Pretty muchOriginally Posted by Globalgunner
Pretty much
Can you remember the last winger we've had that's really produced at a consistent level? It's all good focussing on Theo but since Bobby and Ljungberg left, there hasn't been a single player that has been consistent or dangerous playing on the wings. That includes players that are technically superior to Theo as well. From Reyes, Hleb, Eboue, Nasri, Rosicky, Arshavin....we've gone through a bag of different players out wide and they all have the same problems. Some of the more gifted players are like blunt knives when playing there. When up against teams sitting deep they can't produce anything.
Nasri was brilliant.
He signs and we carry on wishing he was more consistent but overall no quite impressed by him
He doesn't sign we hate him and want him to die a horrid death
Football
Slow horrid death is required by some. But I like to avoid the hysteric nature of the more hot headed fan and am satisfied with the death being horrid.
If you don’t send this signature to ten people, you will become a Spurs fan.
You will have to add Overmars to the list off effective wingers. Which all goes to the question of whether the players are to blame or the coaching. Overmars was part of our athletic Arsenal. The time when we could blitz teams with speed and harness the deadly accuracy of Bergkamp, Wright and Anelka. We now moved into a new phase after Henry left of slow build up play, technical Arsenal. This however needs players of greater ability, who can retrieve passes and make them, under pressure. The players we have are not that good and we do not improve them to be good enough for the type og game we wish to play. For all our poaching of young Barca players. The best steal we should contemplate is taking a few of their coaching staff. We do players like Walcott a disservice as well as to England when in 6 years we cannot improve their technical ability and game awareness. Walcott cannot take a player on unless it is at speed where he runs on to a through ball. Aaron Lennon is better at this as well as Adam johnson. Is it that Walcott never sees these players and thinks, could I not add a bit of this to my game as well as keep my deadly speed and good shooting. Maybe no one tells him his game is lacking or maybe he just does`nt care either way, he is a limited player and 5 years from now when his speed has gone he will be playing for Norwich in the championship.
Nasri was hit and miss on the wings. He played in patches. Had good streaks and bad like Walcott. He had games where he was anonymous and was like a blunt knife. Theo has the frustrating thing where he can't beat his man, Nasri had moments where he just wouldn't try to take on his man and just do the simple tippy tappy one two play which gets snuffed out easily. Or he'd dribble in circles and cut back on himself to pass back into the middle. It's just as ineffective and frustrating, especially when we need bravery and someone to really trouble a defender. Gervinho is the one player I've seen in ages that can trouble and stretch teams but like Eboue, his end product can let him down. But I have high hopes for him this season. He's the sort of winger we need and just needs to improve his numbers.
Speaking of numbers....Nasri and Theo aren't that far apart and as I said before, he's just as inconsistent. We saw that in his last season for us when the goals dried up after Christmas and he couldn't produce much for us.
Check the numbers - all comps
Nasri
last 3 seasons
41 starts (3 sub) 7 goals, 5 assists
29 starts (5 sub) 5 goals, 6 assists
39 starts (7 sub) 15 goals, 5 assists
Walcott
last 3 seasons
15 starts (15 sub) 4 goals, 2 assists
25 starts (13 sub) 13 goals, 9 assists
41 starts (5 sub) 11 goals, 13 assists
Statistically, Theo has done better than Nasri when looking at the amount of games he's played. Plus, I still can't discount the amount of times Theo has turned up on big occasions against big opponents and scored goals or set them up. It's not just about the numbers but I remember plenty of games where Nasri has shrieked away from responsibility when we've needed a boost or gone missing in big games. If he's been brilliant for us.....what does that say about Theo?
Theo has improved as a player but he's not going to become a dribbler. It's beyond Wenger to turn him into a player that can take on his man and beat him constantly. You're either that sort of player or you're not. Dribbling is something you learn from young and if you haven't got the skill by the time you turn professional you might as well forget it. It's why the Brazil kids are so damn good. They learn close control techniques and skills as soon as they can walk. I've never seen a none dribbler type player turn into a dribbler.
Most players that are skilled like that are greedy bastards on the ball and when they get to professional level, the coach probably spends most of their time coaching that greed out of them. Sort of like what Fergie has done with Ronaldo, Nani and what other coaches have done with Ronadlinho and such players.
Wenger knows Theo can't dribble and that's why he has him watching Ljungberg tapes and puts an emphasis on his off the ball movement. He needs to do as he originally planned and turn him into a striker because the numbers he gets on the flanks are pretty impressive.
Theos fine.
Always has been
His critics are the gullible ones who fell for the "hes the next big thing" blah blah blah in 2006
Scores goals and makes goals as long as he gets the games and thats fine by me and i guess most sensible people.
Sure he has bad games but who doesnt?
Of course, if he doesnt sign a contract then hes an underachieving **** who hasnt improved since 2006
I think the NLD was the perfect illustration of why opinions are so divided on him.
First 60 minutes, almost entirely awful.
Last 30 minutes, totally Awlcott.
Posting Permissions
Reply With Quote