How about we wait until he has had a pre season with us and a consistent run in the team
Don't need a preseason to look like you're trying. My problem with him is how he's just 2 notches under the pace of everybody else in the team. Loses the ball and jogs around, by far the midfielder who pressed the least out of the 3 that started the game today, his thought process also seemed to be working a notch or two slower than the rest of the people around him during the game which was just synonymous with us losing the ball every time he had it because Arsenal had a very good press on from the first minute of the game.
Does he has the skillset to succeed? Sure. However, at the moment, he's playing luxury football. Wants to receive the ball, raise his head, decide what to do, then pass it or start a run with it. Loses the ball and calmly jogs back. That stuff can look okay against a team who can't press and backed away from us every time we got the ball like Chelsea did, but it wont against teams that press you and look to win the ball back immediately after losing it.
Not saying he hasn't had good games since coming in or that he's never gonna get better, but right now, after more than half a season gone, seeing his name amongst the starting 11 never inspires me confidence. I saw the starting 11 about half an hour before the game and literally thought to myself ''Arsenal are going to target Gravenberch'' and that's essentially what they did until he was forced out. Doesn't change the fact that the whole team was off the boil, but yeah.
Logged