Joe Willock

[Kanji]

“Not suited to Arsenal’s tactical approach”    I’ve a lot of time for Arteta and rather he manage us but don’t make Willock out to be some stupid player who only relies on physical attributes that’s really an odd and unfounded way to criticize him IMO. 

[KaKa]

Just now, Kanji said:

“Not suited to Arsenal’s tactical approach”    I’ve a lot of time for Arteta and rather he manage us but don’t make Willock out to be some stupid player who only relies on physical attributes that’s really an odd and unfounded way to criticize him IMO. 

 

No, not at all. It's not that he's thick, it's more about the space he is afforded and the freedom he has to vacate the midfield and get into the box.

 

Arsenal press high up the pitch and play a patient possession game to open up teams, and so he isn't afforded the space as much to stretch his legs and run with the ball in space in the centre of the pitch, which he can do more in our setup where we defend deeper and can break on teams more.

 

Also in Arsenal's more possession heavy setup the midfield has to keep the ball more and they try to play through the middle more often and aren't as direct, and also don't cross the ball from wide areas as much. So I don't think he has the same freedom to break position and try to get in the box to score.

[Kanji]

3 minutes ago, KaKa said:

 

No, not at all. It's not that he's thick, it's more about the space he is afforded and the freedom he has to vacate the midfield and get into the box.

 

Arsenal press high up the pitch and play a patient possession game to open up teams, and so he isn't afforded the space as much to stretch his legs and run with the ball in space in the centre of the pitch, which he can do more in our setup where we defend deeper and can break on teams more.

 

Also in Arsenal's more possession heavy setup the midfield has to keep the ball more and they try to play through the middle more often and aren't as direct, and also don't cross the ball from wide areas as much. So I don't think he has the same freedom to break position and try to get in the box to score.

Aight better analysis.  just a crazy and lazy thing to say unless you throw the context of why you’re saying it above. 

[Guest HTT II]

12 minutes ago, Kanji said:

“Not suited to Arsenal’s tactical approach”    I’ve a lot of time for Arteta and rather he manage us but don’t make Willock out to be some stupid player who only relies on physical attributes that’s really an odd and unfounded way to criticize him IMO. 

He’s not though, that’s not detracting from him as a player or his abilities, if he was suited to their game, they’d be keeping him…

[Kanji]

I think the sale is heavily fueled by fund raising to sign a bigger name and they aren’t getting much attention on some of the other lads. But Kaka had a good post explaining the Arsenal tactical approach versus just saying “he’s not suited to a more tactical game at Arsenal” like he’s thick and just a dribbler or something. 

[Guest HTT II]

4 minutes ago, Kanji said:

I think the sale is heavily fueled by fund raising to sign a bigger name and they aren’t getting much attention on some of the other lads. But Kaka had a good post explaining the Arsenal tactical approach versus just saying “he’s not suited to a more tactical game at Arsenal” like he’s thick and just a dribbler or something. 

Oh aye, Kaka explained it well, but he just doesn’t fit their system, tactics and game plan/style at all where as he fits ours ideally, and that’s without any real tactics, gameplan or style from us. Again, he’s ideally suited to us. 

 

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by HTT II

[Abacus]

The thing about Arsenal is, they always try and walk it in.

[dinotheprehistoricgeordie]

Is he worth the price? It seems to be a lot of money for a player that's had 1 good season. 

[joeyt]

I think the money is about right for a 21 year old English player who impressed last season

[Guest neesy111]

4 minutes ago, dinotheprehistoricgeordie said:

Is he worth the price? It seems to be a lot of money for a player that's had 1 good season. 

 

English premium.

[KaKa]

1 minute ago, joeyt said:

I think the money is about right for a 21 year old English player who impressed last season

 

Yeah, think it's a good deal and maybe even a steal at that age. There's a lot of attributes there to work with. His pace, ability to carry the ball, general passing and knack for finishing already look pretty good, and he has a lot of room to grow still.

[Rafalove]

Somewhat surprisedLiverpool arent interested. He’d fit in their system, and I think would end up a better player than Gini under Klopp

[christ]

20 minutes ago, dinotheprehistoricgeordie said:

Is he worth the price? It seems to be a lot of money for a player that's had 1 good season. 

It’s hard to work out exactly what the going rate is for players since we as a club are so detached from the economics of the wider football world. £20m is probably fuck all nowadays but for us it’s astronomical

[Guest]

Probably a big fee for anyone outside the Super League 6 & Villa with the Grealish millions at the minute.

 

Only Brighton (Mwepu £20.3m) & Leicester (Daka £23m) outside those 7 have spent more than £20m on a single player so far.

 

 

Edited August 9, 2021 by Optimistic Nut

[hakka]

I've seen enough of Willock to know he's worth the money for sure. Great character too, that's brilliant to have along with the talent he has. 

 

As others have pointed out, this is just the basic signing we should making every season to invest and grow the squad quality.

 

We are terrible at moving on dross and awful at bringing right quality when we desperately need it. We get lucky with some signings, but it's always "just enough" as opposed to getting what need to push on.

[Guest HTT II]

1 hour ago, KaKa said:

 

Yeah, think it's a good deal and maybe even a steal at that age. There's a lot of attributes there to work with. His pace, ability to carry the ball, general passing and knack for finishing already look pretty good, and he has a lot of room to grow still.

I personally think he’s superb and ideal for us, in a SBR side he’d murder the numbers, as he did towards the end of last season in a shitty Steve Bruce side, he’s a throwback type of box to box goalscoring midfielder for me and again, such a likeable and really good player to have in the team. 

[Guest HTT II]

1 hour ago, Rafalove said:

Somewhat surprisedLiverpool arent interested. He’d fit in their system, and I think would end up a better player than Gini under Klopp

Nah, totally wrong player for how they play. Even more so than for Arsenal. 

[Rafalove]

How?

[steve_69]

1 hour ago, HTT II said:

Oh aye, Kaka explained it well, but he just doesn’t fit their system, tactics and game plan/style at all where as he fits ours ideally, and that’s without any real tactics, gameplan or style from us. Again, he’s ideally suited to us. 

 

 

 

 

Whether it's right or not, Arsenal need to sign some sexy names to keep other top players at the club happy/content, sell season tickets and remain commercially attractive.

Willock could be the next Messi but because his name has been around for a while and he isn't coming in under a fanfare, he's expendable. They'll put the funds towards someone they can build a load of PR noise around and who might ultimately be worse than Willock but for a while at least, the sponsors and fans will be happy.

[Guest HTT II]

15 minutes ago, Rafalove said:

How?

If he doesn’t fit in at Arsenal how they want to play, he isn’t going to fit in at Liverpool who have even less ‘room’ for a box to box goalscoring attacking midfielder…

[Tiresias]

I understand he doesn't pass enough for arsenal but disagree about arsenal pressing high. They have sometimes but they also say quite deep at others. Aubemayang and pepe aren't suited to that game either

[Rafalove]

They don’t play the same way though. We’ve seen from the stats, that Willock pressures the ball very well when not in possession. Which is al OST the most Important part of Klops team. They don’t necessarily need someone who can keep the ball ticking, with all the crosses they put I. The box Willock would be in his element.

[RS]

Over the line yet?

[Kanji]

His high pressing was actually fantastic last season, he's very good at nicking the ball and using his strength to gain possession and pace to carry. I think he's not one of those super intricate passers that Arsenal for some reason has hard-ons over. He's also not some big name signing. Calling him half a season wonder is OK, but it's literally the only time he's been given a chance to shine and he took it. 

 

Like said before, we should be signing 15-25m players each window to upgrade the team. But we also go free, cheap, or loan. 

[GWN]

9 hours ago, thomas said:

It's not like we were on the cusp of a fan revolt and this signing sets it back 2 years or anything People that were going were going, people that were staying away were staying away. this doesn't sway any significant numbers imo

im not saying it was , however the general mood was awful, now it’s all good again and more forgiving if we have 3 or 4 early defeats , had Willock not  signed the atmosphere would soon be toxic , it won’t be now .

 

the numbers I agree wouldn’t change , our fan base can’t stay away in numbers to hurt , a fact , whatever.