northbank123 wrote:topgoon it's true people have called those players useless but you can't conveniently fail to mention the fact that they were playing at a far lower level at the time. "Useless" may not ever have been fair in some cases but since they upped their game nobody has been calling the likes of Ramsey, Giroud or the CBs useless.
Jenkinson is probably borderline good enough imo to cover the RB slot but strip away the admiration for him because he's a genuine Gooner and he is not anywhere near good enough to be first choice for a CL club hoping to challenge for the title. I know he did well at the start of last season and you'd hope to see an improvement if he got a fair run in the side but I'm not convinced he's a PL player full-stop atm.
The most important thing in a full-back is reliability and consistency and with that awful patch behind him Sagna offers us that. Even if we were to sign a replacement the chance of us actually getting a better performer than him there is very small imo and it would be a stupid gamble to take.
Yes they played at a lower level but how can that not be leveled at Jenkinson, was Sagna a rock solid FB at 19, doubt it. My point is not much different from yours, I think he is a good back up, but a lot want him discarded, which I think is too early. He is no worse than one or two other FB's in the premier league. I have said it in the past on hear that he would benefit form being loaned out to a champ team where we we can recall him. A team where he will be selected for every game. One that plays it on the ground like a Donnie Rovers/Barnsley or Watford.
You are forgetting he got a decent run in the team last year and did ok, not world beating, commited the odd mistake but not career ending.
Walker's a case in point, he is very good going forward but dodgy at the back and frequently uses his pace to get him out of scrapes. He benefitted from being loaned out by the Vermin and looks better(still not great) from being in front of a more solid unit. Jenko does well when the rest of our backline does well but being the youngest of the lot, when we f**k around and look shaky so does he...more so.
I'm probably rambling now, but my point is I'm not unhappy we gave him a contract, just a bit f**ked off we still won't retain experienced pros in the tem and fob them off with contract negotiations till they run them down and we have to sell them to rivals .
