Gunnersaurus wrote:He's a luxury, problem is we have too many players that don't graft enough to afford too many luxury players.
Summed up in one.
If we had a team of more aggressive, powerful and more intelligent players that worked the ball both in and out of posession then AA23 could be a bit like the cream on the cake. He could take the ball and split defences with his undoubted vision and passing ability. But we don't so he doesn't exel at present. He looks lazy and unmotivated in many games. But I would say at least part of that is frustration.
Yes, he is a bit lazy but that is not to say he isn't quality. He is. But he is not a workhorse type player. He is a visionary type player.
I think the standard of player around him is not high enough to fully utilise his abilities and this is where the frustration comes into play. In a way it reminds me of when Bergkamp first joined. He didn't look all that great in some games because the players around him had no idea what he was trying to do - they weren't up to his level (with the exception of Wrighty). A year or two later, we've signed Overmars, Vieira, Petit etc and the difference in Bergkamp was incredible. Suddenly we had players that could see the defence-splitting pass DB was about to play and could move into it. It all gelled and viola - a Double!
Sometimes the true visionaries in the game need players of a similar mindset alongside them to bring out the best in them.
I'm not defending AA23 blindly here btw. Just that for us to get the best from him I believe he needs better players (in a better system??) around him. Too often he is trying to play football with shit like Denilson, Diaby etc. If we cannot adapt the system to his strengths or improve the level of player around him then I would say he is not going to be much use to us in the long term.
I think the question is do we rebuild the team around his ability (especially now as Cesc is going) or do we stick with the current system and let him go?