qualities I don't mean that he's a bad player. But he literally has no edge that would merit us putting a huge stake into his development over the next couple of years instead of spending money on some of the top-end talents around Europe. Wilshere does. Chamberlain does. Guys like Martial do. Guys like Gnabry? They're common goods in that context.
Development curves aren't straight lines and late bloomers do exist, but those are mainly players who for one reason or other struggle early on. Guys who have played at the big academies from an early age and consistently showed improvement aren't going to suddenly crank it up three levels with more first team games under their belt. They're going to turn into midtable players.
Even though he fancies himself a no.10, he's not a midfielder so it's natural he has a different set of qualities to those three. How many 20 year olds do you know that after a year out of the game can get a loan to a PL club? There is no shame in being loaned out to a club like West Brom. It looked like potentially a good move while Berahino seemed certain to move, but now there is no place for him and he doesn't fit Pulis team. He is not a winger, and he is not a striker so he really doesn't have any place in their team.
I'm also not going to judge him too harshly based solely on this failed loan. Lets not forget that our current darling Bellerin had a failed loan in championship because their manager didn't rate him as anything but a wing back.
Also Gnabry wouldn't have been give a debut by Wenger at only 16 if he wasn't an elite talent. It's funny you mention not being comparable to other German talents, because when he was breaking through one of the coaches in German youth set-up said he was in the same talent range as Reus, was moaning that he chose to go to PL instead of staying in Germany where he had more chance of playing. And by all account it seemed even the guys in the senior set-ups were interested in him in 13-14, so they at least rated him.
And finally, not being on the same level as Wilshere I get, but Oxlade? Not to shit on our own player, but except for his pace and power what extraordinary attribute does he posses? Lad can barely control a ball outside of doing couple of dribbles here and there. People were saying if Walcott didn't have pace he would be lower tier PL player, but Chamberlain would be in even more trouble without his athleticism.
It may not be possible at Arsenal anymore, but I think the only thing stopping Gnabry from having a good career at the top level would be his attitude. There were murmurs about it, not sure how legit they were as these things go.
