Arsenal & Gers Aim To Improve Gedi

[Bruno55 0]

We starved zelalem against livvy and to be honest who did have a good game against livvy? At the the end the announcer said man of the match waghorn and we all looked at each other lol zelalem had a good game yesterday his passing is the best I've seen at ibrox for a few years now

[RabiDuck 89]

So a solitary poor performance merits being placed on the bench ? I could understand your reasoning if it were 3 or 4 continuous games where he under-performed but a solitary poor performance, in a game where there were plenty of other under-performers, makes little sense to me.

 

Craig, I can see the argument there. However Law did have a better game (for me) than Zelalem on this instance. It's not a case of Zelalem performing poorly so deserving to be dropped, more of Law playing himself into contention. We've got a small squad, and many of us (myself included) agree with the reasonings behind this, but that doesn't mean we can't have an element of rotation, arguably it makes such rotation more important. All players will spend time on the bench at some point this season I'm sure, everyone needs to have chance to get some game time.

[craig 5,195]

Craig, I can see the argument there. However Law did have a better game (for me) than Zelalem on this instance. It's not a case of Zelalem performing poorly so deserving to be dropped, more of Law playing himself into contention. We've got a small squad, and many of us (myself included) agree with the reasonings behind this, but that doesn't mean we can't have an element of rotation, arguably it makes such rotation more important. All players will spend time on the bench at some point this season I'm sure, everyone needs to have chance to get some game time.

 

I don't disagree with rotation at all - but BH's justification for dropping Zelalem was nothing to do with rotation, it was based upon performance, performance in one game.

 

I will always advocate for players to be dropped if they aren't playing to the desired standard - but I wouldn't be calling for such changes after one poor performances given his previous performances were of a more than acceptable standard. I would say the same if it were Law, Shiels, or even Aird or McCulloch

 

You don't drop someone after a single poor performance, you give them another chance to prove that drop in standards was a one-off... If it happens again, then absolutely sit him on the bench.

[RabiDuck 89]

I don't disagree with rotation at all - but BH's justification for dropping Zelalem was nothing to do with rotation, it was based upon performance, performance in one game.

 

I will always advocate for players to be dropped if they aren't playing to the desired standard - but I wouldn't be calling for such changes after one poor performances given his previous performances were of a more than acceptable standard. I would say the same if it were Law, Shiels, or even Aird or McCulloch

 

You don't drop someone after a single poor performance, you give them another chance to prove that drop in standards was a one-off... If it happens again, then absolutely sit him on the bench.

 

What about the argument of rewarding Law for a good performance. Those on the periphery need to see that there's a way into the first team. It need not be a criticism of Zelalem to rest him for a game and give Law a run out. The onus is then on him to come off the bench when given the opportunity and win his place back. Rested because someone else is playing well rather than he's playing badly?

[craig 5,195]

What about the argument of rewarding Law for a good performance. Those on the periphery need to see that there's a way into the first team. It need not be a criticism of Zelalem to rest him for a game and give Law a run out. The onus is then on him to come off the bench when given the opportunity and win his place back. Rested because someone else is playing well rather than he's playing badly?

 

Just because he doesn't get in straight away doesn't mean he wont get his chance though, does it ? He sees rotation happening anyway, Warburton has made it very clear that every player will see ample game time this season.

 

You are right, it need not be a criticism of Zelalem but that is exactly what BH was doing.

 

My point is that I personally wouldn't drop a player after one sub-par performance (however.... I think what is being forgotten here is that Zelalem was FAR from the only one who had a below-par performance in that game) - how can you determine someone is "playing badly" after one game ?

 

If we were going to be dropping players after one poor game we would have an incredibly inconsistent starting XI as there would be changes every week.

 

As you can see, Law WAS rewarded for his decent performance, just not at the expense of Zelalem. Warburton seems, thus far, to be keeping everyone happy enough with his rotation - I will choose to trust him with his rotations rather than BH who wishes to see Zelalem being dropped after one mediocre game - at the same time as wishing we still had Zaliukas in the team....

[gisabeer 409]

Zelalems performances so far have in my eyes not been good enough to warrant a place in the starting line up. Im not a fan of law either. Rarely makes a telling pass, always taking the easy option.

[Rousseau 9,367]

Zelalem is a metronome, won't burst a gut, but is very important for keeping the ball in rotation; Law is more of a runner, arriving late into the box, taking shots at goal. Different players, both give something to the cause IMO. Shiels is a metronome also IMO. Not sure what Holt is -- all-rounder? Halliday plays a regista type role. I think my point is comparing these midfielders is difficult because they have different game-styles and roles, with each contributing something different. We don't really have a destroyer a al Gattuso...

Edited September 21, 2015 by Rousseau

[craig 5,195]

Zelalems performances so far have in my eyes not been good enough to warrant a place in the starting line up. Im not a fan of law either. Rarely makes a telling pass, always taking the easy option.

 

It really depends on what you are looking for. I think that Zelalem has done a very good job at retaining possession and moving the ball around, changing the point of attack. He is one of those players that just seems to stroll through a game, making it look easy - which, in turn, makes it look like he isn't doing much at all.

 

His 1st touch is fantastic and his distribution is excellent too. He has only played a few games and will take a little time to come into his own but I think he will prove to be an important player for us - but, as Rousseau says, a very different player to pretty much every other midfielder we have.

 

I'm no fan of Law either - I used the "headless chicken" analogy last week - however, in his last couple of games he has actually done well enough - though he still, to me at least, takes the easy option far too often - with his experience he should be a leader in this team but too often would rather slip under the radar.