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Posted on 8/8/14 at 10:41 am to Friend of OBUDan
He's not gonna displace Ozil though and Zelalem isn't good enough yet for us to accommodate Ozil elsewhere. If he gets games in the Arteta role next year that would be fantastic. He's actually played some long range passes, and overall looks very comfortable and confident. I don't know if that's why Wenger has him working there or not but it's good for his development to work deep in midfield.
Posted on 8/8/14 at 5:31 pm to crazy4lsu
quote:
I don't know if that's why Wenger has him working there or not but it's good for his development to work deep in midfield.
I would love him to develop into a DLP ala Pirlo.
Posted on 8/8/14 at 5:42 pm to glassman
quote:
I would love him to develop into a DLP ala Pirlo.
Winner winner chicken dinner. Especially if he plays for the US.
Posted on 8/8/14 at 5:45 pm to cwil177
He is calm on the ball and has great positioning and vision. Exactly what is needed.
Posted on 8/8/14 at 6:06 pm to glassman
Well the US needs a lot of things. We haven't really had a no. 10 that actually thrived centrally. Donovan was basically a wide player for most of his career, and Dempsey excelled as a late arriving midfielder, but neither were classic no.10. If Zelalem can play as a no.10, but can't play there for Arsenal, then he should definitely play there are the US. There's a high likelihood that we will have big and strong central midfield types, but the likelihood that we produce a no.10 is much much smaller. And I seriously doubt we will ever produce as natural a playmaker as Zelalem. It's amazing to me his formative years were spent in the US.
Posted on 8/8/14 at 6:13 pm to crazy4lsu
quote:
It's amazing to me his formative years were spent in the US.
It really is. He just appears to be a "natural".
Posted on 8/8/14 at 6:37 pm to crazy4lsu
quote:
There's a high likelihood that we will have big and strong central midfield types, but the likelihood that we produce a no.10 is much much smaller.
I'm ok with him playing the 10 role for a while and then moving back as he ages, especially since Bradley can kind of pull the DLP role for us with his fantastic balls over the top from a deeper position (and yeah I know he is b2b too).
Posted on 8/8/14 at 6:52 pm to crazy4lsu
quote:
And I seriously doubt we will ever produce as natural a playmaker as Zelalem
Well that's just bizarre
Posted on 8/8/14 at 11:25 pm to Crede15
quote:
Well that's just bizarre
How so?
Posted on 8/8/14 at 11:52 pm to crazy4lsu
Well, considering US soccer's developmental structure is working hard to improve and since players of today are noticeably more creative playmakers than those of even 10 years ago, probability says that eventually we'll create one better.
Posted on 8/9/14 at 12:19 am to DoreonthePlains
quote:
since players of today are noticeably more creative playmakers than those of even 10 years ago
Are there? I've watched a lot of MLS this season and I frankly do not see it. The standard of play is way higher but the players who I see operating in the no. 10 role the best are not Americans.
And I mean specifically a playmaker, a no.10, a player who plays between the lines. I'm entirely skeptical of the whole US developmental structure, but I'm even more skeptical that we will produce a player that could possibly break into the first team of one of the top clubs as a teenager. It's also fairly rare for other countries that produce a lot more talent than we do. I see no reason to think it will be a guarantee in the future. Or to say another way, I'm highly skeptical our the youth system in the U.S. to produce that sort of player.
And even if I'm guilty of hyperbole on Zelalem, or extreme skepticism of the US's talent making machine, Zelalem has rare vision for someone his age. The passes he was making as a 16 year old were on par with Fabregas at that age. We've been talking about him as soon as he came on board, he was the youngest player on the team that went on tour in Asia.
If we do get playmakers who play behind the forward line, they are much more likely to come from US kids in foreign youth academies.
I'm not pretending that what I say is intractable though. I've been wrong before and will be wrong again.
Posted on 8/9/14 at 12:28 am to crazy4lsu
I don't think we have any now, obviously. If you're expecting to see a youngster on par with Zelalem in MLS, you're looking in the wrong place. He is an incredible YOUNG talent. Hopefully, that translates into him developing into a world class playmaker.
Our point is more that saying a country may never create another talent like "X" is silly considering the future of soccer in America (and the world at large) is getting brighter and brighter.
Our point is more that saying a country may never create another talent like "X" is silly considering the future of soccer in America (and the world at large) is getting brighter and brighter.
Posted on 8/9/14 at 1:05 am to DoreonthePlains
quote:
Our point is more that saying a country may never create another talent like "X" is silly considering the future of soccer in America (and the world at large) is getting brighter and brighter.
I'll admit it is hyperbole, but I think Zelalem is a rare talent.
Posted on 8/9/14 at 6:29 am to crazy4lsu
Well "that's just hyperbole" is probably what I should have said. Unless the world ends in the next 20 years or so, the chances are pretty high that we'll produce someone who has as much "natural playmaking" talent as Zelalem, although obviously that's not the easiest thing in the world to quantify.
Posted on 8/9/14 at 8:05 am to crazy4lsu
The more I watch Zelalem, the more I see DLP.
Posted on 8/9/14 at 8:18 am to Stewie Griffin
I believe Verm is in Barcelona for a medical
Posted on 8/9/14 at 9:25 am to Crede15
when we went on tour last year, there's a post where i said he had the best vision on our squad (maybe behind santi for no. 2) as a 16yo. you can't teach that type of vision (though hopefully if any american with it does come along, we have the training infrastructure in place to develop and harness that vision).
stewie, i tend to feel the opposite. every time i watched him for the reserves in a deeper role (and for us) he never looked like anything other than a solid prospect (and i love some good DLP play!) for one, he played the b2b role. and he's never shown any range of passing. he's never really showed an ability to break up play through positional acumen (since clearly he's too slight to muscle people out, even in the reserves). i think him the idea of him as a DLP is based on his vision and his generally simple and composed passing of the ball with the hope that he can get the positional aspects of it down.
stewie, i tend to feel the opposite. every time i watched him for the reserves in a deeper role (and for us) he never looked like anything other than a solid prospect (and i love some good DLP play!) for one, he played the b2b role. and he's never shown any range of passing. he's never really showed an ability to break up play through positional acumen (since clearly he's too slight to muscle people out, even in the reserves). i think him the idea of him as a DLP is based on his vision and his generally simple and composed passing of the ball with the hope that he can get the positional aspects of it down.
Posted on 8/9/14 at 11:17 am to Friend of OBUDan
Posted on 8/9/14 at 12:01 pm to Friend of OBUDan
He doesn't have the flair of a typical 10. Neither does Ozil I suppose. Either way he excites me.
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