Henri Lansbury

BASIC INFO:

Full name: Henri George Lansbury
Club: Arsenal
Date of birth: 12/10/1990
Place of birth: Enfield, London, England
Height: 179 cm
Right-footed
U16, U17, U19 International


IDEAL POSITION: Defensive & organizer central midfielder

STRENGTHS:

Very intelligent and cerebral, has a remarkably tactical ability to place in the right space inside the pitch. Very good game vision and superb passing skills, doesn´t risk the ball and all his passes are very precise. Distributes the ball very well, is able to handle with awesome efficiency both short and long passes. Likes to assume responsabilities and prefers to be "THE MAN" who plays and moves the ball from deffensive positions. Lot of criteria with and without ball, mainly always offers to his teammates. Makes the game fluent and knows how and when to make tactical fouls. Has a panoramic vision of all the field. Good free-kick shooter. His mid range shot is always very dangerous: well directed and with intention, he can score goals in these occasions, when he sums to attack. Very calmed in the way he plays, is rare to see him getting nervous, has pause. Great ball control and good short distance skills. Doesn´t like to get complicated, knows that if he loses a ball from his position it may provoke an opponent goal chance, prefers playing in the easy way in the majority of times. Excellent individual technique and ball touch. Able to dominate game´s "tempo". Elegant. Knows how to use the body when he has the ball posession.

WEAKNESSES:

Lacks of a bit of speed and explosive capacity. Needs to gain force and get stronger. If he plays out from his ideal position his performances decreases significantly, needs to feel important for the team to give his best, having enough space and time to think helps aswell . Has to improve his tackling skills and try to be more aggressive in defense. Also has to improve his aerobic capacity, at the moment his performances in the pitch aren´t regular during the 90 minutes of each game. In some moments of the matches can disappear. He tends to get injured too often in the last years.

COMPARISON: Pep Guardiola

ADDITIONAL INFO:

- He was one of the best players from England in both European U17 and World Cup U17 of 2007 along with Joe Mattock -didn´t played World Cup U17- and Victor Moses. In European U17 England arrived to the final but was defeated by Spain, Henri coudln´t take part of that game because he was injured.

- Has perform 2008 preseason with first team with other "gunner" youth teammates as Kieran Gibbs, Armand Traoré, Emmanuel Frimpong, Jack Wilshere, Mark Randall, Fran Mérida, Sanchez Watt, Jay Simpson, Nacer Barazite or Rhys Murphy. However his performances were quite clumsy because he had to play as a right offensive midfielder, out from his ideal place.

- His first team´s debut was on 31 October 2008 against Sheffield United.

- He missed the second half on the 07/08 season due to Glandular Fever.


EVALUATION/POTENTIAL: 8,8/10

Has magic in his foot and an astonish potential, however he needs to develop his weaknesses and to become more regular. Maybe he is a bit inconsistent and limited, in the manner he has to play as central miedfielder to show his best, but his quality make up for it. I enjoy very much the way he plays in the centre of the pitch, demonstrates many technical and mental resources. Personal predilection.

Written by Joan Peris, 19 August 2008. hoeman5beta@hotmail.com

Recommended links:

Description of Henri Lansbury at "Perlas del Fútbol" (Written in 21/05/2007, Spanish)
Henri Lansbury in Wikipedia
Lansbury´s profile at Arsenal.com
Lansbury´s profile at "Young Guns"

Pics: www.arsenal.com, www.daylife.com (AP Photo)