I felt he would do well this season as he has all the skills in his repertoire but his decision making and composure is as shocking as the size of his forehead (and my head...which is hollow!). Is there not a way we can drill a football brain into such players as we have done so with our defence via bould or is it unrealistic.? For the timebeing I would start oxo or even Walcott over him tbh though I'm willing to give him time. On another note don't mean to jinx the guy but though Ramsey was pretty good and deserved an assit but should still be used sparingly for the time being while both full backs were magnificent as was per. Tbh I think city fans ought to be relieved with that point.
To be fair, he's been played in a few different roles so far this season, and he's going to have to adapt to them, I think he still requires a bit more time to actually get into a consistent run. But I agree that his composure and decision making can be some what, erratic, at times.
Gerv is definitely an enigma. I would defnitely NOT start Oxo over him. Oxo is still young and needs time to develop. I don't want to throw him into the deep end like we did with Theo.. look at what has happened to the latter's career. Gerv makes great mazing runs and has good timing, especially when he's playing as a false no.9 but his clinicalness leaves so much to be desired. When he was 1 on 1 during the first half, it should've been 1-0. A lack of composure is his problem. He also had a chance to win it near the end of the game. I have more faith in Gerv than Walcott. This is only his second season. He will come good once he learns how to compose himself.
I definitely wouldn't start Walcott ahead of him. You mention footballing brain but Walcott doesn't have one either and ability-wise I rate Gervinho far more highly. Walcott is pretty poor at dribbling in close quarter spaces and is just shocking at crossing. Though I do agree that Oxo should be given more chances to start.
That would've caused a super massive black hole. We must be looking at two different players. Well Gerv can make the wrong decision at times, there are so many instances where I've been screaming at Walcott for making the wrong pass, a poor cross, not shooting etc. And yes, Walcott can finish but he's too inconsistent. He's not a natural winger and I would like to see him play down the middle soon. He has the pace. I hope he does get to play as CF against Coventry this Wednesday.
If Gervinho had an end product, he would be one of the world's elite players. The ease with which he beats defenders is almost frightening, but he rarely uses that ability to it;s full potential.
hmmmm if only we could merge Gervinho & Walcott. Gervinho - With his Dribbling Skills and his abilty to beat a man. Walcott - With his excellent finishing. Only thing missing would be that they are both crap with the final ball.
It's completely understandable that fans get frustrated with gervinho, as was i yesterday on a number of occasions, but he has so much ability and pace and can ghost past defenders with ease, but he does need to have a stronger mentality and focus. If he misses a shot it seems to set the tone for the whole match and defenders can play up on that, when he's good he's the best there is but he needs to be at that level all the time, tbh i think he played better yesterday than he did against montpellier but against montpellier he scored, so it shows you just how important goals are. I am in no doubt that it will click very soon but he does need to stay cooler in front of goal and look at cazorla and diaby in training and analyse how they operate with the ball under pressure.
Look, enough of this beating around the bush...the answer is simple. We kill Gervinho. We go to his house and we simply burn him out and shoot him. Who's with me?
I still am not convinced - think he has brilliant control and dribbling abilityy but he has no mental composure/finishing ability. Look at the 3 goals he scored 2 were tap ins (the one against Mont he smacked against the keeper). Even the one against Southampton i think he just belted it and hoped very different to say Podolski who seems to have an idea every time he is near the goal. Honestly I think we should be rotating between Walcott and gervinho - Walcott to play against all the big teams who don't sit back or away games to smaller teams. The teams that sit back or at Emirates we should play gervinho.
That composure is the last thing to gel for a striker. I don't know that he is a "Bad" finisher, it almost seems as if he scores or if he doesn't he makes a horrible mess of it. From an effectiveness point of view, if he made better efforts on the ones he missed, but still didn't put the ball away, we might let him off, but it wouldn't make much difference. Nobody says Aguero is a crap finisher, and he missed a howler during the game as well, but because he dribbled it wide of the post in a semi decent effort, he gets a pass from all the insults. Gervinho doesn't have a bad scoring record for someone learning a striker's role, so let him be. He could turn out to be another Henry, and you will look bloody stupid if you have slagged him off.
Well first off Aguero has been a consistently good finisher since he got into the Madrid Team when he was 18 to today one howler doesn't change that so your example is redundant. A body of evidence is what you use and since he has joined us he has lacked composure (over running the ball)/finishing (more than a few howlers). Also because he misses by a country mile or scores it implies more than not he is just smahing it with no thought of placement in relation to where opposing players are which again implying a lack of composure. Not saying he can't develop it and I didn't SLAG him off or demand that he be dropped just said where I see his faults are and that so far I am not convinced. He didn't have a bad scoring record at Lille but it has been pretty weak since he joined us. In fact compared to Walcott (who in another thread you said has blown it) his record his medicore I really feel Walcott should be starting more (ahead of OXO as well) when the opposition is considered. For example are games so far I would say Walcott should have started against City, Liverpool and Chelsea on the weekend. While Gervinho should have started against Sunderland, Stoke and Southampton unless one displays exceptional form rotation is the key. P.S. Even if he does turn out to be the next Henry how would I look like a fool? To be anything close to Henry he would have to dramatically improve both his composure and finishing (faults I have pointed out) and if he does rather than look stupid I expect he should ask me to be his life coach.
I'm not saying you did slag him off, hold yer horses. Not sure I quite follow all your logic there but Ok, just sayin, at 25, it is still early days for a striker. I am given to believe RVP is the best striker in the world right now and he was crap at 25.
errrrr.... On a side note note saying he isn't going to improve just saying where I think he is failing.
