robsblubot

Yeah the cost/benefit assessment seems completely off here. Heh it would have been off even with the perception of wrongdoing, since the benefits are question at best.

One thing is the player who's match fit and playing often, and has the support and protection of the starters, not to mention the chemistry. Another is a player who's lacking match fitness and ends up playing with other players who are also lacking match fitness. Not really fair comparisons, but that's really all they have to make a case: as to why they should be in the starting lineup. Understanding the system Sarri uses, just a bit since I never cared for napoli, I do see why passing is so important to him. So I totally get why he likes Alonso, and even Luiz. They are great passers, while Gary's passing was never really his forte.

heh I don't think it's criticism on kovacic directly - one must be blind not to see he's a very good player. The issue is regarding the team setup and the fact we have zero goals coming from our 3 CMs. Heh David Luiz is more likely to score, or even assist with a long ball, than any of them.

Perhaps, but my point remains that the ‘test’ has a cost, and it could be a high one. It’s not like we have wingers of edens quality lying around...

Moving Hazard up front means losing your key player and getting little in return. He's not a great finisher either... we are talking about a game where we did not create much. The best chance in the game was actually his (Eden's), and he put it wide. Hazard scores goals because of his overall skill, but you put him up front and he will vanish, because he will be more easily contained (lack of spaces to move into). I know you are looking for solutions, but we have none until Jan. If the two we have aren't enough we will need to sign players. We just don't have any player in the squad who can switch to a false 9 role, IMO.

I will partially disagree with you there, because I don't think our attacking output today was anywhere near good enough. So, while a top striker might have won the game for us, we know Morata isn't one. I just fail to be surprised by the same thing over and over again... it's not an american sitcom after all...

I can agree with that if some consider him a match winner, which he is not IMO. However, I think the issue is that he is too similar to jorginho, and the two plus Kante makes just too much of the same thing. That's the reason Ross often improves the team when he comes on, with his directness.

Think it was the other way around between Salah and Cuadrado. Salah was also much younger then (20) while Cuadrado was already experienced. We historically fucked up with Salah... there is no way around it IMO. The coaches and scouts are there to assess potential otherwise what's the point? One of our poorest overall performances... completely contained at home by Everton. Had Bernard not been the shitty player I know he is, and we'd have lost the match.

Yes Morata was his usual uninspired and disinterested self (against Everton). But that's NOT the story today! We played like shit and Morata was just one of the poor performances. Was also disappointed with Sarri today... too slow (to make changes) and conservative.

Yeah Arthur at city would’ve been disastrous. Brazil has not had a midfielder like that for quite some time. He will change the Brazil team and fix their most glaring weakness: midfield. He’s very iniesta or xavi in his off-the-ball movement. Don’t quite see any other young player out that that does the same. Tielemans looks good when I watch him, but diff style. city does have a weakness and it is Fernandinho. He’s not a big game player and will turn off and it will cost them. He always does that when under pressure... decent passer, nothing else to his game. overrated player in my book. They will miss kdb if he does not get fit, because he’s the guy who works best in tight spaces. not entirely convinced on nerves btw. Looks good on the ball, but still not sure if a sure slot in for a top club, prob the reason why he’s not at one.

That happens. You saw a powerful midfielder making good runs a la Yaya. The thing however is that not even the club that once had Yaya as their most important player would want another at this time. it’s just the trend of the game and the most successful systems use passers not carriers. Diitto on the other names, but still not entirely convinced about any of them (mbappe aside). There is showing something at Monaco and then there is doing the same at a big club - very diff things. I’ve seen so many potentially wonderful players fail at top clubs that I usually take all that with a grain of salt.

As someone who never saw anything special about him at Monaco (much less with us), scouting and signing is never a sure thing and things are much easier in hindsight. hiwever, I cannot imagine a club like Barcelona or even city (with Guardiola or not given they embraced the style) ever going for a player who never really showed the particular things those clubs look for. I am glad that our new signings are going the right direction.

French guys I know say he's extremely injury-prone, so I'd stay clear....

Interesting list to put things in perspective. As one who thinks Morata has good technique, I find that often the problem is not so much his finishing, as most folk complain, but rather his lack of intensity at times, which makes his work rate just not good enough at this level. Say, when he's in an off-day, he's just not participating enough to be an asset. All players in that list, with Lukaku being the obvious exception, do a hell lot more even when not scoring. Mo Salah would be a player who does not really need goals to make an impact, and the fact he is even in that list is pretty impressive. Sarri said it best: Morata's "fragile." While most people think mentally, I think also physically and they happen to be linked: if a player is physically weak and loses most physical disputes, he will naturally lose confidence as a result. I've seen players bulk up shortly after joining a PL club, but it does not look like Morata has been hitting the gym - hope I'm wrong.

never been a fan, but he was a good player and did work well under different managers and systems. Plenty of silverware as proof. The guy may be past prime, but he's also missing match fitness.

Which one did you not get? Ah the pressure against promising youngsters preventing them from getting minutes and showcase their talent? happens all the time during contract negotiations. Clubs have very little leverage these days, so they use whatever they can. You are reading as if I'm saying what's the best course of action. And what I am actually doing is trying to understand what the situation the club is in and why they are doing what they are doing. I tend to give paid (some very well) professionals the benefit of the doubt, esp when dealing with contracts. Anyway, I do hope they know what they are doing.

We do have a problem holding on to young players, no argument there. I did not say he's not that good, just that the coaches might (keyword here since I don't know) think he's not worth what he/his agent is asking to renew. Personally, I couldn't care less about preseason though - they don't tackle in preseason. Maybe he stinks in practice and cannot withstand the tackling of senior players. Someone who watches him in practice may shed some light. Once again, I did not say it's not a disaster, or that he's not great, just that we don't know what they, at the club, think of him. Nor do we Know the communication between the player and club. Is the agent asking for too much? Is he just hard to find? Unwilling to discuss a new deal? Some of these folks at the club, esp scouts, make a lot of money and are well connected.

I don't disagree, but you are both making an assumption that he may not leave, and thinking about him alone. Perhaps the club already knows he will leave, in which case he shouldn't really be getting minutes at all. That's the time the club must not be nice as any form of punishment can become a deterrent for similar actions by other players. Maybe he's asking for key player wages and the coaches are thinking he's not all that: good but not great. Again, I don't have the information about what's going on with him, but don't think it's that simple (give me minutes and he will stay).

Isn't CHO's deal running out soon? In such cases, it may not be in the club's best interest to give the player a lot of playing time. Yes, it (not giving him minutes) may make the player unhappy, but it may also diminish his value to potential buyers, which at the same time makes whatever the club is offering more appealing to him/agent. I'm not saying we do great with youth, far from it, just that things are a bit more complicated than than when you are dealing with contracts, agents, and individual career goals/ambition.

^^ that's because he is a striker. This ship has sailed. Whatever little chance we had when he was down, it's over now that he's on-form again.

RLC at the moment will never play in CM IMO. Sarri has already hinted that he needs to improve defensively. Even though Barkley does not defend or keep possession as well as Kovacic, he still has the dynamism that RLC lacks. I do like RLC because he's got the technique to become a very good player. Reckon that at this time he will only be given minutes in one of the advanced positions: CAM, RW, or LW.

good point. If KDb and Salah could not get a game, RLC chances don't look so good. On the other hand, things could change if we get CL for next season with a lot more important games in the schedule. The problem is that every manager is under pressure with little to no incentive to take chances with younger players. So, either these players show a lot in practice or they won't get minutes. I know that some players simply have that drive to impress the manager in practice sessions, while others don't. Don't see this changing until our managers last longer than a season or two.

Thanks and I also disagree with your opinion. And if he does not do that (justify hazard) what the hell will he write about?

I hear you and it seems many rate him, which is fine. I think he’s a good player, but not that impressed - don’t rate bundesliga highly either. I just don’t think these are easy comparisons to make. Arsenal is a team, and club, that favors attacking (historically) and its current starting line does too. Their style of play will make the life of attacking players easier, but will also make defending a nightmare. i hear opinions about slotting that player, here. Replacing his with that. They are ideas, or theories, and sometimes wishful thinking (that a reserve offers more than a starter). The fact is that we don’t know. Is it likely aubameyang would be done better than morata? Yes, in hindsight we do now know what did not work (morata).

Stand by what I said. they are good players, not great. We need great players to significantly improve our team. my point is that replacing a 5.5 with a 6.0, while an improvement, won’t cut it. couldnt care less about stats in different leagues, diff conditions. These things aren’t comparable. I see them at Arsenal and judge them by what I see.