Will Arsenal be happy sending him to us to be a squad player, as no way would Smith be part of our first choice midfield 4 at the moment, which presumably is Millar, JFC, Pratley and Shinnie, with Morgan, Watson and Gilbey all in the wings
Plenty of football to be played and with Smyth gone, it still only leaves us with one winger. Williams been playing there too so if he goes I definitely think we need a wide man. Or is he a CM?
From the customary you tube clip above he’s a CM not a wide man.
Will Arsenal be happy sending him to us to be a squad player, as no way would Smith be part of our first choice midfield 4 at the moment, which presumably is Millar, JFC, Pratley and Shinnie, with Morgan, Watson and Gilbey all in the wings
Plenty of football to be played and with Smyth gone, it still only leaves us with one winger. Williams been playing there too so if he goes I definitely think we need a wide man. Or is he a CM?
From the customary you tube clip above he’s a CM not a wide man.
In that case I agree with Killer and would go further and say it's pointless. I think we need to be looking at a winger to replace Williams.
1) It's another loan, which is hardly building for the future 2) It's another passing midfielder. Looking at his bio on the Arsenal website, it says Matthew typically looks to operate as a deep-lying playmaker, tasked with controlling the tempo of games and picking out runners in the final third, which surely is similar to the roles of Shinnie and Morgan already, and similar to Levitt who Bowyer never played! Or the likes of Henry and Vennings in our academy
And while he might have played well for Swindon this season, he's hardly been a stand out player in L1 this season, That John Sheridan is prepared to give him up, so that he can bring in a loan player in another position, doesn't suggest he's a key player for them.
Reading up on him there is absolutely no chance of us signing him on a perm in the summer, I would also guess that arsenal would want to try and find a championship club for him next season?
Will Arsenal be happy sending him to us to be a squad player, as no way would Smith be part of our first choice midfield 4 at the moment, which presumably is Millar, JFC, Pratley and Shinnie, with Morgan, Watson and Gilbey all in the wings
Plenty of football to be played and with Smyth gone, it still only leaves us with one winger. Williams been playing there too so if he goes I definitely think we need a wide man. Or is he a CM?
From the customary you tube clip above he’s a CM not a wide man.
In that case I agree with Killer and would go further and say it's pointless. I think we need to be looking at a winger to replace Williams.
Wouldn’t disagree with that if Smyth is followed out the door by Williams although Bowyer, I think said earlier that he wanted a box to box midfielder so maybe a wide man will also be signed 🤷♂️.
Must be about 20 and assume not in with a sniff at Arsenal. Maybe we loan him to season end then buy in the summer if he is decent. Many "highly rated" kids don't end up making it at the big clubs.
Seems to have done well at a club in our division. Welcome addition if he arrives.
Will Arsenal be happy sending him to us to be a squad player, as no way would Smith be part of our first choice midfield 4 at the moment, which presumably is Millar, JFC, Pratley and Shinnie, with Morgan, Watson and Gilbey all in the wings
Plenty of football to be played and with Smyth gone, it still only leaves us with one winger. Williams been playing there too so if he goes I definitely think we need a wide man. Or is he a CM?
From the customary you tube clip above he’s a CM not a wide man.
In that case I agree with Killer and would go further and say it's pointless. I think we need to be looking at a winger to replace Williams.
Wouldn’t disagree with that if Smyth is followed out the door by Williams although Bowyer, I think said earlier that he wanted a box to box midfielder so maybe a wide man will also be signed 🤷♂️.
Just seems a waste to me. I think Shinnie, Gilbey, Morgan and JFC are all sort of box to box midfielders. I think very few of us look at our squad and see a CM as being a priority. If we can afford to sign two a CB has to be second on the list.
Will Arsenal be happy sending him to us to be a squad player, as no way would Smith be part of our first choice midfield 4 at the moment, which presumably is Millar, JFC, Pratley and Shinnie, with Morgan, Watson and Gilbey all in the wings
Plenty of football to be played and with Smyth gone, it still only leaves us with one winger. Williams been playing there too so if he goes I definitely think we need a wide man. Or is he a CM?
From the customary you tube clip above he’s a CM not a wide man.
In that case I agree with Killer and would go further and say it's pointless. I think we need to be looking at a winger to replace Williams.
Wouldn’t disagree with that if Smyth is followed out the door by Williams although Bowyer, I think said earlier that he wanted a box to box midfielder so maybe a wide man will also be signed 🤷♂️.
Just seems a waste to me. I think Shinnie, Gilbey, Morgan and JFC are all sort of box to box midfielders. I think very few of us look at our squad and see a CM as being a priority. If we can afford to sign two a CB has to be second on the list.
Personally I don’t feel we have replaced Cullen. Not saying Smith will do this but Bows definitely wanted another cm. We need more mobility there.
If there's one thing we don't get often it's great build up play to our strikers through the middle. With the possible exception of Shinnie, none of our midfielders seem capable of picking a defence-splitting pass like the one linked above for Swindon. Morgan and Gilbey are work horses, JFC is very solid but likes to spray left-to-right, if Smith can pick a sweet pass and give Stockley/Schwartz something to run onto, I'm all for it.
If there's one thing we don't get often it's great build up play to our strikers through the middle. With the possible exception of Shinnie, none of our midfielders seem capable of picking a defence-splitting pass like the one linked above for Swindon. Morgan and Gilbey are work horses, JFC is very solid but likes to spray left-to-right, if Smith can pick a sweet pass and give Stockley/Schwartz something to run onto, I'm all for it.
Morgan did about 3 of them when he came on against Swindon, including the chance Washington missed
Not sure where the idea has come from that Smith would be a replacement for Williams anyway, if we are actually going to be signing this guy on loan it can't be ruled out yet that there'll be further outgoings, and we're just lining up our replacements before we let them leave
Will Arsenal be happy sending him to us to be a squad player, as no way would Smith be part of our first choice midfield 4 at the moment, which presumably is Millar, JFC, Pratley and Shinnie, with Morgan, Watson and Gilbey all in the wings
Plenty of football to be played and with Smyth gone, it still only leaves us with one winger. Williams been playing there too so if he goes I definitely think we need a wide man. Or is he a CM?
From the customary you tube clip above he’s a CM not a wide man.
In that case I agree with Killer and would go further and say it's pointless. I think we need to be looking at a winger to replace Williams.
Wouldn’t disagree with that if Smyth is followed out the door by Williams although Bowyer, I think said earlier that he wanted a box to box midfielder so maybe a wide man will also be signed 🤷♂️.
Just seems a waste to me. I think Shinnie, Gilbey, Morgan and JFC are all sort of box to box midfielders. I think very few of us look at our squad and see a CM as being a priority. If we can afford to sign two a CB has to be second on the list.
Personally I don’t feel we have replaced Cullen. Not saying Smith will do this but Bows definitely wanted another cm. We need more mobility there.
In an ideal world, I'd sign a No 2 keeper and allow AMB to get some game time, sign a CB, a mobile CM like you say, a winger and a striker with pace. The problem is we have a salary cap and need to prioritise.
1) It's another loan, which is hardly building for the future 2) It's another passing midfielder. Looking at his bio on the Arsenal website, it says Matthew typically looks to operate as a deep-lying playmaker, tasked with controlling the tempo of games and picking out runners in the final third, which surely is similar to the roles of Shinnie and Morgan already, and similar to Levitt who Bowyer never played! Or the likes of Henry and Vennings in our academy
And while he might have played well for Swindon this season, he's hardly been a stand out player in L1 this season, That John Sheridan is prepared to give him up, so that he can bring in a loan player in another position, doesn't suggest he's a key player for them.
I'd say that's a different type of player to Shinnie and Morgan. In the 4-4-2 we're now playing one of them will play on the right and get forward, link up with an overlapping right back and look to get goals and assists.
If Smith is capable defensively and not just a passer then he could be an improvement over Pratley/Watson in that holding role.
I'd be staggered if a 20 year old on loan to L1 who can pick out a brilliant pass was better defensively than Pratley or Watson (or indeed JFC).
Will Arsenal be happy sending him to us to be a squad player, as no way would Smith be part of our first choice midfield 4 at the moment, which presumably is Millar, JFC, Pratley and Shinnie, with Morgan, Watson and Gilbey all in the wings
Plenty of football to be played and with Smyth gone, it still only leaves us with one winger. Williams been playing there too so if he goes I definitely think we need a wide man. Or is he a CM?
From the customary you tube clip above he’s a CM not a wide man.
In that case I agree with Killer and would go further and say it's pointless. I think we need to be looking at a winger to replace Williams.
Wouldn’t disagree with that if Smyth is followed out the door by Williams although Bowyer, I think said earlier that he wanted a box to box midfielder so maybe a wide man will also be signed 🤷♂️.
Just seems a waste to me. I think Shinnie, Gilbey, Morgan and JFC are all sort of box to box midfielders. I think very few of us look at our squad and see a CM as being a priority. If we can afford to sign two a CB has to be second on the list.
Personally I don’t feel we have replaced Cullen. Not saying Smith will do this but Bows definitely wanted another cm. We need more mobility there.
In an ideal world, I'd sign a No 2 keeper and allow AMB to get some game time, sign a CB, a mobile CM like you say, a winger and a striker with pace. The problem is we have a salary cap and need to prioritise.
I’m not sure we’ll get a keeper but I think we’ll sign 3 players tomorrow. After I saw that Valley Pass clip of Gallen a week ago talking about how he was looking at a number of positions I feel we’ll be busy tomorrow. I wouldn’t rule out more exits in addition to Williams either.
1) It's another loan, which is hardly building for the future 2) It's another passing midfielder. Looking at his bio on the Arsenal website, it says Matthew typically looks to operate as a deep-lying playmaker, tasked with controlling the tempo of games and picking out runners in the final third, which surely is similar to the roles of Shinnie and Morgan already, and similar to Levitt who Bowyer never played! Or the likes of Henry and Vennings in our academy
And while he might have played well for Swindon this season, he's hardly been a stand out player in L1 this season, That John Sheridan is prepared to give him up, so that he can bring in a loan player in another position, doesn't suggest he's a key player for them.
I'd say that's a different type of player to Shinnie and Morgan. In the 4-4-2 we're now playing one of them will play on the right and get forward, link up with an overlapping right back and look to get goals and assists.
If Smith is capable defensively and not just a passer then he could be an improvement over Pratley/Watson in that holding role.
I'd be staggered if a 20 year old on loan to L1 who can pick out a brilliant pass was better defensively than Pratley or Watson (or indeed JFC).
Arsenal doing to Swindon what Chelsea did to us with Gallagher?
Doesn’t sit well with me for that reason. If you are on a season long loan that’s what it should be. If the parent club wants to recall you and loan you out again then it should only be allowed to a club in a higher league.
Not sure about letting Williams go. He has his flaws but I think he’s a good player in a decent team, just maybe not someone that turns an average team into a good one single handedly. He can carry the ball, is positive in possession, links midfield and attack, and wins free kicks which can be very useful if you’re trying to kill a game. Fitness is a frustration, for sure, but I think his contribution goes beyond his statistics for goals/assists, which do look sub par at face value. I also see him as being the closest we have to a backup to Millar, although he doesn’t have that raw pace. I hope we are signing a winger if he goes.
Another centre mid doesn’t feel like a priority, but we’re an injury to JFC away from having a big box to box type hole in it. Gilbey has been a bigger disappointment than Bogle or Maddison in my opinion, and Albie has improved his work rate but he’s still a bit naive defensively sometimes and certainly has been inconsistent.
In and ideal world we be signing a couple tomorrow with no departures but the salary cap leaves in a non-ideal world, unfortunately.
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Here you go; https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DzSDOsCYhck
Seems to have done well at a club in our division. Welcome addition if he arrives.
Edit: Video blocked on this website - you need to click the you tube link in the black box to see it.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=tzO-M0xiR8A
We need a centre back.
It works fine then.
We'll have to get our skates on, then.
In and ideal world we be signing a couple tomorrow with no departures but the salary cap leaves in a non-ideal world, unfortunately.