2024/25 Harrison Armstrong

[BiggyRat]

Although he is not a right winger I would play him instead of Harrison today

Harrison instead of Harrison? That just hurts my head!

 

[Miked1e]

Barkley wasn’t great?!

No, he wasn't....

Skill / Ability was there, sure..... but had no footballing brain. Poor or slow decisions in most cases.

 

[little elfin]

So many experts here who barely watched him over 90 minutes.
But I second he's a bit like Jack Rodwell, before went to Man City, which is good sign.

 

[SuperKev91]

No, he wasn't....

Skill was there, sure..... but had no footballing brain. Poor or slow decisions in most cases.

Have to disagree with you there, he didn’t develop as expected but even now he’s playing at a high level.

He outshone Rom and Stones in that team at time who are two of the best players of their generation.

Armstrong is nowhere near Barkley at the same age. Looked the closest thing to Rooney when he came through. I think it’s revisionist to say otherwise now that we’ve seen him not hit the heights we expected.

 

[voodoobloo]

Have to disagree with you there, he didn’t develop as expected but even now he’s playing at a high level.

He outshone Rom and Stones in that team at time who are two of the best players of their generation.

Armstrong is nowhere near Barkley at the same age. Looked the closest thing to Rooney when he came through. I think it’s revisionist to say otherwise now that we’ve seen him not hit the heights we expected.

He didn’t outshine Rom or Stones. He had flashes of brilliance but mostly frustrated. We will always have that goal against Newcastle (one of my favourite recentish games)

 

[voodoobloo]

So many experts here who barely watched him over 90 minutes.
But I second he's a bit like Jack Rodwell, before went to Man City, which is good sign.

I think he passes forward far more than Rodwell ever did. Rodwell was much bigger and faster before the injuries slowed him.

 

[Miked1e]

Have to disagree with you there, he didn’t develop as expected but even now he’s playing at a high level.

He outshone Rom and Stones in that team at time who are two of the best players of their generation.

Armstrong is nowhere near Barkley at the same age. Looked the closest thing to Rooney when he came through. I think it’s revisionist to say otherwise now that we’ve seen him not hit the heights we expected.

Not saying whether Armstrong is on the same level or not as I have not seen anywhere near enough of this kid to know otherwise...

My point is, don't send him out on loan we need to develop these players if they are close to the first team and give them an opportunity to fight and want to be part of the set-up.

Honestly re Barkley... I do not have the same memory as you. But realistically, the last couple of years at Everton, Evertonians were getting very frustrated with him (maybe because of lack of progression)..... he stunk the place out at Chelsea, before having a stint abroad and then looking good amongst a poor Luton team.

Now he is doing ok at an above average Villa side.

Decent player but also let's not put him anywhere near the same sentence as Rooney... even when he did break onto the scene.

 

[Miked1e]

He didn’t outshine Rom or Stones. He had flashes of brilliance but mostly frustrated. We will always have that goal against Newcastle (one of my favourite recentish games)

and give him the one in which he celebrated before he scored.... but other than that. Not much!

 

[toffeeblue9]

Have to disagree with you there, he didn’t develop as expected but even now he’s playing at a high level.

He outshone Rom and Stones in that team at time who are two of the best players of their generation.

Armstrong is nowhere near Barkley at the same age. Looked the closest thing to Rooney when he came through. I think it’s revisionist to say otherwise now that we’ve seen him not hit the heights we expected.

Sorry, but he absolutely did not. Those two got mega moves and were our two best players.

Barkley only got a big move when he'd run his contract down and was cheap enough to take a risk on.

 

[SuperKev91]

Sorry, but he absolutely did not. Those two got mega moves and were our two best players.

Barkley only got a big move when he'd run his contract down and was cheap enough to take a risk on.

At times* I tried to put.

Clearly they were the two stars but he wasn’t out of the conversation at times.

Genuinely think he’s the closest we produced to Rooney talent and ability wise just didn’t have the natural understanding of the game. Rooney was a footballing genius in fairness.

Agree re: Armstrong sticking around the club, if we had a capable squad he could be coming on with 25/30 to go and getting significant minutes.

 

[Eggs]

So many experts here who barely watched him over 90 minutes.
But I second he's a bit like Jack Rodwell, before went to Man City, which is good sign.

….not sure where this Rodwell comparison is coming from. Rodwell was a ‘safe’ player in possession, rarely taking the ball on the spin, he’d much prefer to pass the way he was facing (which was often back towards his own goal). Armstrong looks much more expansive in his passing range, nowhere near as ‘safe’. Risk/reward.

I’d compare him more to a Sigurdsson type (no jokes please).

 

[Clarky cat]

I don't know much about the kid so only going on what I have seen so far and the write up as mentioned above stating that he is ready to take the step up.

Rooney was playing regularly by his age and tbf Barkley wasn't great!

I do not agree about the recruitment....... if he is good enough then he should be getting more game time and we should be focusing on developing players from the youth set-up instead of recruiting from outside. Again, he cannot do any where than Doucoure.

At 18-19, if they are good enough get them in.

Look at that Dibling at Southampton.... people on here seem to rate this kid (not sure why), but he is playing a starring role in Southampton and not yet 19.

A two footed player who could carry the ball, had brilliant touch and technique, could beat others easily with skill and could shoot with power and accuracy with both feet… he was an excellent prospect. Shame he missed a year of development with a broken leg, he could have been even better when he came through. Another shame he didn’t spend that year out going down the library

 

[bluestevon]

I don't know much about the kid so only going on what I have seen so far and the write up as mentioned above stating that he is ready to take the step up.

Rooney was playing regularly by his age and tbf Barkley wasn't great!

I do not agree about the recruitment....... if he is good enough then he should be getting more game time and we should be focusing on developing players from the youth set-up instead of recruiting from outside. Again, he cannot do any where than Doucoure.

At 18-19, if they are good enough get them in.

Look at that Dibling at Southampton.... people on here seem to rate this kid (not sure why), but he is playing a starring role in Southampton and not yet 19.

Yes true about Dibling but 22 games in saints have got 6 points mate and are on schedule for the single worst season in premier league history for any team.

But hey they're developing a few young players whilst doing so who when they go down they will lose them all.

But can say right now if we simply play Armstrong ahead of Doucoure then yes the player may develop a bit faster but we will be worse as a team and it'll show in results as much as I don't like Doucoure - Armstrong isn't ready to be starting in the league yet.

Rooney was playing at his age because he was a generational talent, Barkley similarly was a prodigy who even with a huge setback with a broken leg was still mikes ahead of where Armstrong is at currently ability wise.

If he's good enough he will play but wanting him to be good enough right now to be playing is different to him being ready right now, it's why it's common place to loan out younger players, so the learning bumps happen at the cost of another team who doesn't have better available

 

[ElGato]

No, he wasn't....

Skill / Ability was there, sure..... but had no footballing brain. Poor or slow decisions in most cases.

Barkley was unreal until Martinez coached the instinctive, direct style of play out of him. Turned him into a 5 yard crab

 

[Kevsleftpeg]

He didn’t outshine Rom or Stones. He had flashes of brilliance but mostly frustrated. We will always have that goal against Newcastle (one of my favourite recentish games)

He absolutely did at times. He was MotM in numerous games. I loved watching him in that first season.