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UEL | Arsenal v Sporting | Thursday | 20:00 GMT | BT Sport

Match Prediction


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Mark Tobias

Mr. Agreeable
I know and I agree. It's the same thing that happened to Jeff. Hardly played u23 football and never got enough first team minutes either. I think that Nketiah is simply between a rock and a hard place - 3 senior strikers on relatively decent form and an U23 team he has outgrown. First team football is his priority and he's not even played a minute. It is concerning.

As far as using the academy more, I think that generally there is still hope they will get games, Smith-Rowe seemingly the golden child right now. I think it still bodes well. Just what to do with guys like Nketiah and Willock, who are better than the level they're playing at but need to be challenged.
Remind us where Jeff is...
 

Mark Tobias

Mr. Agreeable
What is the absolute obsession with youth about? We tried for fecking years with youth and it didn't work. Now we must throw everything up into the wind and see where it blows because poor Nketiah isn't getting game time. WTF is wrong with you people. I want the club to do well. And right now we are doing well. This season was NEVER going to be ideal for taking absolute risks to try and appease 19 year old footballers. This season WAS always going to be played with a bit more caution in that regard.

If we win tonight we are through and we can play the fecking 12 year olds for the remaining fixtures. I don't see the problem here?
If we play Nketiah and he is overwhelmed and doesn't perform then we're left fighting to get through with even fewer youngsters getting game time.

Honestly, it's like Hydro has never watched this sport before.
 
Taking Guendouzi into consideration, it's clear that Emery isn't averse to playing teenagers, assuming they're good enough to play of course.

I'm very supportive of the new attitude regarding "lesser" competitions we seem to have now. Obviously, the majority of our youngsters will never be good enough for us, and if we previously considered winning competitions as more important than improving such players, we probably would have won at least a few league cups in the last 22 years.

Nketiah isn't the new Ronaldo, and if we lose him it's not going to be the end of the world. Emery is paid to win matches, and not to be personally responsible for improving Nketiah or anybody else unless it's in the best interest of the club.
 

Mo Britain

Doom Monger
The issue for me is not just about youth or winning games. it's about managing the squad to maximise their potential in terms of winning trophies or getting as far as we can.

In that context this group is effectively won even if we lose tonight but fact is we can put out a team strong enough to get a result (pretty sure a draw wins us the group) affecting the next game as little as possible. A draw tonight does the biz, a narrow defeat probably still means we win the group. If we drop points against Wolves, who will not have had a midweek game, those points are lost and gone forever with an unknown influence on our final league position. So if we have to trade a win for another I'll take the Wolves game.

But it doesn't have to be a trade-off. Nketiah has been discussed and I am certainly of the view he is being wasted. He may not be the next Ronaldo but he might be a valuable squad member. We won't know unless he's tested and it seems to be a home game against a Sporting Lisbon in disarray might not be the worst game in which to do so. We should be able to win the game with him and Welbz. There is absolutely no need to risk starting with Laca or Auba.

Same with other key players. It would be madness if you played Torreira tonight and got him injured. Madness. Football is not about winning all your battles, it's about winning your wars. Emery is not paid to win matches. He is paid to win trophies.
 
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Same with other key players. It would be madness if you played Torreira tonight and got him injured. Madness. Football is not about winning all your battles, it's about winning your wars. Emery is not paid to win matched. He is paid to win trophies.

I believe that right now our manager should be given the benefit of doubt when it comes to team selection. There really is no "correct" decision when it comes to these things, which is why we shouldn't second guess our manager too much, especially as it seems that we are continuously improving ever since the beginning of the season. Playing our best players more often also helps them adapt to the new tactics faster, and it improves team cohesion as well, which is obviously a good thing for us in the long run.
 

Mo Britain

Doom Monger
We could play 60 games this season - not counting international matches. There is no way on earth that we will be able to play our best XI for 60 games so the manager's job is to try and ensure he has a team on the pitch which has a chance to win every game.

Our bench and squad can beat Sporting at home but they will lose away at, for example, City. So it makes sense to have your best players available for the most difficult games.
 

Mark Tobias

Mr. Agreeable
The issue for me is not just about youth or winning games. it's about managing the squad to maximise their potential in terms of winning trophies or getting as far as we can.

In that context this group is effectively won even if we lose tonight but fact is we can put out a team strong enough to get a result (pretty sure a draw wins us the group) affecting the next game as little as possible. A draw tonight does the biz, a narrow defeat probably still means we win the group. If we drop points against Wolves, who will not have had a midweek game, those points are lost and gone forever with an unknown influence on our final league position. So if we have to trade a win for another I'll take the Wolves game.

But it doesn't have to be a trade-off. Nketiah has been discussed and I am certainly of the view he is being wasted. He may not be the next Ronaldo but he might be a valuable squad member. We won't know unless he's tested and it seems to be a home game against a Sporting Lisbon in disarray might not be the worst game in which to do so. We should be able to win the game with him and Welbz. There is absolutely no need to risk starting with Laca or Auba.

Same with other key players. It would be madness if you played Torreira tonight and got him injured. Madness. Football is not about winning all your battles, it's about winning your wars. Emery is not paid to win matched. He is paid to win trophies.
I take all that into account but I feel posters on here are vastly underestimating how hard it is to maintain momentum in these top leagues. True we should not risk all our key players but there is a need for consistency and that doesn't come from complete shuffles all round. We already have a shaky defence with some players recently back from injury. AMN has just returned.
Just seems like some people want to put 9 seven year olds on the field because they might maybe be something one day. Just seems like a 'feck everything else attitude' which we've seen before in these games AND been made to pay the price.

Emery has had the balls to start a 19 year old in the league on several occassions yet here some posters are claiming they know better about the management of Nketiah.
Dammit, clearly if you're good enough the manager will play you!
 

Mo Britain

Doom Monger
A sentiment which has seen us fail and fail again over the years. Now we have a new manager with a new approach and people are moaning.
I think I'll stick with the manager on this one.
Every game is different. I'll stick with the manager but thought is free. Wonder when the moaning will start when we lose Torreira playing Rochdale at home.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
Remind us where Jeff is...
Likely because he was managed poorly. Chicken or egg?

Look, I am pleased that the team is doing well - I am allowed to be disappointed with a few things, namely that one of our biggest young talents who IS good enough to play IMO is getting wasted. I don't doubt that Emery has the balls to play the younger players as we have all seen it. But if he knew he was not going to play Nketiah ahead of his senior strikers, which IMO is being vindicated as a good decision, he should have loaned him after preseason.
 

rich 1990

Not A Big Believer In Diversity
I think it's fairly obvious Emery doesn't rate Nketiah that highly. If he didn't get minutes against Blackpool then he should be worried. If he doesn't play in the last two group games, assuming we win tonight, the boy really is finished here.

Tobias is right. Smith Rowe, Maitland Niles etc will get game time if you sit tight for 5 ****ing minutes.
 
Every game is different. I'll stick with the manager but thought is free. Wonder when the moaning will start when we lose Torreira playing Rochdale at home.

As long as we keep improving while still getting the results, I don't think it ever will, regardless of player injuries.

It seems to me that Wenger's way of thinking has infected our fanbase more than it should have. Under him we played youngsters regularly while also resting important players whenever we can. And look how that ended, with us battling Burnley for the sixth place, while regularly selling all those prospects we invested so much time in as soon as they get any good. And let us not forget about all those injuries to our key players happening on a regular basis as well.
 

Mo Britain

Doom Monger
As long as we keep improving while still getting the results, I don't think it ever will, regardless of player injuries.

It seems to me that Wenger's way of thinking has infected our fanbase more than it should have. Under him we played youngsters regularly while also resting important players whenever we can. And look how that ended, with us battling Burnley for the sixth place, while regularly selling all those prospects we invested so much time in as soon as they get any good. And let us not forget about all those injuries to our key players happening on a regular basis as well.
This is not about Wenger but we did not end up battling Burnley for 6th because we played youngsters but rather because our team - including some pretty expensive senior players - were not performing.

In fact when Wenger played teams packed with youngsters (not 2 or 3 as the suggestion is here) we often went on very long runs in the League Cup.
 

MutableEarth

Reiss' Dad
Trusted ⭐
This is not about Wenger but we did not end up battling Burnley for 6th because we played youngsters but rather because our team - including some pretty expensive senior players - were not performing.

In fact when Wenger played teams packed with youngsters (not 2 or 3 as the suggestion is here) we often went on very long runs in the League Cup.
In a lot of those games the youngsters were the best thing about those performances. Forest last seàson was a good example.

We should draw a line under this because in the grand scheme it's fine for now.
 
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