Qwiss! wrote:

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

If you're saying it's a shitty scenario if the starter we bring in for CM is shitty then I don't think anyone would disagree.

The Locatelli argument is based off the reverse and far less likely to happen.

When i put Locatelli I have him there as a placeholder for a super quality CM. Could be anyone. But I think if we have two top super quality CMs, two youngsters like Lokonga and Azeez, and an old horse like Elneny, we are more than covered

I fully expect that if Juve or the Milqn clubs make a sensible bid, Loca will go there

Claudius wrote:

Qwiss! wrote:

The Locatelli argument is based off the reverse and far less likely to happen.

When i put Locatelli I have him there as a placeholder for a super quality CM. Could be anyone. But I think if we have two top super quality CMs, two youngsters like Lokonga and Azeez, and an old horse like Elneny, we are more than covered

I fully expect that if Juve or the Milqn clubs make a sensible bid, Loca will go there

He will go to Juve. Sassuolo have an excellent relationship with them and will get some promising kid in return plus cash.

I think the bridge back to Milan is well and truly burned and Inter are skint.

Qwiss! wrote:

Like I said Partey, Neves, Lokonga, Elneny is a horrible midfield. Its pretty much as bad as last seasons even if Neves is slightly better than Xhaka.

Partey, Neves and Smith-Rowe looks like a pretty good starting midfield to me though, capable of a bit of everything. And then you can have Willock (or AMN) as backup for at least two of the positions.

Don’t want Smith Rowe in the starting eleven next season. Hes so over hyped

Smith rowe is a talent but goodness the over-rating of him.

Fans want CL football and then want to play footballers who haven't produced 3 months of consistency.

Odegaard, Smith-Rowe how many players easy on the eye but getting zilch numbers can we keep in our front 11.

It's like those Giroud arguments that his link-up play is like Prime Xavi.

Yes, I remember all those people comparing Giroud to prime Xavi.

I mean it is what it is right now. Either you spend significant money on someone who's already a top player or you develop a talent. If we choose the latter we might as well keep backing our own talents who have plenty of potential.

What am I missing about Smith-Rowe? Has any Arsenal fan said he’s the finished article or are we just excited to back his development?

When people say “we need to be smarter than Leicester and find the Maddisons before Leicester sells them to us”, why do you need to forage around Europe to find the next Maddison when ESR is right there in your locker room?

People seem to forget how shit we were before ESR got picked for that Chelsea game and saved our season.

Yep saved us from 9th or 10th

Saved us from worse than that.

Anyone who doesn’t rate ESR doesn’t know ball.

goon wrote:

Anyone who doesn’t rate ESR doesn’t know ball.

True.

He’s decent but we need better in the first eleven. Simples

He’ll often lose the ball carelessly being hell bent on a first touch pass or he’ll overrun it. Has a fair bit to learn.

I think he's pretty good, although Goon's worship of him is more over the top than what Dula's saying in my opinion.

Put some respek on Croydon De Bruyne’s name.

The kids gonna be spechul.

@lorddulaarsenal wrote:

He’ll often lose the ball carelessly being hell bent on a first touch pass or he’ll overrun it. Has a fair bit to learn.

He’s 20. How many players are the finished article at 20?

There can be an unhealthy obsession with numbers for certain positions. It's a huge plus to have goal scoring number 10s and wingers but if a young forward makes teammates better then a player like that can be accommodated. Ultimately the team will score more. Both ESR and Ødegaard are nothing like Ozil. They aren't shot shy nor will they give up a shot for a seemingly better positioned teammate. I think both are hungry. I understand reservations on Ødegaard's pace of play but young technical footballers with good attitude and character shouldn't be scoffed at for lack of numbers.

No matter what the point is, the bottom line is that if you have talents like Saka and Smith-Rowe and you sell them/don't develop them properly you don't deserve nice things.

I'm not opposed to bringing in better and more experienced players for the youngtsers to compete and share the workload with, but you need to prioritise. If we go and replace the parts of the team that are coming along well instead of putting the bulk of our investment into the parts that are weak we have truly become a pointless club.

looks like this will get done

Six pages to his name and no ones even talked about him

Young, not too expensive, athletic, defensively switched on and good on the ball. Don't mind this one at all

this probably plugs the gap of ceballos/guendouzi. still need another quality mid to fill the gap left by xhaka/torreira

Yeah, he is a replacement for Ceballos essentially.

You don't see many players kick on after an ACL stats wise most drop a level within 3 seasons. (When they're contract is up they take a step down). Ings has done well after his but he moved like a young nasri with snake hips before and half like Andy Carroll after. The ACL has probably put the top teams off Loko. And let us sneak in.

speedy wrote:

You don't see many players kick on after an ACL stats wise most drop a level within 3 seasons. (When they're contract is up they take a step down). Ings has done well after his but he moved like a young nasri with snake hips before and half like Andy Carroll after. The ACL has probably put the top teams off Loko. And let us sneak in.

Not just probably, definitely - he was linked to Barcelona and City before the ACL

I'm going to ignore your snake hips Nasri fantasies for now

Are there any exceptions to the ACL rule?

But yeah, this one and the young left back are definitely the right sort of profile for back up/rotation players.

goon wrote:

Are there any exceptions to the ACL rule?

[size=xx-small]googles "players who recovered from ACL injuries"[/size]

Uhm yeah, have you forgotten that Shearer, van Nistelrooy, Xavi, Pires, Zlatan and Keane all suffered ACL injuries?

ffs

A couple of those guys definitely lost something post injury, but it probably depends on the type of player you are.

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

goon wrote:

Are there any exceptions to the ACL rule?

[size=xx-small]googles "players who recovered from ACL injuries"[/size]

Uhm yeah, have you forgotten that Shearer, van Nistelrooy, Xavi, Pires, Zlatan and Keane all suffered ACL injuries?

Del Piero as well. Dude had a pretty sick career even after his ACL.

Didn't OG Ronaldo tear his knee ligaments twice at Inter? Granted he was never his same explosive self, the guy did well enough to be signed by Madrid and score shitloads of goals for them.

Totti and Shearer are the only ones I can think of who were better after tearing their ACL than they were before.

Was Xavi really better before 2006 than under Guardiola? Honest question, didn't really pay attention to football before 2006.

goon wrote:

Are there any exceptions to the ACL rule?

Yea you'll find the players that play with their brains can adapt so someone like xavi, cesc or del perio would still be highly effective. Players that rely on explosiveness frimpong essien Theo the drop off will be far greater. 

But even with someone like pires, you often hear Wenger talk about pires pre knee injury being the best left winger in the world. But he makes the distinction. Because pires post injury doesn't have the same burst but he's still super skillful and crafty as hell. 

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Was Xavi really better before 2006 than under Guardiola? Honest question, didn't really pay attention to football before 2006.

he became a better overall player despite losing a fair bit of mobility/physicality. he was alot nippier and energetic in his younger days

Gazza M wrote:

Quincy Abeyie wrote:

Was Xavi really better before 2006 than under Guardiola? Honest question, didn't really pay attention to football before 2006.

he became a better overall player despite losing a fair bit of mobility/physicality. he was alot nippier and energetic in his younger days

Aye, you can still be great after. But It's much harder to be great after. Xavi was superhuman you could take 10% off him and he's still running the show against any team. This kid seems to have huge potential and the ACL lowers him from out of reach to into our grasp.