GZ would have to improve dramatically as a ball-winner to sit that far back IMO. If he's the point of a diamond, he's farther up.
Depends on the opponent, doesn't it? Also, I'm expecting that McK and Gonzalez would bear more of the defensive responsibility while still getting the ball cleanly to Zelalem. In the end, though, this stuff all depends completely on Zelalem improving.
While I admit to a very limited (Rangers and some US U-games) my prediction is GZ's top would be the Jovan Kirovski/Benny Feilhaber of this generation. May eventually be good enough to get capped semi-regularly in non-important games, but my guess (and admitted is simply a guess, and I hope I'm wrong) is that he's lacking that, uh, I don't know, that "j'saisquoi" that elevates a guy with his obvious skill set to something more special. Again, hope I'm wrong and for sure I'm going off limited data, but if I had to predict I'd say he never becomes a US impact player.
Way too early to close the book on Zelalem. Way too early. I need to see Adams and Gonzalez move to better leagues before they are anointed in the midfield. Zelalem is facing some adversity and if he pulls through it will definitely force himself into the conversation. I can't imagine what would motivate someone to write a player off in their own thread at such a young age besides personal animus or some other non-soccer reason.
I've watched him a lot and I don't think he has the skill set to be an international-caliber player. It's not animus or pessimism, it's realism. He turns 21 in January, is coming off a devastating knee injury, has been mediocre (if I'm being very generous) in both the Dutch and Scottish second divisions, and has had almost no progression in the past 3 years. People lost their minds when he made his Arsenal debut at 16, which is fair. But, Chuba Akpom, Justin Hoyte, Gavin Hoyte, and Arturo Lupoli all made their league debuts for Arsenal as teenagers, and where are they now? Just because a player comes through a prestigious academy doesn't mean they're going to develop into a good player. That's football. I've said this before: I hope Zelalem turns into a good professional player. Given his career trajectory, however, I think having any expectation of that happening is delusional.
Prestigious in what way? Epl academies I mean. It's rather funny to see the different reactions of Dutch and Yanks on the news an EPL club snatched a young kid. The Dutch are going: "Oh, no...please tell me it's not true..to..Fvck, another for the dust bin.", while Yanks burst out in "halleluja, praise the Lord ...
You mean the ones who are engaging in hypothetical thinking? Ok! On it! Hey guys, please don't talk about how you think Zelalem would fit in a projected midfield if he became really good because some people don't understand thought experiments. After all, it's really cluttering up the thread on Zelalem to talk about him in counterfactual situations because there is so much factual information that we should really be talking about all the time and this is a message board and BE SERIOUS.
Your perception is ridiculously off-base. Most Americans wish for the avoidance of English academies. Thay
Maybe the threads are cluttered by the wrong posters the moment I read them. But good for those with sense in their brains
Might as well be talking about Barron Trump's future role in the US midfield. He's tall, has a Euro passport, and he's an Arsenal fan.
GZ slows down the tempo of any team where he had played. I noted this from the first, got crucified here for it. Now people are finally figuring it out. He may do better in a system where there are enough guys to pass the ball around in midfield waiting for the hole, but we've never played that sort of game, we'd lose the ball and get scored on before we have a clear chance to score. Also, a central midfield of Zelalem & Jonathan covering the defense line would weight, combined, about 250 lbs.
A and B are having a fistfight and your A is pummeling B in the face right now. At the end of the day players performance isn't predicated on how we perceive their abilities. It's up to Gedion at this point. Either he gets healthy and develops or he will end up buried in league X. I think he's already in the top 10 mids in our pool with what he brings right now. Add a little strength, toughness and a little more danger on the attack and he would become a serious contender for a CM callup ASAP. You rate him as a bust. Time will tell.
I wonder if DC United wouldn't be a bad place to jump start his career. He could play a pretty attacking role in MF as they have plenty of holding/defensive mids and a good flank MF (whom GZ has played with) in Arriola. DC badly needs creativity and our boy needs a place to play. Maryland is home for the kid and he has buckets of friends here. Just a thought.
The 2nd paragraph is the main issue for him, I think, and was a problem at Gers. GZ looked like he wanted to run a training possession drill most times he got the ball... stutter step, recieve, pass, move, show, receive, pass, move, show... and was very effective, at keeping possession, but not at challenging the goal. Or he would look for the flick, no-look pass etc. But for his kind of play to work, he needs equally minded, and skilled players around him. He could not finish himself. By contrast, EH, for example, is less capable of playing tika-tacka but more capable at driving to the box and making something happen. Add to that GZ has one of the weakest shots of any potential attacking midfielder and I just fear that he doesn't ever quite live up to his considerable technical skills and soccer brain. In the way that Kirovski lacked speed/quickness and some intangible (and wasstill a very good player, just not quite as good as his early hype suggested.) GZ lacks the killer instinct (so far anyway, he's got a lot of years ahead of him.)
The old Jared Jeffrey/Conor Doyle/ Russell Canouse return from Europe to D.C. United and fade into oblivion. (Jury is still out on Canouse I suppose)
Jeffrey has played in 66 MLS games since signing with DC, including starting 19 this year. A lack of an opportunity is not the issue with him. At age 22, Canouse started all 10 matches he played since joining DCU and, I thought, showed quite well. If he got invited to Camp Cupcake, I'd have zero issues with that. They may never find greatness, but they are playing regularly in a first division and earning a check. Which, at this point, would be a pretty good goal for Zelalem. And not for nothing, Canouse, Jeffries, Eryk Williamson, Ian Harkes and Chris Durkin are the perfect types of players to put behind someone with GZ's skillset.