2019/20 Alex Iwobi

[Tubey]

I just don't see this. It isn't like he's out there doing a bunch of tricks that don't come off. He's a very understated player to me. Not really much flair about him at all.

I mean of the guys we have playing on the wings, Bernard for me is by far the most "street footballer." His game is all fancy flicks and tricks and what not. But I doubt we will be seeing any comparisons between him and Bolasie.

It's the movement. Iwobi doesn't move correctly to me, whereas Bernard is far more professional.

It's unfair to compare Bernard to Iwobi as Bernard is 10x the footballer. Better comparison is to see what a dynamic wide attacker like Jadon Sancho does off the ball compared to an Iwobi. It's chalk and cheese. It's why he works better centrally as he isn't tasked with moving at angles as much and reading play - instead he's allowed to take a ball to feet and look for options either side.

Iwobi doesn't seem to know how to fashion his own space and influence on a game. I don't actually think he's terrible, but he's not a top half Premier League footballer and the fee we paid for him was grim.

 

[TheBigIguana]

It's the movement. Iwobi doesn't move correctly to me, whereas Bernard is far more professional.

It's unfair to compare Bernard to Iwobi as Bernard is 10x the footballer. Better comparison is to see what a dynamic wide attacker like Jadon Sancho does off the ball compared to an Iwobi. It's chalk and cheese. It's why he works better centrally as he isn't tasked with moving at angles as much and reading play - instead he's allowed to take a ball to feet and look for options either side.

Iwobi doesn't seem to know how to fashion his own space and influence on a game. I don't actually think he's terrible, but he's not a top half Premier League footballer and the fee we paid for him was grim.

We can't compare Bernard to Iwobi but it is ok to compare him to Sancho? You've got to help me out because I'm lost here.

 

[rochdaleblue]

Looking more and more like a panic buy on deadline day after we didn’t get zaha.

 

[Tubey]

We can't compare Bernard to Iwobi but it is ok to compare him to Sancho? You've got to help me out because I'm lost here.

Different types of players. Bernard isn't the athletic, pacy, powerful wide forward Iwobi and Sancho are tasked to be. He's the wide playmaker.

I'm comparing roles, not quality. Sancho was the first that come to mind and I was highlighting why hes successful at that role.

As said, Iwobi flatters to deceive in that role. For me, he's a number 10, but a limited one.

 

[TheBigIguana]

Different types of players. Bernard isn't the athletic, pacy, powerful wide forward Iwobi and Sancho are tasked to be. He's the wide playmaker.

I'm comparing roles, not quality. Sancho was the first that come to mind and I was highlighting why hes successful at that role.

As said, Iwobi flatters to deceive in that role. For me, he's a number 10, but a limited one.

I hinted at this earlier with someone else but I'm going to say it now: the idea that Iwobi is athletic/pacy/powerful is purely stereotyping and nothing else. Not a single thing he has actually done suggests that is how he plays.

My take is Iwobi was fine today. Not great, not terrible. He probably should have looked to get on the ball more but our terrible midfield makes that tough sometimes. The times he did get it he didn't do much, one good pass to Richarlison aside, but he also looked after it well enough that he wasn't a liability. But so many people have decided he's bad that he isn't going to get that benefit of the doubt anymore I guess.

 

[tsubaki]

As said before, like Bolasie he's a street footballer who doesn't have the nous to translate raw skill into effective football.

He was a panic buy. You just have to hope he's one of the last of them.

I expected him to be as bad as Bolasie but he hasn't sunk to those depths... Yet.

TBH I think a lot of those players will need to be reassessed now that we have a manager who knows what he is doing - even Bolasie, who would probably fit into this system better than Iwobi or even Bernard does.

 

[ForeverBlue92]

Would look to get him out the door in the summer as he just doesnt suit 4-4-2.

Would take anything close to £20 million for him and reinvest in Everton Soares.

Got a horrible feeling he'll be a noose around our necks for years to come.

 

[ProZ]

I am just not feeling him, he craps out of more 50/50s than Lemar and tends to jog after balls he can get too.

 

[Tubey]

TBH I think a lot of those players will need to be reassessed now that we have a manager who knows what he is doing - even Bolasie, who would probably fit into this system better than Iwobi or even Bernard does.

There's better players in world football than Bolasie. Ancelotti and Brands knows it too, which is why I actually do believe Everton Soares is a realistic target of ours.

Iwobi just can't do that role. That's all it comes down to. He'd be a better #10 than Sigurdsson in all likelihood but we aren't playing that system and, again, if we did, there's better players than both in world football.

It'll all take time.

 

[18Chris87]

I’d play him instead of Siggy.....

I think physically he could do a job in midfield, think he's bulked out - I remember watching his debut for Arsenal against us at Goodison and thinking how skinny and agile he looked then. Just not sure if he'd be able to do the deeper role that Ancelotti is asking Sigurdsson to do at the moment

 

[Osamabindiesel]

Looking more and more like a panic buy on deadline day after we didn’t get zaha.

My thoughts on his transfer from the beginning really. We wanted to add a homegrown player and had to settle for Iwobi. It’s a strategy that is set up to fail.

 

[rochdaleblue]

My thoughts on his transfer from the beginning really. We wanted to add a homegrown player and had to settle for Iwobi. It’s a strategy that is set up to fail.

Part of the problem is that he doesn’t fit into 4-4-2 system favoured by Carlo. Of course he was bought to play in a 4-2-3-1 under silva and people might argue that good players should be able to adapt. But I don’t see Iwobi being picked to play in what I see is his best position as a 10 behind the main striker. But let’s face it, he want even played there by silva.

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

I hinted at this earlier with someone else but I'm going to say it now: the idea that Iwobi is athletic/pacy/powerful is purely stereotyping and nothing else. Not a single thing he has actually done suggests that is how he plays.

My take is Iwobi was fine today. Not great, not terrible. He probably should have looked to get on the ball more but our terrible midfield makes that tough sometimes. The times he did get it he didn't do much, one good pass to Richarlison aside, but he also looked after it well enough that he wasn't a liability. But so many people have decided he's bad that he isn't going to get that benefit of the doubt anymore I guess.

It could just be me, but I don't get this. Iwobi is a big, solid athletic looking lad, who has a turn of pace when he bothers to use it, so how is it stereotyping?

 

[TheBigIguana]

It could just be me, but I don't get this. Iwobi is a big, solid athletic looking lad, who has a turn of pace when he bothers to use it, so how is it stereotyping?

I promise you can work it out if you think hard enough. You basically said it.

 

[LouReedwalkonthewildside]

I promise you can work it out if you think hard enough. You basically said it.

Anthony Joshua is a big, solid, athletic lad who is quick and has a great dig on him, I don't see the difference mate, unless I'm stereotyping Joshua?