Maybe those players you mentioned just aren't that good. Not every player is going to make it at the top level. Diaby has been hampered by injury which has obviously affected where he might have been.Originally Posted by Cripps
Maybe those players you mentioned just aren't that good. Not every player is going to make it at the top level. Diaby has been hampered by injury which has obviously affected where he might have been.
Was it very good? Bar the Man Utd game where he was subbed off and the decision was booed and the first half of the Milan 2nd leg in what was already a lost cause, I don't seem to remember him being that good.
i think you'd be in a minority there and not just on this site. that doesn't automatically make everyone else right but i think it's far to say the positive reactions in and outside of the club toward ox probably give a decent enough opinion of the good season he had for a 17 year old playing in the prem for the first time.
It’s strange to see so many of our players lose their confidence so quickly and playing with the handbrake on as Wenger would say. The Walcott and Ox comparisons will be made for obvious reasons but the focus should really be on the manager for this one. Is he that good at developing players? Mourinho took a side wipe at Wenger years ago when he said he simply finds gems/diamonds and polishes them off. Was he right?
With Ox, the problem isn’t the lack of progression and we shouldn’t expect a well rounded player right now. It’s more to do with the fact that he hasn’t been a threat and played to the level which caught our attention last season. It’s like he’s gone backwards slightly. It’s only his second season but as seen with so many other players, there is no guarantee that Wenger will get the best out of him. During the youth development stage and when we got to the Carling Cup final against Chelsea, we had more faith in Wenger to turn players into world beaters and it was a question of time and patience. Now we’ve seen the majority of those players thrown on to the scrap heap and it makes you wonder what will happen with this current crop.
I don't blame Oxlade for his lack of form this season, mainly because Wenget has wrapped him in cotton wool and rarely seems to give him sufficient game time to make an impact. How many games has he even started? Can't be much more than 10.
His progression is already looking similar to Theo's when he arrived. 20 minutes here and there, the odd start every month etc. It's difficult to make an impact when you're obviously not in the managers plans.
Tbf to the Ox, though he's a bit shit....now, he has the potential to develop into a much better player than Theo. For one, he appears to have some football intelligence - something which has always been strikingly absent from Theo's game.
The Ox has also shown that he can pass, dribble, shoot and has his fair bit of pace. Proper coaching is all that is required now.
Ah the weak ass no football intelligence criticism of Theo
Always makes me laugh
That's pretty much what I do too when I can't really refute a claim.
I never forget the many hair tearing out moments Theo's caused.
All players have done that.
Hansen and Waddle should have never given you guys that soundbite because I only ever hear it when talking about Theo when there are a host of other players that are probably worse. I never see people talk about Vermaelen that way even though he lacks common sense when it comes to defending. He storms into tackles without thinking about teammates, runs up field to attack with no regard to defence, positional awareness is awful and can’t sense danger. His decision making is bloody awful and that’s when you should be questioning footballing intelligence but I hardly ever see people stick that sort of label on serial offenders on here.
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