It isn’t even that extreme. He looked useful In his first three appearances, but looked useless for most of the rest of the season. I remember watching him vs Forest actively trying not to receive the ball. It was painful to watch.
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Didnt know they existed tbh. Bloke has been pretty underwhelming.
We looked good in pre-season and fine - not spectacular buy playable- in his initial run of appearances.
Then we dropped him for two months and when he comes back into the team in January its in the context of a mini-midfield crisis where Partey and Xhaka are both out, guys like Tomiyasu and ESR are playing hurt, etc. And then we dropped him again for another 2-3 months and when he comes back into the team its once again in a bad spot where the team is under pressure, we’re fielding two crappy backup fullbacks, etc.
He may just not have it. But he also hasn’t had the chance to play in a strong side where the players around him are first choice and functioning fairly well. I still hold out the hope that we could be perfectly fine as our DM if we have the rest of the first choice 11 out there on the pitch.
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If Elneny and Partey are out, he needs to play. Keep the rest of the team intact, play with (sort of) three CBs in defensive positions to give the necessary cover. Don’t move more players around then absolutely necessary!
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It doesn’t take a lot for Elneny to keep the team ticking. Sambi should be able to replicate that.
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Going to be a huge September for this guy, he isn’t going to be Thomas Partey but we have to pray he does an admirable job.
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Exactly. Elneny and even Partey didnt have to do more than some quick give and goes in order to look semi decent. If Sambi is not capable of that at 22-23 years of age then he needs shipping asap.
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I think if he stays disciplined and keeps it simple he can do a similar job to Elneny
Think the role Partey and Elneny do is getting a bit under rated tbh. Not just a case of put a player in front of the defence and make 10 yard passes to the side all game.
Lokonga looks like a much more progressive player who can drive forward with the ball and pick a really nice pass every now and again. Not sure about his positional sense which is vital for the DM role. Hopefully he’ll surprise us.
I think he tried too hard to be progressive and that led to mistakes whe forcing it. I think he will look a far better player keeping it simple and finding his feet
This dude is 23 in October. He isn’t a youth prospect.
If he can’t deliver now then how long are we supposed to wait for him to come good? He’s taking up a very valuable spot in the squad.
We expect Saka, Martinelli, Nketiah etc to deliver. Even Vieira who we haven’t even seen is expected to contribute quickly.
Sambi has to seize this chance. If he shits the bed then his future at Arsenal isn’t looking good brev. It’s weird that he isn’t held to the same standard as other players of a similar age.
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He would be held to that standard, if he was playing regularly in his position. Just don’t think he’ll be very good cover for Partey now or 10 years in the future.
There is a learning curve for every promising player.
This time last year everyone thought Martinelli was a dud, and now he is the first choice.
I hope it turns out well for Lokonga & us that he gets a run of the game and we come out of it with a lot more confident & reliable player.
Martinelli was never a dud lol, most people been hyped since he joined. Just getting a couple more goals now but needs to continue.
Lokonga hasn’t looked like a terrible player but it seems a big step up for him. Had a good pre-season but he’s still a risk and it’s more that his profile doesn’t match with Partey/Elneny to be their backup tbh.
If it was Xhaka injured and Lokonga coming in next to Partey and Odegaard, I wouldn’t be worried.
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He was definitely written off at one point
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he is still kind of wasteful IMO
yes, he is improving, but needs more
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I think he is wasteful or has been anyway but I also think he was trying too hard to be progressive. I would like to see him calm down and just focus on the basics to build confidence. I think there is a player in there
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Great point
You two are talking about different players
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yeah, my bad, but this over aggressive ball progression can also be said for Martinelli sometimes