₦airaland Forum

charlesemeka85:
Mason Mount to Manchester United is a AGREED - Chelsea accepted bid of 55+5m. Mount is LEAVING. (@David_Ornstein)

Omo, Una sure say Chelsea ningi relegate this coming season?

Roland17:
Don't misconstrue this debate baba. No one expects Arteta to start or play these kids in the EPL but there is no reason why they shouldn't see minutes in cup competitions or in Europa when group stage qualification was guaranteed. We played many of our starters unnecessary minutes in competitions outside of the EPL and knockout stages of the Europa last season.

I understand bro. Make we dey look am.

BlueRayDick:
U should read the post u quoted very well and try to understand what it says .

Here is what Gary Neville says about his form for England vs Man Utd

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/neville-maguire-manchester-united-england-25640166.amp

Lol.... bring me words from a better pundit abeg. Gary Neville?


Maguire is decent in England colours but never as good as White. I remember vividly how there was an uproar when Southgate omitted White from his squad last year.


And in your word, Saying White is very good at CB for arsenal is just ur way of overhyping him. So who is underrating who?

iamoyindamola:
No offense to arteta but if he remains our manager for a long time our academy will die

Bro...when you want to win, you gotta sacrifice some things.

Aside Foden and maybe Rico, which other academy player has Pep promoted so far?


Yearly, Chelsea academy player wey dey go on loan may reach 30 sef

If buying players is what Arteta thinks will work, make Dem dey buy them abeg.

germaphobe:
Going back to mostob.. question that brought up this argument, I think I will follow the path of mostob.., truly in the current arsenal team, among the players he mentioned, na saliba I fit rest with hope that his deputy in the person of white would deliver.

Thank you. I even thought my statement was ambiguous. Looking at it clearly, those who oppose that point are looking it from ball-playing point of view whereas I'm talking about sauad depth.

Roland17:
I am already worried about the future of our academy players and their ability to transition into the first team. This fear kept be checking on E. Nwaneri's contract situation and today, he signed his pro deal and committed to Arsenal. Nwaneri was courted heavily by Chelsea and City but I am glad he chose to continue with Arsenal. Nwaneri is pure talent with good prospects.
#COYG

Norton-cuffy and Patino are young players I'm also worried would get underutilized. Even if na Carling cup, make we try them.

BlueRayDick:
The bold is cap . Maguire was always in good form when in England shirt up until this last season.

Saying White is very good at CB for arsenal is just ur way of overhyping him.

Tell us you don turn this argument into sarcasm bro. The same Maguire?

ObaIgwe1:
I am surprised to read many of these posts underrating White...Honestly.

Apart from the 1st 2 matches during his 1st season when the team was yet to stabilize, I cannot remember anyone blaming White for underperforming in any of the matches he played for us till date. C'mon guys, Tomi, White , Gabriel and Tierney brought stability to our defense that season till injuries came calling on many of them.

I mean almost everyone in England blamed Southgate for not using White while parading Harry Maguire, because he is that good.

At the time we got White, only few will even think Saliba can bench him. Saliba improved the season Arteta sent him back on loan, thanks to Henry's advice to him; to use the season to make a case for himself.

If the options is to bench one and use one between Saliba and White, though I will pick Saliba in his current form ahead of White, I am not sure Arteta will and if Arteta pick White ahead of Saliba, I will not worry too much or feel bad...cos White is also very good!

PS: Who were the better defenders at Brighton when we bought White for 50M? Cucurella that was bought for 63M or who?

Oil dey your head bro...
Now tell me how you would feel with Turner and Kiwior in the squad replacing Ramsdale and Gabriel respectively.

This calmness wey una dey attribute to Saliba anyhow, Partey plays a great role sef.

BlueRayDick:
He's living in self denial ni jare...... From the onset he never rated Saliba as shown in the attached screenshot.

At least if he doesn't rate him back then when Saliba was work-in-progress he should at least appreciate how far he has come. We have people who didn't really fancy Gabriel here from the onset but today they appreciate the player he has become

So that means you don't rate White too based on the screenshots you went to dig up earlier.


That you went up to dig a year-old post shows you have nothing else to counter my post.

Moreso, that post was in reaction to the news that Saliba wanted a guaranteed starting shirt before coming back to arsenal. An intelligent observant would have brilliantly interpreted that post as me telling Saliba to come and fight for his shirt.

What else?

Spy360:
May be you needed to rephrase your question to who are guaranteed first eleven shirt with little competition. That is players whose backups cannot usurp their positions.

Ramsdale, Saliba, Gabriel, Odegaard, Saka.

Settled.

Nothing else to rephrase bro... They knew and understand what I'm talking about. It is just that some are too deep into the fanboyism that they don't see the bigger picture.

Shegzdave:
Are you sure about this??

Did you remember our defense line was the second best after Newcastle before Saliba went on injury, now check the difference with the loose goals Holding made us conceded just after Saliba went on injury and the our defense line after that, making Gabriel work too much for him in the defense line.

And you said Saliba isn’t important as the rest you mentioned?

Something worse would happen without Gabriel too even while playing Saliba. We slumped because we don't have a capable replacement. I don't think we would have been worse had it been Tomi was available. simple!

Saka was our X-factor at the final third. Who do you think would have replaced him?


Don't even get me started with Turner and Rammy.


Gabriel is as important as Saliba.

Spy360:
I don't think anyone is arguing that Saliba is better than White. The question Mostob is asking is if you were to risk a player among the four considering the quality of their backups who would it be?

Saka -Nelson
Gabriel -Kiwior
Ramsdale - Turner
Saliba - White

I think it would be Saliba all things being equal. Hence he is least untouchable. The most untouchable is Saka. It's like going from Porcshe to Camry.

As simple as this!!!
I don't really know why they turn everything to White vs Saliba. We're not even saying White should or can bench Saliba. Going by his first season, he is more than capable to deputise Saliba whenever the latter is absent. Finito

Jodera:
Lol... How do I put it? Lemme see

White Is not a 50m defender ... Agreed

White wasn't what we needed since we have Saliba... Agreed

White probably wasn't Brighton best defender... Agreed

But we signed him so we have to move forward;

So the question I'm asking are:

1.. As a whole of his First season, Was he Very Average?(Ignore the 50m we spent on him or whether we needed him and look at solely his performance at the 2021/22 season). Was it an average performance?

2.. During Saliba's injury, would we have felt Saliba's absence much if White Is to stand in during Saliba's injury while Tomi played RB towards the deciding fixtures last season?

This are the two pertinent questions I'm asking that needs answers and I would love to hear your (and other arsenal) thoughts on these

NB: Blueray.dick said "YES" to the first question while "No" to the second question, While me and Mostob was a "No" and "YES" respectively.

You just buttress my point the more. White is not an average defender. If Arteta want to rest Saliba, he would do so without much tension. This is why I think he is benchable when required. Another example is Martinelli. With Trossard, we are covered so Martinelli too is benchable. Now compared this to the like of Gabby, Ramsdale and Saka. That's what I'm trying to say since.

Roland17:
Lets be clear, White playing RB exposed us a lot and limited us offensively. Again, the reason White is benching Tomiyasu is because he plays better to Arteta's instruction and he is always available. This is why I have advocated for him to return to the CB role and compete for a place. Is he a good player? yes but don't hype him to be the 2nd coming of Lillian Thuram in his prime.

All these false narratives are just to discredit White no doubt. White expose us?

Why do you think Zinchenko has the freedom to roam the Midfield? Do you think we would be able to maintain our defensive shape with a RB like Cedric?


The few times White ventured forward last season, he was excellent.


If you people wan discredit White because of Saliba, make una do so with full chest.

BlueRayDick:
Which still doesn't dispute the fact that Saliba is one of the unbenchables

That's your opinion sha. People who understands how team rotation works will understand my point better.

finito

germaphobe:
in the shot u digged up, mos.. wasn't talking about white alone but rammy too, now uncle raydick do you think rammy was average too in his first season?. White wasn't as bad as you guys are trying to paint him during his first season , yes his first two matches was shiit, especially his first match but then so was the whole team. Arsenal fans didn't like the signing of both white and ramsdale even before the officially kicked a ball as arsenal players just because of their ex clubs and also money involved in their deals which many including I myself thought was too high for them. He came under heavy attacks both from pundits and fans during his early days but gradually grew into the team. I remember going from "nawah for dis Ben white" to "fine play there better baller" during his first season... But then what do I know......

Apt! God bless you bro.
Saliba has made us forget how good White was then.

BlueRayDick:
This same white? Humour me bro

You want us to start with Saliba's own. Off the top of my head, I remember Saliba catching the ball with his hands inside the box against Leeds.

What of the way he gave away the ball under no pressure against same opponent?

Do you want us to compile the list?

See ehn, Players have off days when nothing just work for them. Moreso, not many of us here really like White because of the transfer fee so that plays a part too.

Do you also want us to compare the team structure, midfield setup and others too?

Jodera:
Lol, for now, I agree.

Make any worthy deputy come, wey Arteta like, all these players go turn untouchable!

Partey don teach me lesson

He needs to start trusting these guys before Dem go rust. I think players like Kiwior, Nelson, and the new signings should be heavily involved in pre season.

BlueRayDick:
U are not asking the right question. I've already stated it that all 4 of them are as important as each other. None of their backups can give us what they can give us on the pitch.

So the moment u bring in Nelson for Saka u know it's a downgrade, the moment u bring in Turner it's a downgrade to Ramsadale, Holding or White is a downgrade to Saliba and Kiwior is a downgrade to Gabriel.

NB: All of this is based on their form last season which was our best season in a very long time.

Thank you. But downgrade pass downgrade. I think the reason you're reacting like this is because Saliba has been so good that many of us forgot how good White can be.

BlueRayDick:
We are talking of a white who was bought for 50 million and didn't live up to expectations until Arteta decided to deploy him to RB. U are sure not comparing him with the Saliba we watched last season who made most sports pundits and news organizations team of the season.

Na wa o

You're twisting this thing man. White didn't live up to expectations? Remind me how we bottled top four 2 seasons ago. He was as important as Saliba as at then. You don't need to pull down White.

Saliba is ahead of White, everybody knows that. In a case where Saliba needs a good rest due to fatigue or whatever, White is capable of filling in for him. Now Can you say the same about Kiwior, Turner and Nelson?

BlueRayDick:
U are the one not speaking with fact. The last time we had Saliba out injured, we all know how our season ended. Kiwior and Holding no reach one person.

Maybe u don't hate, but it's obvious u don't rate him like the rest of the fan Base and even our opponents do. A Chelsea fan even asked u if u think Saliba is a joke

You're just evading the main question I asked you.


I'm case of fatigue, who would you rather rest/bench among those I mentioned, considering the quality of their backups?

lovewins:
Tempo and Desire in the same sentence is an oxymoron sha. Desire has a lot of qualities but speed isn't one of them. She if course can hold up play and maybe score goals, but if we are playing high press, fast tempo games she's sure not the one to consider.

Again, I'll take Desire of yesteryears but from the stats available (averaging 5 goals for a whole season the last 6 years), it isn't out if place to play her from the bench. My opinion is open to change if my some miracle we get some test games before the competition and she dassels us.

I think he is referring to final third possession. Desire get more involved at the final third than any of our striker currently. In simple term, she is more active at the final third.

TheGoodJoe:
Which kind of talk is this?

How do you think De Zerbi got Brighton playing that way, or are you telling me that Brighton never won a game recently?

Do your research, the rondo philosophy is the building block of good possessive plays. Guardiola, Enrique, Xavi, Arteta, Ten Hag, Garrido, etc, are all in-depth with rondos.

Finito.

Xavi was good with playing Rondo as a player. As a coach, he has ditched the useless Rondo for a more direct football.

You're the only one still stucked with this Rondo and possessive football stuff. Football don move on bro.

TheGoodJoe:
Lol. He drifted a lot. You are not stating facts.

Ok

BlueRayDick:
Well, we all watched white fumble a couple of times in that RCB position when he arrived the first season. Even pundits applauded Arteta for finding a way to use him better other than the traditional RCB position he was bought for.

And there were times Saliba fumbled too. Which of our best players never fumble before?


Saliba is good, an integral part of the team. He is important in our buildup. But in case of fatigue, Arteta can afford to rest him because there is White.

Can you say the same for Gabriel, Saka and Rammy? That's the question you've not answered since.

BlueRayDick:
None of their backups are as good as the 4 of them listed up there. Just say u don't like Saliba or u don't rate him as high as almost every other person does.

That's the only thing that made u take him out of that list of unbenchable players.

Only a foolish coach will bench Saliba when he's fully fit from what we saw last season. In fact He performed better than Gabriel whom I actually like so so much and one of his biggest Stan here.

Oga, ditch this hate tactic you're bringing into the argument and argue with fact.



Saliba is the only one we can afford to rest out of those mentioned. And that is because he has a quality backup than the rest.

JohnBullMySon:
Esther has better technique both of them in ball control and accuracy.

Those are minor qualities as far as forwards are concerned.

BlueRayDick:
Even if white was put in to replace Saliba we would've slumped. There was nothing spectacular about White's first season at Arsenal to suggest he would've offered anything close to what Saliba offered us.

Lol...you never know bro. A lot of things contributed to our slump last season.

BlueRayDick:
Lmao.

White kor, black ni. The same white that played CB last two seasons when we signed him?

U boldly listed players than cannot be benched and u left out Saliba only for u to claim White is a decent replacement...... U sure say na the same Arsenal matches we dey watch ?

Do you ever envisaged Saliba benching White at the start of last season? Answer truthfully.

The fact is White is capable of replacing Saliba which means we can afford to rest Saliba in some games. I'm not disputing there may be a little change in quality.

However, can you say the same with Turner, Kiwior and Nelson/Vieira.

Even with the best outfield players and having Turner in-between the stick, tell me you won't be restless watching that match.

BlueRayDick:
If he's not as important as u claim, why did arsenal capitulate after Saliba was injured last season?

Why didn't we continue winning matches with Saka, Gabriel and Ramsdale on the pitch?

We both know Holding was not capable then. Imagine Tomi slotted to RB with White playing RCB, do you think we'd have slumped like we did?

Compare that to having Turner, Saliba, Kiwior and Nelson in the team.

Which do you think would be more devastating?

BlueRayDick:
Is Saliba a joke to u?

You're asked to bench one of Rammy, Gabby, Saka and Saliba and replace them with their backups. Once you make your option, you'd understand what I'm saying.