Zelalem

[cumnockbear 2,446]

I don't rate the boy at all, loses possession too much, 9/10 of his passes get intercepted, roll on the Summer to send him back to his parent club.

[Blackandra 732]

Personally, I thought he played well today. 

[tannerall 25,935]

Just now, cumnockbear said:

I don't rate the boy at all, loses possession too much, 9/10 of his passes get intercepted, roll on the Summer to send him back to his parent club.

Rubbish 90 % of his passes reach a blue shirt, it's just that very few are very forward or penetrating that frustrates me at this stage. 

[cumnockbear 2,446]

Just now, tannerall said:

Rubbish 90 % of his passes reach a blue shirt, it's just that very few are very forward or penetrating that frustrates me at this stage. 

Rubbish nothing, his passing is shite.

[TheBluebells 6,898]

I only seen the first half but i thought he looked good, few good pieces of play and held the ball well.

Im usually one for thinking he isn't great but thought he played well from what i seen today.

[ready1873 3,869]

He's a tidy wee player and I can see why he's so highly rated but Scottish football is too quick for him.

He would prosper in Europe, ala Jeremy Clement.

Ideal for the Portugese sides like Porto and Sporting.

[BlueSuedeSambas 53,701]

Played better than Halliday did today.

[OlegKuznetsov 10,816]

9 minutes ago, tannerall said:

Law was superb at this until the latter stages of last season when pushing forward from midfield. 

I think he's being pressed more than last season, so there's not enough time to get as good a shot away.

A lot of his goals were scored when breaking with just one man in front of him. With us getting to the byline and rarely driving in a cross, defenders aren't guarding the six yard line so much and press out by the time Law gets the ball in a shooting position, thus adding to the midfielder marking him.

I thought Zelalem was beginning to look like you could be a contributing part of the team in the first half, but then he got all frustrating with his passing and losing the ball. I think he loses concentration too much and doesn't see the defender tracking him or that the pass he'd spotted a second ago is now off. He seems to think that other players aren't as alert as him, but actually he's quite weak in that area too.

The fans have been quite patient with him, and give him loads of encouragement when he tracks back and gets stuck in. I think he needs to concentrate more and focus on his awareness.

 

[Rambo1872 4,065]

I just don't understand why he can't take a shot when he clearly has an opportunity. Fucking frustrates the life out of me and a lot of fans. I could see it today a few players were apprehensive to pass it to him when they had the chance and opted for another player. I want to see him play well and i still support him at matches but seriously fuckin pissed me off today with not taking chances and only making 3 tackles the whole time he was on.

Sure there will be someone along to defend him and say he is young etc, but Holt would have been a much better starter for the 11 today. 

[jbm26896 995]

Thought he played well today 

[1NachoNovo 840]

34 minutes ago, McKissock said:

This whole shooting from outside the box criticism he seems to get baffles me. Halliday seems to be a better striker of the ball from range than Zelalem and yet his conversion rate is pretty low. Do people just assume you can bury shots in the top corner from outside the box no bother?

When defending with men behind the ball teams are content to let players shoot from 20-25 yards+, because it actually isn't easy to score from range.

We'll never know with Zelalem, coz he's never tried it. Halliday might very well be a better a better striker of the ball (we won't know until Zelalem tries), but Zelalem creates the opportunities more than Halliday, but does nothing. The fact that Halliday scores from outside the box (occasionally) is coz he tries. You don't win the raffle if you don't buy a ticket.

[Rambo1872 4,065]

Zelalems maw has obviously created a few accounts on here and has been defending him with the constant sticking up for him. Personal opinion is he doesn't justify his start in the squad.

[The Dude 20,026]

44 minutes ago, Briton said:

 

Why would we want to get a player unless he has an immediate impact on the team?  That's the only loans needs we need.  We may be in the Scottish Championship but we shouldn't be anybody's nursery club.  

Better quality player at lower wages than he's command if bought, higher standard of player available to us on loan further down the line, who knows there might be a point down the line where Zelalem (for example) could get let go by Arsenal and due to his experience here on loan is much more open to a move here than he perhap would be had we never had him on loan.

[The Dude 20,026]

38 minutes ago, cumnockbear said:

I don't rate the boy at all, loses possession too much, 9/10 of his passes get intercepted, roll on the Summer to send him back to his parent club.

The why, in this brave new world of statistical analysis being part of players preparation, does he keep getting game time? 

[The Dude 20,026]

46 minutes ago, Briton said:

Not everybody scores goals, some very good midfielders hardly ever get on the score sheet.  

Not comparing him, but Sergi Busquets has scored 13 goals in 400 games. Busquets is imo the best central midfielder on the planet.

[Dietspam 733]

I thought he done not to bad today

[Reformation Bear 6,453]

Playing him feels more and more like a bit of an experiment - partly on a personal level to let him develop as a player for Arsenal's eventual benefit and partly to see if he can produce enough moments in games to make a decisive contribution to our winning the game. 

Which is fine for the portion of the season now (imo) largely behind us when the league leadership is being established.   But at this point and until the end of the season I don't think it would be right to risk Rangers' immediate future with too much of a gamble on Zelalem.   He's not scored yet and doesn't look like doing so anytime soon - so opposition defences know he's harmless as a goal scorer.   With no out and out striker proven experienced goal scorer signed in the Jan transfer window and therefore relying on the creative mix of those playing 7.8.10 and 11 plus contributions from full-backs and the goals from Holt and Halliday, Zelalem does not add to our goal scoring capability.   

As for goal creation - does he really create that many assists to justify a starting place over Law or Shiels?   I'm not convinced.  

Does he have the mindset, strength and experience to lift his game to help the team win the remaining games they need to win to finish as champions?   I'm not convinced he does -- which (for me) makes it more and more of a gamble to have him as a regular first choice in the starting line up.  

With BK and MOH to be slotted in somewhere I wonder if it would be more effective to have Miller drop back into the role Zelalem plays (or start with Law).    MW recognised he needed experience and 'physicality' to be added.    I don't think we added much by way of either.   Maybe in the run up it may be that more reliance should be put on experience than on as yet not totally convincing gambles on a young - still learning - player.  

The season is far too important to lean too much towards providing a development platform for a future Arsenal star.     But if the lad could suddenly start adding goals to his locker then it might be a very different matter.

[MasterD 7,435]

He's neat and tidy at times but never has any urgency to his play and as a result our overall play becomes slow and it allows the other team to get back into positions and set their stall.

 

Wasn't helped today with Halliday being invisible.

[blueretro 704]

I thought he had one of his better games today.

[The Dude 20,026]

All this stuff about developing him for Arsenal's gain, should we never play Law again since he's for the off this summer? 

[OlegKuznetsov 10,816]

2 minutes ago, blueretro said:

I thought he had one of his better games today.

He did. That's the problem.

[Bakbear 3,580]

3 minutes ago, The Dude said:

All this stuff about developing him for Arsenal's gain, should we never play Law again since he's for the off this summer? 

If Law is indeed for the off then that will be because MW has decided he has not earned a new contract, also (in my opinion) Law offers us more currently. So if thats the case why would we play a player who offers something less in order to develop his potential when there is very little likelihood that we will see the benefit long term.

I just think Zelalem upsets the tempo and balance in our midfield and as such shouldn't be starting irrespective of his individual potential. If he was clearly more effective, in the present, than what we have then its worth having him but I don't see it.... 

[Briton 394]

 

4 minutes ago, The Dude said:

All this stuff about developing him for Arsenal's gain, should we never play Law again since he's for the off this summer? 

We shouldn't play Law if he doesn't warrant a place in the team. Same for the Arsenal player.  All that matters is his current ability, his potential is meaningless.  Unless we've got him for next season I guess.

[ForeverAndEver 71,347]

19 minutes ago, M0NTY said:

Zelalems maw has obviously created a few accounts on here and has been defending him with the constant sticking up for him. Personal opinion is he doesn't justify his start in the squad.

A see patter isny your strong point.

[The Dude 20,026]

2 minutes ago, Briton said:

 

We shouldn't play Law if he doesn't warrant a place in the team. Same for the Arsenal player.  All that matters is his current ability, his potential is meaningless.  Unless we've got him for next season I guess.

There's much more to it with loan players than that. Say next season we want someone on loan from Arsenal, do you think we'd get him if the last guy spent the whole season spent his loan spell sat on his arse in the dugout?