he's definitely a creative player, but you can't just put him in a deep lying midfield role when he's shown nothing in regards to positional sense, work-rate or defensive ability to give confidence he would succeed. maybe he would, but he would need some major seasoning there before you just throw him out there in the league.
Santi didn't either, yet it worked. Coq didn't either and it worked (for half a season somehow). Arteta and Flamini limped around for years as well. Now I'm not saying he is going to rip shit up defensively, just need him to more or less be available and get the ball for transition. He creates a few counters and suddenly teams will respect our abilities and lay off the constant press.
Santi and Arteta worked because they both had great positional sense despite their lack of pace or tackling. I don't think we can expect that from a 21 year old Iwobi. if the baseline is Coquelin or Flamini, then sure Iwobi can probably be that bad. not sure that should be the goal though.
I think Iwobi has flashed from a positional standpoint. He gets in and creates space like we could say for Santi and Arteta. Again, not arguing that he will be all world in 3 matches, just that he possesses a skill set that would instantly invoke more talent into the side. I certainly don't think you can just run him and Ramsey out there and expect a finely tuned machine.
why are people down on Xhaka? I thought he finished last year very strong. hard to me to fault him for some shitty refereeing.
wait the game went to penalties and we won? lol i turned it off after ft and thought it ended in a tie neat
Who? He's always had quality but my biggest fear with him is that refs already have their hand on a card when he's near the ball.
I think Xhaka's done quite well towards the end of the season, overcoming some of the boneheaded decisions (from him & also the refs) he made early on. We just need a creative spark in the midfield coz if Ramsey goes down or has a bad year, we're fucked.
My biggest issue with Xhaka is his brain. He has all the physical abilities, just a matter of his decision making. I admitted I didn't get what he offered until late in the season but after he settled in he was solid.
Gooner Ramble had a podcast a few weeks back with a former referee as a guest & they discussed Xhaka's reputation, along with others. Was pretty insightful. He has the tendency to lose form, when dispossessed & dives into challenges with piss-poor technique. He got a reputation for being "dangerous" & refs knew tonlook for it. He cleaned it up & shouldn't have a problem moving forward IMO
Can't wait till Szczesny is viewed as a top 5 goalie in the world. Hope he does but will hurt at the same time, all over a stupid fucking cigarette.
Sell Alexis. Buy Mahrez this year. Keep the rest of the money in a vanguard fund to splash on Lemar next year. Win Win.
sell alexis, sell giroud, sell anybody else who is likely to be sold 180m double swoop for lemar and mbappe trophies
I don't think I've offloaded jack for less than 50. Disclaimer being last year I didn't get much FIFA in.
in a world where kyle walker and ross barkley are going for 50m pounds, yeah, i wouldn't mind hearing what ox might go for