Zelalem played a decent amount (21 starts in league? 28 apps? 7 cups? 8th for the team, 4th for all MFs? something like that) lost his spot to injury first. Then, by the time he was healthy, Gers were on a bit of a roll. And he returned to the line-up in the spring. How much other issues contributed is hard to know, but I don't think there is a lot of evidence the reason he was benched was that he slowed their game due to slowness of thought. He is, I think, most prone to over-circulate the ball and I think GZ seemed to think that Gers could/would play a more possession style game, but that was not really in the cards for that Gers side. Anyway, he's young, assuming he recovers physically he will hopefully get more chances to show the speed or slowness of his soccer brain. Meanwhile, ere's a decent summary of his touches.
He really seems to run around the ball a lot to get it on his right foot. To me, especially since he's not a goal scorer, that is a problem. I think that's why he slows down the ball, since it looks like he isn't confident picking up the ball with his left and wants to move it onto the right before making a move. Hopefully something he can improve on.
He has (had) a lot of weaknesses. Terrible (non-existent) shot. No physical presence. Too much pass/possession/not enough drive, get it to the goal. But it's also clear he has a lot of skill. Hopefully he gets his body back enough to see if he can work through the flaws in his game. He's still very young.
I actually have seen very little of him with the US U's, but saw at least high-lights and often full games of most of his Gers season (You can still access the full games, I think, on Rangers website. At least you could not that long ago.) But anyway - I most agree with everyone who is say a variation of "he lacks urgency/killer instinct/ability to make goals, a good shot... etc." To me that is the thing most lacking - he doesn't help get the ball in the net enough. And if you are a luxury player whose calling card is possession and circulation and finding space, you have to help score once in a while That's what he needs most - and whether more strength, speed of thought or just maturity will get him there (or all of the above) I dunno. But I hope he does.
I agree he has many things to work on his game. His finishing is horrible, he could be more aggressive, maybe more direct at times, and at times he seems to take too many touches. What I completely disagree with is the comment made that “he's a slow-thinker who slows down any fast counter with an extra touch.” This isn’t a fundamental flaw of his game, but his style will likely need to continue to be adapted to the team he is on. I think he reads the game well and can play a quick pass or be patient to wait for something to develop while potentionally changing his angles to help. In clips from Arsenal almost two years ago when he was 19, he played plenty of quick incisive passes that a “slow thinker” wouldn’t have picked out or been able to execute on. This is of course a highlight tape so maybe he slowed counters many other times but only saw one or two times where he could have pushed it, but numbers weren’t great and his decisions seemed reasonable (an example at 1:55). In the last play around 2:40, he one times a turnover under pressure that leads to an assist. Again, not the sign of a slow thinker that kills counters. Assuming he is back with arsenal’s U23s in the fall, I’d like to see him pushed higher up the field and asked to attack more as an amid or withdrawn forward. It would allow him to focus more on aggressively attacking than sitting deep with the whole game in front of him. Even if he doesn’t improve in those areas, he would be a decent player for a team whose opponents is just dropping off. He can simply maintain possession and find passes to change the point of attack. With the central talent in the US, I have no idea why he wouldn’t still be considered a prospect (he and Hyndman seem like nice complements to guys like McKennie and Adams). Here is game shortly after the other clips where he spends much more time on the ball, but I still don’t see attacking opportunities that he’s killed.
cool. Just to be clear, I was not the "slow of thought" guy. (I mean, I might be slow of thought myself, but I never claimed GZ was. I was arguing he seems not slow of thought, but does seem to want to to circulate when it might be better to attack. But I think he sees the field and reads the game fine. But again, just hoping he gets healthy enough to see where he can go. And boy, he needs a shot... He could have scored 3 or 4 easy for Gers if he hit it as hard I can, and I don't have a good shot.)
I think we are on the same page old man. I am clear what you have said and not said. Things get messed up when multiple people contributing to a discussion.
false. you cant paint an all encompassing brush of 'professional athlete' to all sports. like i said earlier, VAST majority of soccer players aren't benching 225-240.
Why not exactly? A modern ACL surgery with no major complications usually allows a player to return to their previous physical standing. I should know, because I had an ACL surgery the summer between my sophomore and junior year of high school and was back to the same level physically by the start of my senior year (and the was 12 years ago).
It could have major implications on Zelalem. Check out @Arsenal’s Tweet: https://t.co/Q9saKdTZOT— Arsenal (@Arsenal) April 20, 2018
No way it implicates he gets first team time potentially if that’s what you’re implying. He’s no where near the first team, but maybe a new manager means he gets a loan. Let’s hope he can learn to be more direct/decisive that Nagbe.
get he even get loaned out? His contract is up Summer 2019. doesn't help his case that he'll have been out/not playing for almost a year and a half by the time the new season starts.
Arsenal U23 have just won the Premier League 2 after beating West Ham 3-1, their 1st title. Sucks for Zelalem that he couldn't be part of it.
Sure. But he's been making a serious effort in the weight room since the injury. I'm giving him credit for that.
Agree. I would think the implications for him would be negative. Unai arrives knowing far less about the extended Arsenal squad than anyone involved in the setup under Arsene. He also arrives knowing quite a bit about the talent in Spain. He will be expected to turn things around and while the happy talk is that he will be given time, everyone knows he will not be given time to do so. He will almost certainly be looking outwards for solutions, and he will certainly be entirely focused on the strengthening the first team. If he's around for a couple years and settled in, he will look deeper.