The College Dropout

In time Elanga will be like a super speed Murphy I reckon

Miggys pressing, tracking back, stamina and good movement on the pitch is more than Elanga has offered so far.

He’s much worse than I had assumed. He can be an effective player for us and I can look him in the way I like Murphy or even Gordon (who is much better technically than them both). He’s just not good enough at football for me to think he’s worth the money we paid at the time.

And his patchy form seems driven by desire and work rate which is awful to see as a supporter. It does seem like he gets himself up for bigger games. He’s visibly more on it. When we need him at it against smaller opposition he’s not on it. And it’s not a matter of more space in behind or anything. That tenacity disappears. And there’s a lot more of those games than the bigger ones.

Aye. It’s only football like. Wishing him serious injury and worse as a grown man is weird. One step away from an instagram troll.

Crouch best PL season is 12 goals and 18 in all comps. I think Nick W can beat both this season. Still a way to go mind.

I like Arsenal as a club but this football is bs

I largely agree with this approach. If it’s somewhat debatable go with the onfield (for fouls)

I thought it looked like a broken bone in the foot or damage to the ankle. A serious injury legitimises the move though. A pro footballer is always 1 injury away from having his earning power greatly diminished. Worst case scenario his ankle is broken or he’s done his ACL. He’s guaranteed something like £60m or more

Aye some great movement. Better intent. Took his goals well.

Obertan had a better first touch for sure. Obertan didn’t have the mentality or heart for prrofessional football. But he was technically sound. Obertan is 1/10 mentality wise and Elanga will have a a far better career.

As in least xg conceded?

We’ve become weak and soft. The lack of proactive subs is Eddie Howe. It is what it is. However we’ve proven we can hold on to leads but this particular team cannot and that’s a major problem

Thats like Chelsea signing Murphy because he’s proven prem quality. Yeh Elanga got a bag of assists. But did we watch him play and judge his first touch, his non ability to beat a man, his decision making etc. I rarely read Froggy’s posts but he was right about Elanga.

Not in terms of playing style exactly or profile but he reminds me of Jermaine Jenas. Technically sound. Mobile. But doesn’t influence games the way you would want and not as progressive with the ball as you want either. Thought today was his best game so far and I can see how he can further improve. A year with Howe and he could be a very good player. Needs to consisbtebly be positive on the ball and snappy off it.

Nah he wouldn’t. The pass was the correct thing to do. It’s an easier thing to complete than the finish and Barnes finish should be easier too. You shoot in that position you have to score and he wasn’t even particularly close. It does show the lack of quality an decision making many have been saying unfortunately. But that was a positive moment for him. So I’ll take it. Was Wissa having a go at him while Wissa was getting carded?

He’s done all the good things I’ve bolded today. That anticipation and aggression is the cornerstone of his game. He goes twice to win the ball off the defender and he arrives and fights at the back post to 1 shot finish that’s luckily saved but leads to the goal. Aggression and nips in to win the FK that leads to the second and a wonderful ball from him too. But it’s that graft, anticipationand mentality that builds the foundation for him to deliver quality with his feet. It has been wonderful to see today. But he has had too many games in 2025 where he hasn’t has this sharp mentality.

We don’t lose to these at home much do we? Or have I invented that?

Yeh it’s physicality Gordon looks taller faster stronger etc.

As an emergency stopgap. If Krafth was expected to start 38 games for a PL team, you would assume that PL team would be fighting relegation/relegated. I personally think he's a Championship player. A great pro, gives it his all and is reliable which is why he's still here. He's a bringing-on when winning 3-0 player. Or injury crisis to play 3 or 4 games and not be a disgrace. Or replacing the winger with 5 to go haging onto a lead. That's fine and what he did last season. But he doesn't get regular minutes for a team going to the last 16 in the CL and finishing 5th/6th.

He stuck out like a sore thumb. The only one there who had played 3k+ minutes at the highest level and was expected to do more the next season. Remember, people used to say "we have professionals in position now, they know what they are doing". In my armchair - I can tell you that we don't. It's been downhill ever since Ashworth and then Staveley left. Who has been taking care of the club? For at least a year, if not longer, nobody really.

Agreed. But by this we literally mean - can control a football and make simple passes right? that's the bar we are talking. in Elanga's defence - at times he's looked great physically. Until Weds - we had seen nothing of Ramsey physically. Not burst passed a player. Nothing.

Forward planning left with Ashworth. So was Obertan. Ramsey doesn't do anything with it which is the problem. No he hasn't. But he can be. He's barely contributed at all.

This season was largely dependent on Tino playing 3x a week and he can't do it. Remember when I said he didn't need to go away and play the U21's in the summer, considering the load he was expected to carry this season? Not to say that not playing would've prevented it. But Tino's minutes and health were an obvious major risk from day 1 that we did little to mitigate. We only have 3 fullbacks you can expect to win CL or PL football matches with. 1 is 35. Another was coming off a big injury and missed pre-season. Tino is the third and would deputise for either. This is where having effective leadership (DoF) through the period would've been useful.

Krafth is injured atm too. A PL-level CM is better at FB than a League 1-level fullback more often than not. The levels of footballing ability or too stark.