Ejaria - Gedion Zelalem Mark II?

I posted this the other day in the 'can you terminate loans early' thread

Ejaria - I don't know. Occasionally he's looked like a fine player but his attitude is just not what we require in there. I was going spare at him at Tynecastle for walking about like he was playing a friendly instead of a battle where we were down to 10 men. If you looked 'EPL academy player' up in the dictionary he'd be smiling back at you. Plently of talent, but used to a much slower pace of game. Can't help but think of Zelalem or Hyndman.
 
A good player and has his place in the squad and even starting in the first team but arguably not what we need currently but that's not his fault.

People are itching to call him shite. He isn't.
 
He's went right off the boil, along with a few midfield counterparts...

Thought he was getting better every game until we played the bheasts had a crap game like his team mates and been pretty pish ever since.
 
I can't see much similarity between Ejaria & Zelalem's 'style' of play at all if I'm honest
Iirc Zelalem wasn't much of a tackler - & although he was pretty comfortable on the ball - he intercepted or was fed
Ejaria goes & 'finds' the ball more - mixes it with the opposition & has a more battling approach
I've admired & been frustrated by both - but for different reasons -
Where they may be similarities - is neither of them are great in the final pass - in the last third & both should score more given the positions they can get into
 
tazzabear said:
Talk about zero to hero!
I’ve no problem with this but, there was a reason Halliday wasn’t in the frame initially and why nobody wanted him as a central midfield player.
Halliday has done well under Gerrard but, do we really think he’s the answer for centre midfield?
This not withstanding that he is a totally different type of player from Ejaria.
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Ejaria is a totally different player from the Ejaria we were told about and seen at the start of his stint here. He offered absolutely zero attacking ability against Aberdeen. He offered nothing positive.

My suggestion of Halliday was because he would have performed the same role as Ejaria did, but he would at least know what it means to get a result against Aberdeen. The only players on the park that looked like it bothered them was McGregor and Lafferty. Halliday is not the answer for the midfield, at all, but if all things are equal and you have a player just making simple passes without any penetration, then get someone who has a bit of desire.
 
Think the 2 of them are more like opposites to be honest. Zalalem was good at finding space and had good vision for passing but was quite weak and had limited skill on the ball meaning that he often got bullied off it.

Ejaria is strong and powerful and has incredible close control but lacks the vision to find space or see passes. He rarely loses the ball other than when he finds himself surrounded by 4 opponents due to poor positioning but also struggles to do much with it and rarely finds a productive pass.

Both are not great at carrying the Ball forwards.

Unfortunately both their weaknesses overshadow their strengths. I think Ejaria willhave a better career as he can at least contribute in midfield turnover but he is not a game changer.
 
Starting Anew said:
Think the 2 of them are more like opposites to be honest. Zalalem was good at finding space and had good vision for passing but was quite weak and had limited skill on the ball meaning that he often got bullied off it.

Ejaria is strong and powerful and has incredible close control but lacks the vision to find space or see passes. He rarely loses the ball other than when he finds himself surrounded by 4 opponents due to poor positioning but also struggles to do much with it and rarely finds a productive pass.

Both are not great at carrying the Ball forwards.

Unfortunately both their weaknesses overshadow their strengths. I think Ejaria willhave a better career as he can at least contribute in midfield turnover but he is not a game changer.
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i wasn't really thinking of the styles. more the overall contribution. looks neat and tidy and happy to link the play, but would play in front of the defenders all day long and not deliver meaningful penetration
 
RFC4ME said:
I think his impact on games is pretty understated - he keeps the ball moving he is always there for a pass, helping us retain possession is great - helping us play higher up the park is great.

I would also add - I am not full enough of my own view on football to think i know more about football, and in particular a midfielder than either Gerrard or McAlister I go with the assumption that they have a masters degree on midfield as an area of the park and will look into a lot deeper than stats.
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Using your logic there'd be no debate at all about team selection though, would there? What a boring place this would be then.
As I stated the boy has talent. He has an excellent first touch and quick feet. He does look to get involved too. However his impact on our play is not what's required from our most creative player. We need assists and goals from him and, to date, he hasn't produced.
 
final_straws said:
He is not even remotely similar to Zelalem. A really lazy comparison.

He is going through a tough patch but I think he has by far the most potential out of any of our loan players. When on form, he sucks players in to create space & always looks for passes forward.

He hasn't had many assists because he is more suited to being a deeper lying playmaker imo.

I say this as someone who actually finds him frustrating at times however he certainly has something.
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If we play with two sitters, where's s the need for a deep lying playmaker?
 
Hemdani said:
He is far more talented than Zelalem.

Currently in a bad run of form and needs dropped but I’m confident he’ll provide the goods again.
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Statistically speaking, he's offered very little goods. At this moment in his career he's simply not good enough for us, not if we want to be challenging come May. You can add Flanagan, Kent, Worrall, Sadiq and Coulibaly to that list too.
 
Alex Venters said:
He's scored one goal???
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Motherwell, Ufa, one cleared off the line at the weekend, hit the woodwork a couple of times IIRC. Not prolific but he's much more an attacking threat than Zelalem was. Zelalems whole game was receiving the ball and passing it to keep the play moving. Ejaria's in the team to create attacking situations, chip in with some goals and be a danger in an attacking sense.
 
CaptainObjective said:
Statistically speaking, he's offered very little goods. At this moment in his career he's simply not good enough for us, not if we want to be challenging come May. You can add Flanagan, Kent, Worrall, Sadiq and Coulibaly to that list too.
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Harsh on Kent and Coulibaly. And maybe Worrall.
 
Alex Venters said:
Using your logic there'd be no debate at all about team selection though, would there? What a boring place this would be then.
As I stated the boy has talent. He has an excellent first touch and quick feet. He does look to get involved too. However his impact on our play is not what's required from our most creative player. We need assists and goals from him and, to date, he hasn't produced.
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No, people can debate but they are debating from lesser minds with less information than our manager and coaching team, I don't think thats an unseasoned logic.

They will also, and most sides would, evidently look for things that go deeper than solely stats of goals and assists.... football does go deeper than that - there are such things as making the space that creates the chance to score and assists, playing the pass to create such things etc and so on.

You also making claims about a player you feel ring true re what output should be from players and our style - the person who actually picks said style, designs it builds and works on it disagrees with you...
 
BucksBear said:
i wasn't really thinking of the styles. more the overall contribution. looks neat and tidy and happy to link the play, but would play in front of the defenders all day long and not deliver meaningful penetration
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Yep. Agree fully. I think the causes of it are different though.

Midfield is the area where we badly need an upgrade. Someone to find space and link mid to attack. And, particularly, someone who can beat a player. The opposition can just line up in front of our midfielders because they know none of them are carrying the ball past anyone.
 
songsofglory said:
Two totally different players.

Zelalem kept the ball much better than Ejaria, but Ejaria is much more of a goal threat.
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Two goals and an assist doesn’t make him a bigger goal threat.
That said, I think Ejaria is a much better player and, and I think this has been overlooked by those favouring Zelalem, Ejaria is operating at a higher level than Zelalem.
 
tazzabear said:
Two goals and an assist doesn’t make him a bigger goal threat.
That said, I think Ejaria is a much better player and, and I think this has been overlooked by those favouring Zelalem, Ejaria is operating at a higher level than Zelalem.
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I appreciate that, and he should be giving us far more. But he's in the team to be an attacking threat, Zelalem wasn't. Thus, they are two completely different players. Ejaria SHOULD be a goal threat, but he isn't at the moment. Hope that clears it up.

I was a Zelalem fanboy though I fucking loved him :D
 
Ejaria is incredibly skillful,but lacks end product.

And we're short of end product from the midfield.No harm to the lad,but if we really have ambition of winning the league we need better.Imo of course.
 
songsofglory said:
I appreciate that, and he should be giving us far more. But he's in the team to be an attacking threat, Zelalem wasn't. Thus, they are two completely different players. Ejaria SHOULD be a goal threat, but he isn't at the moment. Hope that clears it up.

I was a Zelalem fanboy though I fucking loved him :D
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I was agreeing with you regarding Eharia’s goalscoring, or lack of.
We’ve all seen players, better and more experienced players than him, start off well before hitting a slump.
Good players recover and I just think Ejaria has enough to make himself an asset.
 
RFC4ME said:
Ejaria is shit of form and likely suffering from a form of fatigue.

A part of the process of becoming a player is surely to learn the fitness load of becoming a player, he is playing oft and in high intensity games of football.

He has plenty talent and attributes, he is a good pivot of play, keeps the ball moving and tends to do it in limited touches while taking the ball from any angle.

He will have a solid career as a player, i quite like him.
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He dosen't know when to release the ball, he likes to hold the ball and look good, but isn't productive enough in my book.
We need better than him and Coulibaly im afraid.These player will return to their clubs i think, and hopefully S.G.will bring in midfielders who can offer us a lot more.
 
Installer said:
I'm sorry but I completely disagree with this kind of statement, him Arfield have been fantastic together.
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They haven't actually. Our midfield is regularly unable to control a game for long spells of a match. Arfield has at least made a contribution with goals and his running creating space for others.

Look, Ejaria is clearly a technically quite gifted footballer. But he clearly lacks the drive and determination that we need against midfielders such as the ones we come up against in Scotland on a regular basis who treat us like their cup final. It is no surprise that most of Ejaria's best games have come in Europe.

But that all said, he has in many games this season been nothing other than a passenger who whilst mostly always available for a pass, doesn't pose any threat to the opposition with any incision or drive. We cannot have guys floating around, looking tidy enough on the ball admittedly, but offering very little and looking like he is playing a game of 5's with his mates! If he can add a bit of urgency and drive at defences then maybe he has a part to play. If his contribution is going to be similar to what his most recent form has shown, then he is as good as a man down.
 
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Technically very very good, however he's just a nothing player unfortunately, defensively offers nothing and his assist/goal stats are appalling. No point in being able to spin away from someone if you just stroll and do nothing with the ball afterwards
 
BucksBear said:
The more i see this boy the more he makes me think of Zelalem. Not doubting that hehas loads of technical ability. A neat and tidy player, but is missing that cutting edge to really be a top footballer, no drive, no X factor.

we have too many water carriers.
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I got to say I don’t think he has loads of technical ability, in fact I think has first touch is questionable.

He to say this but he looks like Sebo mark II to me .

Edit- I for some reason mis- read the thread, my response was in regards to Grezda
 
I think we’ve over relied on him. Not fair to expect a young player with little first team experience to become a regular right away. Odd when you consider how Middleton and McCrorie have been used sparingly due to their age. The fact we have very few creative mids is a factor in that of course.
 
songsofglory said:
Two totally different players.

Zelalem kept the ball much better than Ejaria, but Ejaria is much more of a goal threat.
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No he’s not.

He has had one goal, very few assists if any. Most of his shots on the rare occasion they reach the goal are like passbacks to the keeper.

What games have you seen him threatening the opposition goal in?
 
PMB1872 said:
No he’s not.

He has had one goal, very few assists if any. Most of his shots on the rare occasion they reach the goal are like passbacks to the keeper.

What games have you seen him threatening the opposition goal in?
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Aw for %^*& sake.

Ejaria is in the position to be more of a goal threat. A forward player off form is still a forward player.

An off form striker is still there to score goals.
An off form defender is still there to defend.

Get it?

Zelalem and Ejaria were in the team to do different jobs.
 
He is like Zelalem, good at controlling the midfield. The problem with the midfield is that we don't have enough midfielders of different abilities to make it potent. Playing well you can have Jack, Ejaria and Arfield but you need more midfielders than this throughout the season. We have options in the Jack role but don't seem to in either the Ejaria or Arfield roles. If fit, Rossiter looks like he can do various roles but you need to have him fit to give him a run of say 6 games, I've seen him do quite well taking the ball forward.
 
songsofglory said:
Aw for %^*& sake.

Ejaria is in the position to be more of a goal threat. A forward player off form is still a forward player.

An off form striker is still there to score goals.
An off form defender is still there to defend.

Get it?

Zelalem and Ejaria were in the team to do different jobs.
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I get plenty. They are two totally different players by style. I get that point completely.

He’s no goal threat through. Creates nothing match after match. Saying he’s more of a goal threat than Zelalem is like saying Sadiq is more of a goal threat than Sebo.
 
Better than zelalem. Ejaria started poor, then got really effective. (People forget how well he played against Rapid and Hearts). However since returning from injury he has reverted to the early season form.

We do love an enigmatic, loanee midfielder.

Ejaria
Goss
Hyndman
Zelalem
Vukic
 
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He's more Oduwa than Zelalem in my opinion. Can do nice tricks and turns but seldom delivers anything else.
 
BucksBear said:
The more i see this boy the more he makes me think of Zelalem. Not doubting that hehas loads of technical ability. A neat and tidy player, but is missing that cutting edge to really be a top footballer, no drive, no X factor.

we have too many water carriers.
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Subbing him in 2016 cup final cost us the game in my opinion
 
Ejaria frustrates the hell out of me!
He can do some wonderful stuff on the ball with three players around him, can actually win the ball in midfield but for all his apparent football genius, he just never seems to be able to play a killer pass!
He's certainly an enigma!
He's a young guy so can he be coached into becoming a complete footballer?
 
Captain Cutlass said:
Ejaria frustrates the hell out of me!
He can do some wonderful stuff on the ball with three players around him, can actually win the ball in midfield but for all his apparent football genius, he just never seems to be able to play a killer pass!
He's certainly an enigma!
He's a young guy so can he be coached into becoming a complete footballer?
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Just seems to lack an awareness of space and decision making.

I’ve no idea if that can be coached into him or if it needs to be innate.
 
Starting Anew said:
Just seems to lack an awareness of space and decision making.

I’ve no idea if that can be coached into him or if it needs to be innate.
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The boy's obviously got bags of natural talent but you're correct, his lack of awareness is certainly his weakness.
Given that he has the talent, I would like to think that given the right coaching, he could become a complete footballer.
He's young so time will tell!
 
RFC4ME said:
o_O

What does this even mean?
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He’s neeeding dropped before results get worse - starting this Sunday.
Get him and coulobaly dropped and mccrorie and Arfield in
I’m hoping SG and his loyalty to Liverpool is not blinding him here
He flatters to decieve game after game. The midfield needs shaken up with different players and formations
 
He's in a really rough bit of form but it should be a criminal offence to compare him to Zelalem. Zelalem did very little at anything, his only realy contribution was a penalty against Celtic. Ejaria had been good, even scored the goal that put us in the Europa league but he looks like a player who's never experienced playing regularly like this and has hit a wall
 
He’s not getting about the park or influencing games like he did at the start. Looks either knackered or not interested when he’s strolling about like it’s a friendly.

Docherty back in January to take his place?
 
Seems to have lost a lot of pace and intensity as the season has gone on. To start with he had the turns and flicks but he did it at pace so it was effective, now he will try the same moves at almost a walking pace and he beats nobody with those moves now as he has to beat an opponent multiple times to find space.

Could be that opponents have cottoned on to what he will do, so the element of surprise has gone. It is a big ask for a young fringe player to come in and be brilliant for a whole season but hopefully he rediscovers his best form and keeps us trucking on ... we badly need his energy back in that midfield.
 
steve1873 said:
They haven't actually. Our midfield is regularly unable to control a game for long spells of a match. Arfield has at least made a contribution with goals and his running creating space for others.

Look, Ejaria is clearly a technically quite gifted footballer. But he clearly lacks the drive and determination that we need against midfielders such as the ones we come up against in Scotland on a regular basis who treat us like their cup final. It is no surprise that most of Ejaria's best games have come in Europe.

But that all said, he has in many games this season been nothing other than a passenger who whilst mostly always available for a pass, doesn't pose any threat to the opposition with any incision or drive. We cannot have guys floating around, looking tidy enough on the ball admittedly, but offering very little and looking like he is playing a game of 5's with his mates! If he can add a bit of urgency and drive at defences then maybe he has a part to play. If his contribution is going to be similar to what his most recent form has shown, then he is as good as a man down.
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Ok, so who do we replace him with on a weekly basis?
 
He looked absolutely gutted to be signing for Rangers on loan, and I would rather see our players McRorie or Rossiter given a chance ahead of him.
 
Zelalem was useless.

Ejaria is going to be a fine player. He's still young and I'd like us to sign him.

He needs dropped just now though due to form. Coulibaly on the other hand, I just can't see it unlike Ovie.

Too much reliance on the lad. We need a player in in January to play his role.
 
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