Ya, cute that you are so desperate to slate Willian that you do so with a player, Oscar, whose had a good share of his goals come as a direct result of Willian's creative work in the final third.

If 23 is relatively young then what is 26? Too old to improve?

It's not too old to improve but at that age, a player is who he is isn't he? We talk of days Drogba as a late bloomer because he developed around that age, but it's rare.

Why the f**k would I be desperate to slate Willian anyway? I'm aware there's this childish internet trend of hating on players but what's important to me is this club doing well.

I'd be more than happy to eat crow about Willian and I'm going he kicks on. Nothing wrong with anything you've been proven wrong about something.

As for Oscar I criticised him plenty when he took the second half of last season off.

Again Cazorla is being talked up. I don't understand it. He's the last person who will be decisive in the game, can't finish to save his life. He takes good penalties and is a good dribbler. I wonder what his statistics are by the way.

 

I think you have possibly seen the worst of Cazorla and missed out the best. At his best he is as smooth and elegant as Silva and as clinical and composed as Mata. There is a reason why he has so many more caps for Spain than Mata. At his worst he can be invisible though.

 

And if you're wondering about stats, he has 26 goals and 33 assists in 10451 mins for Arsenal which is a goal or assist every 177 mins.

When do players stop being young? What's the threshold?

 

In my opinion 23 in footballing terms. 

I would say it's different for different positions. Hard to put a number on it really, but for an attacking midfielder 26-30 is probably the peak. Then there are the ones who peak early(Rooney) and those who peak late(Drogba).

I actually think any player with enough dedication can improve even if he's supposed to be in his peak already. Cristiano Ronaldo is a good example.

Damn double post

I'm really not trying to increase my post count here.

Edited February 12, 201511 yr by footballoholic

Really

What was the reason Oscar wasn't in the squad? I missed it.

What was the reason Oscar wasn't in the squad? I missed it.

Just a slight knock.

Jose didn't want to risk him, seems to be confident he will return for PSG.

I think you have possibly seen the worst of Cazorla and missed out the best. At his best he is as smooth and elegant as Silva and as clinical and composed as Mata. There is a reason why he has so many more caps for Spain than Mata. At his worst he can be invisible though.

And if you're wondering about stats, he has 26 goals and 33 assists in 10451 mins for Arsenal which is a goal or assist every 177 mins.

That may be so. I have seen the elegance but not the composure and decision making. I also wonder how he has done in big matches. Are the goals/assists all part of 3/4/5 nils for example?

We starting to lose a bit from his form, someone thinks differently?

Edited March 4, 201511 yr by IliyaKrostin

had very little impact on todays game, id rather have veratti

We starting to lose a bit from his form, someone thinks differently?

 

He haven't been playing that much lately, to slow for me today.

He certainly seems to have more poor games than good games recently.

Having a second-half of the season dip in form again. Hasn't put in a convincing performance since Swansea away, but then you could say that about the team as a whole.

Edited March 4, 201511 yr by Blue Daze

way overrated by fans.

As it stands we only have one effective attacking midfielder and Oscar isn't that guy.

Needs to majorly step it up if he wants to be our no 10 long term

Never been a big fan of his don't think i ever will be.

He needs to step up his game.

I think he can be lethal, but this role he plays seems to have blunted his attacking instincts too much.

I do think he is a quality player, but he has been playing poorly most rings I've seen him, especially recently.

If he was given more attacking freedom and relieved from some of his defensive duties we would be seeing him play a lot better. He is hardly playing as a number 10, more like a central midfielder these days.

If PSG offered £30m, would you take it? ANd who would be a possible replacement?

If PSG offered £30m, would you take it? ANd who would be a possible replacement?

I'd bite your hand off for it.

Replacement wise though...tough one.

I'd like Reus in the team but that would mean Hazard moving into the central role so that probably rules that out.

You could move Cesc up the park and put that money towards a all round midfielder like Pogba but then again Cesc lacks the defensive side Oscar has.

No easy answers from me.

If PSG offered £30m, would you take it? ANd who would be a possible replacement?

 

This is always the issue for me. Who out there is doing better? I know there's plenty of people who have a hard on for Pogba but you're talking about a possible British record transfer fee when Cesc has been very good for us alongside Matic.

Just like last season, his form in the 2nd half of the season has dipped. It's not down to tiredness this time either, he has been well rested at times this season.

 

This is the 2nd season in a row that this has happened now, hopefully his form can pick back up again. If it doesn't then we may need to upgrade. We can't have our ACM only being good for half of a season.

 

If we do upgrade i don't think we should sell Oscar though. He is still very young and i do believe that once he hits his peak years he will become a more consistent player.

 

Finding a number 10 with Oscar's workrate would be very challenging too.

Nothing bad to say about the boy and I'd hate for him to leave, whoever replaced him as our number ten couldn't do the job Jose asks of Oscar and look any better, at his age he will only improve and his supposedly poor form seems to correspond with some of our less than outstanding performances.

 

I think we are far better with him in the team and with Matic on the pitch I prefer Cesc further back so it's not as if Oscar is playing where we have a better option.

I thought he was very clever today. Played some nice balls and pulled defenders away from Fabregas.