Henry Lansbury

[FinCroweman]

just thought to comment after carling cup game against tottenham.was very impressed with his style of play,gonna be a huge hit for the gunners hope wenger plays him more regular.i can see wilshere,lansbury,ramsey and frimpong being the solid midfield in 4-5 years time

[ninianmail]

Similarly European teams dont really have many out and out wingers, they have attackers that play in a wider position, that depeneding on the play can move into central positions and play as a support striker. they tend just play one striker up front, as opposed to the British tradition of 2 up front, and wingers that stay on the wing.

[ninianmail]

I agree that Hargreaves isn't a product of English academies (because he isn't), however i think that he is a good symbol for the English (or British) tenacity and passion, coupled with excellent technique. I think the reasone we a lagging behind Europe in the holding MF role is because historically British team relied on their wingers a whole lot more and would use the MF as a battering ram, therefore we have not developed as many dainty little Xavi esque players.

[ninianmail]

Sorry didnt explain that very clearly,what i mean is that British teams historically use 442 with wingers that would stay out wide and MFs that would pass out wide and bomb on.We didnt use Holding MFs, and didnt need delicate passes as we relied on crosses. Continental 451 or 433 would use 1(or 2 in Italy) holding MFs that pass intelligently to the other 4 attackers. Wide playing AMF like CR (diff to our wingers) would move inside when the ball was on the opposite wing to play as second striker.

[ninianmail]

Therefore British MFs evolved to powerful atheletic shooters with feet and head, like strikers and europen MFs evolved to intricate passers with close control, as they had to pass through 6 defenders, 4 DF and maybe 2 Holding MFs.

[ninianmail]

If he were ordered to stay out of attacks then you would lose everything that was good in his game.

Lampard is not only good at shooting, he is an amazing passer of the ball. I have seen plenty of beautiful defence splitting passes to know this is true I have seen some incredible passes from him, also gerrard can ping passes about nicely so i disagree about them lacking in that respect. They are no Requelme or Xavi or whatever, but then again Xavi cannot do the same things Gerrad can.

[ninianmail]

No!! Gerrard would not be good, because the holding role is about HOLDING!!! Makelele for exampe wasn't particularly good passer or even tackler, but he had amazing atheltism and knew exactly where to be and at what time, however he would unload the ball to zidane or lampard. Then he would just sit, Gerrard would not do this but instead bomb on leaving the back 4 exposed, which is not what a good holding MF would do.

[83BarFly]

Part 1. Gibbs, Lansbury, Randall, Wilshere, Watt, Simpson. Wenger is responsible for bringing through this crop of English players with the technical ability the likes this country hasn't seen. The majority of our natonal squad is overrated, could anyone really see Gerrard or Lampard playing in our midfield? (Maybe Gerrard in a strictly holding role). Rooney and Joe Cole apossibly, maybe SWP on the wing (but not with the 4 amazing wingers we have in our team now).

[83BarFly]

Part 2. Maybe the media & our whole country for that matter will give the professor a break when the national team is full of Arsenal academy players playing a combination of Dutch sexy football Brazillian total football & English pace & "never say die passion which has escaped our national team in recent years. The true fans are behind him & know what he's trying to achieve. Let the tabloids do what they do best & talk shit. They seem to forget it was CFC who first played a foreign starting11.

[ninianmail]

gerrard in a strictly holding role. are you mad?

[83BarFly]

Nanian part 1: In Arsenal's set-up, yes, of course. He has great distribution but he hasn't the technical ability to mix it in the Arsenal squad. Aside from maybe Joe Cole & Scholes in his prime, England has constantly produced the same midfielders for the last 15 years. Gerrard, Lampard, Roe Coker, Nolan, Murphy, Sidwell etc. They're like "Jack of all trades, master of none!". We can't produce holding midfielders that could rival Makelele, De Rossi or Mascherano. And we can't produce real...

[83BarFly]

Ninian part 2: ... technically gifted playmakers with the vision the likes of Riquelmi, Deco, Fabregas, Sneijder etc. We have lot of box-to-box wannabes that will never master it Vieira did. Lampard has ben turned into an edge-of-the-box player, but ony so he can smash them in from 20 years, not thread through little intricate passes. Gerrards the same, fair enough he's better, but his playmakng abiliy is overated. Wilshere & Lansbury are a breath of fresh air.

[ninianmail]

I agree about Englands MF, but to put Gerrard in a holding role is pointless, as his main strength is picking up the ball deep and driving forward, and would leave holes in front of the back 4. We do have quality holding MF like Hargreaves who is as good as Mascherano (just injury prone lately), or Barry or Carrick (who can pass, maybe not as good defensively). BTW Lampard and Gerrard are masters of Shooting!!

[83BarFly]

Fair point about Hargraves, but he was born in Canada and developed in Germany, our academies can't take any credit for him. Carrick on the other hand, in my opinion, is truely world class, but seriously overlooked. He's definitely not the holding midfielder that people have him down as, and I would say he's England's best passer. Although he may be more comparible to Alonso as he's not quite at home on the edge of the box like the midfielders I mentioned in my last comment.

[83BarFly]

I think Joe Cole is the closest thing we have to an out-and-out playmaker. You're right about Gerrard and Lampard, no-one can hit it from outside the box like they can. But, take Lampard for example, that's his only strength. The England team lacks balance because it has to accomodate Lampard, and for what? The odd strike from 20 yards? It's like having a striker in midfield, he can't do much else. Gerrard on the other hand, is the box-to-box meastro, he just doesn't have the playmaking ability.

[83BarFly]

Take the CL final for example, Gerrard was moved to right wing in injury time to mark the fresh sub Serginho... in injury time! Yet he still took care of him, and tracked back as far as the right back position regularly. This is why he would be perfect for a holding role at Arsenal. Song's doing a great job for us, but if you look at the top holding midfielders, throughout history, they have great distibution and start the attack as son as theye in posession. It's not just ball winning ability.

[83BarFly]

He would be comparible to Petite. Great in defence, chipped in in attack, and had a wicked strike. Gerrard can control a game, but he would have no place on the edge of the box for Arsenal unless he was tee'd up for one of those 20 yard strikes. It's not really the lack of class that I'm complaining about, i's the fact that we don't create midfielders in this particular role. It just seems that we're catching on later than the rest of the continent.

[ninianmail]

It's easy just to pick the best MFs from around the world and complain that we dont have them in abundance, as only Spain have a fine selection of world class MFs. Even Brasil and Argentina and France find it difficult to produce genuine MFs (not attackers) to the standard or Xavi, Iniesta or Fabregas.

[1munsif]

Henri lansbury is a world class prospect. When u put the kid in CM hes play just like gerrard. Just a shame he got a bad illness which kept him out for a year. Hes a better prospect than kieran gibbs. Hes england under 19 captain as well. His loan to scunthorpe has been a very effective loan spell. Hes changed hes alot taller-6ft 1, more stronger, quicker. Hes got everything u need plus hes techincally excellent.

[cartizel]

He's shorter than 6'1. Im 6'2, and I was actually in the same club as him last week. I'd say he's about 5'10/11

[super1gooner]

didnt stand out in any of the carling cup matches. I know he came off the bench for both of them but still doesnt seem that good. I hope becomes good obviously.

We need more ENGLISH players comming through.

[hamidnw9]

he was played in wrong position. he was even played at rb.

[bringlisathehorizon]

I know his aunt

It's my English teacher

[rosso142k7]

hes at my club scunthorpe now.. and yeah he is really good we all no he will be a big talent.. good luck to him

[illdiver]

gaffer ? are u chris ?

[illdiver]

henry is me cousin

hes getting arsenal satuf for me now

and he gets like 2000 pound a week

[TrebleClef84]

Never been your cousin.

[RetardTE]

Yea Henry is my daughter. So that means i'm your uncle. SAY UNCLE!

[thegrovegooner]

if he is your cousin why can't you spell his name?

it's henri

[wewontheleagueatWHL]

Lansbury is suppose to have an ego and an attituce like that cunt bentley, and if does i dont care how big a talent he is, arsenal come first

[theclipmiester]

he plays bollock aswell tho!

[DatFwad]

I've heard Lansbury could fuck it because he likes the nightlife and going out on the razz a bit too much! Just what I heard, don't know if it's true.

[joecullum]

Henri Lansbury is the Wayne Rooney of Potters Bar.

[kashman0219]

The rumours coming out of Arsenal are that Wenger expects very big things from him!!

[theclipmiester]

he was the stand out flop in pre season alond with mark randall..

[bench635]

Henri Lansbury is the English Lulinha

[wazo89]

if he doesnt get a ego on him he might well make it at the top level. but he needs to work hard cause of he gives it the charley big potatoes he'l be playing his footballing days out at the likes of colchester

[adamii1991]

lol bless henry he used to go my secondary school b4 he left..hes soo good at football n was all thru primary school..i know hes gonna make it big 1 day xx

[gaffer197469]

he is my coz...and i,m so proud..he is goin to be a great player..he has Gerrard,scholes and carick in him...Him and Fran have a great future

[kencmon]

just scored a corker for the england u-17s a couple hours ago, 30 yarder v holland!

[Arsenal1508]

I think Henri Lansbury will be the next English icon after Becks. Very classy midfielder...Gerrard like. As long as he keeps scoring from midfiele and does the other things he's doing well at...he should succeed.

Lansbury can get into the first team as a central midfielder with hopefully Fran too. Both are extremely talented and should start in the Carling Cup next season...even though they'll both still be just 17 (16 for Henri).