Robert Pires, swashbuckling d’Artagnan of Highbury’s flanks, believes that Alex Iwobi and Arsenal have a bright future together.
We’re inclined to agree. In a team that lacks natural wide men, the Nigeria international’s pace, power and dribbling ability has the potential to be a vital tool in Unai Emery’s armoury this season.
We’ve already seen flashes of his game-changing ability; the 22-year-old was impressive in his first start of the season against Chelsea – he scored and grabbed an assist – and on Saturday he came off the bench to inspire a late victory over Watford.
The upturn in form – something Iwobi attributes to Emery’s arrival – has Bobby purring about the player.
“I know just one thing, I told him after the game [against Watford] he made the difference,” Pires told the Evening Standard. “He’s a great player, very fast.
“He finds good solutions on the field with his vision. He has good mentality and spirit. Of course, he’s young but he’s learning very quickly.
“Arsenal with Alex Iwobi and Alex Iwobi with Arsenal have a good future.”
No doubt Iwobi will love hearing that from someone as special as Bobby, even if the Frenchman’s eternal optimism is in part tied to his free gym pass at London Colney.
As you’ll remember, Iwobi penned a new five-year contract in the summer and with Aaron Ramsey set to leave the club certainly has an opportunity to nail down more regular football. The ball is in his court…
He has to put his head down and avoid getting distracted by the happening around him or get his ego inflated
At least he’s concentrating on his footie, unlike some pansy Spaniard called Reflector Bellendrin with his long hair and silly open-mindedness. Prick.
@Arse City Blues, I got your sarcasm man dw haha
Just don’t let Him anywhere around the news to know what is going on in his Country. Then you ll get the best out of him.
Sure but putting one’s head down when dribbling is only going to end in a tackle.
I wish Bobby spoke about me like that..
*Idly twiddles hair*
Any chance that he will eventually end up in the middle or will he always be a wide attacker ? I’m really enjoying his upturn in form this season and agree that Ramsey’s departure will allow the likes of Iwobi and other youngsters to step up
Does he want to be a no. 10?
That’s if we all don’t agitate for a replacement from elsewhere.
If he keeps improving at a good rate, would we miss Ramsey? I think Ozil at 10 is far more balanced with Iwobi in midfield. I think it’s clear in this system that Ramsey is struggling to impact games this year. Could Emery be happy looking for a wide man to replace Ramsey and be glad for the squad space? In central mid we have plenty of options and he clearly favours Xhaka. With Guendouzi and Torreira central I think the door could be wide open to bring more balance in looking for wider playing men…
i would like a zaha
Ha ha.. free gym pass! By the end of this season, in the most-improved-under-Emery category, Iwobi might just come out top. Really excited to see how he progresses this season. He has all the attributes to be a top, top player for us, plus he has Arsenal DNA
Apart from the tidy touches fans just wanna see a player run with some intent, track back with some violence in their eyes and you become a hero! Thats honestly the just of it and iwobi has done just that, he’s going at defenders, he’s gliding without inviting the foul like what he’s doing isnt dangerous yet then next thing you know he’s pushed you back to your box and if you don’t make that challenge there he’s in! He’s also been putting in some sprints to track back and the other way closing defenders and the keeper. Thats all… Read more »
Alex has always been a firm favorite of mine, and with most young and developing player, there will be ups and downs in form, but the general trajectory should be upward, and i believe in his case, its been so, despite the dips. A lot has been said about fans giving him stick, self included, but in most cases its constructive and solely because we believe he is capable of so much more, and a kick up his back side from time to time from fans can only serve to motivate him better. I am glad he is getting back… Read more »
He lack’s quality with the final ball and unless that improves significantly he should be sold in the summer before he’s 100% confirmed not to be good enough. Get rid before we get stuck with him like we did with the likes of Walcott
Young academy product who is doing well this minute; is it not possible to be optimistic for a few short weeks at least?
Really man if being a fan of arsenal makes you this cynical, maybe you should reconsider your allegiance.
He’s been around the team long enough, played about 100 games and has now gone beyond the prospect stage.
As i said, he needs to improve his final ball which is atrocious otherwise he’ll stagnate alla Walcott. If he doesn’t he should be sold whilst other teams still see him as a prospect.
We have to stop this constant cycle of hanging on to youngsters waiting for them develop when in fact they’re just not good enough. This is the thinking that has got us into the mess we find ourselves in.
One tiny flaw in your anti Iwobi rant is that he is proving he is good enough and improving all the time
I’ve given my reasons, i.e his output in the final third isn’t good enough, and i’m yet to be convinced it’s improved.
His intensity has improved, which could be said of the whole team, but still not sold on his overall quality as coming on for the totally ineffective Ramsey will make anyone look good
I did make a post agreeing with you. Who knows, maybe it will be fetched from the aether one day.
I hate you
Relax guys. John C would be discontent even if we had Messi coming up Arsenal ranks.
No i wouldn’t
His pass for Auba’s goal in the Uefa cup was pretty good.
No it wasn’t that good, it was a yard too heavy and only because Auba’s very quick did he get it on the slide.
FFS John, if you’re fed up hoping that some young homegrown lad will eventually make the ranks and become regular then I don’t know how the fuck did you end up supporting Arsenal. Yes, Alex tends to keep his head down a bit to much before the final ball but his passing is way of of being atrocious. He’s never played constantly in any single position, so cut him some slack and wait for him to get used to a place on the field and, more importantly, for others to get used to his final pass. In my opinion he’s… Read more »
His passing in the final third is dreadful
Well he can dribble for one…So he’ll never be like Walcott
Well Walcott could score and assist, which he can’t. In fact if you moulded the 2 together you’d have a player, but individually they’re both not up to it.
John’s right. Iwobi needs to improve his passing and decision making, especially in and around the box, a lot. A hell of a lot actually. That’s not even looking at his shooting.
I liked how he changed the game, but he’s not a sure thing for me anyway.
I’m not his biggest fan, but based on our current lopsided front 4, both Iwobi and Welbeck have to be seriously pushing for a start.
He will be our mbappe ..
Off topic:
I’m struggling to make up my mind how long Mourinho should keep the job at ManU. It would be great to see them finish in the bottom half of the table like Chelsea did but a little worried that he might turn things around, although it looks highly unlikely.
I hope he around till end of Dec.
Long live Manure and Maureen. Don’t Jinx it
“He finds good solutions on the field with his vision.”
Interesting that, Iwobi seems at just the right age for the change of manager. He had a few years of the Wenger method of trying to work stuff out yourself, and he did pretty well for a while but hit a bit of a wall. Now he’s able to take what he learned and have that fine tuned with more precise instructions from Emery. Looking forward to seeing how he develops over the next while
Just wondering why my valid comment supporting Iwobi was blocked
There was no comment blocked
It took some time to be included but yes I have seen it now.
Blogs is one of the most open minded and allows for differing opinions.
Go to 7amkickoff and if you don’t share the same narrative, they will shut you down.
Its almost like a cult there.
alex over aaron any time for emery’s system
Or over Aubameyang out left as well. Maybe Auba is better right. He switched in second half against Hornets and did rather better.
Well..don’t big him up too much and cut him down later. He is the closest thing to a wide player we have this season. And he has the strength and skill to take on players. We carry too many similar types otherwise (which is probably another reason we are more willing to let go of Ramsey) Ozil, Ramsey are similar players who have to pass to get by their men for large parts. To some extent Mhkitaryan is the same although he has function out wide more. Granit is also a player who is pass and play where GUendouzi is… Read more »
Just keep working hard and don’t let all the praises get in your head
Sometimes i forget he is still only 22!!! Hopefully he stays level-headed, keeps improving/performing at this level, and he’ll be one of our best attacking players.
22 is not that young all things considered and if he only improves at this rate, we’ll be stuck with another Theo.
Emery certainly knows how to use Iwobi and Welbeck as plan B in matches..both has speed and physicality to pressure the opponent team