El Genio de Oviedo wrote:
I know that perhaps he's not as "sexy" as Fortune or Malen, but what do our reserves-watchers make of Stephy Mavididi? He's been amongst the goals and assists quite a bit in recent weeks. Just a case of being older/more physically developed?
He's still only 17 and he's not that strong or tall - I wouldn't say he has a particular advantage physically. I'm not blown away by him but that's mainly because there's nothing extraordinary in his game. He is a very solid player, strong across the board. He has good movement in the box, when working the channels or trying to get in behind - there's an intelligence behind what he's doing. His touch is good under pressure and he links play well, he's also a threat when he runs with the ball when he gets played into space. His finishing is good with both feet and with his head he's half decent too. He also runs tirelessly and is a proper team player. Got good pace and is a good athlete.
I wouldn't say he has starting striker written all over him but maybe he still has a future at Arsenal. Iwobi has shown that being technically sound and intelligent in most of what you do can go along way at Arsenal. He doesn't have Akpom's 'x-factor' in his game - Akpom has phenomenal acceleration and is a better dribbler/more tricky, but Mavididi has a more solid all-round game and is a better finisher.
It'll probably depend largely on how Wenger rates him and what chances he is given as a result. When you see the lump that is Giroud up front playing how he has since January, well, let's just say that standard isn't very high, is it?
