Competition for places: by SV
With the signing of Cazorla and the possible signing of Sahin, it has come to the fans’ attention exactly how many midfielders we now have, all of whom are vying for a limited number of starting places. This article will look at who is competing for each place and then, hopefully, we will see exactly how much strength in depth we have in the middle of the park.
I’ll start off with Arsenal’s defensive midfielders. Clearly, our starter is Alex Song. Though he has been linked with Barcelona, I am personally confident that he will be playing in red and white (…and blue) next season. The main reason for my conviction is the quote from my previous article on the Cameroonian, but for those of you that didn’t read it, here it is again:
“We know our fans want a trophy and we are very close to winning something. My message to our fans is: Believe in us. This team will get better. I am at the right club. Forget Barcelona, Arsenal is the best club. Arsenal have given me everything and I love this place. If I had to leave I would break down and cry. It’s still my dream to win the league here.”
I don’t really need to go through all of Alex’s assets again, as I’m sure that you are all well aware of them. To back up Song, we currently have two youngsters in Coquelin and Frimpong. Even if Frimpong were fully fit (as he will be in October), I would still start le Coq over him. Young Francis has really impressed me with his performances, and has shown a great work ethic, strong defensive abilities and decent technical skills; all in all, he’s a perfect back-up who will only get better.
Alongside Song will, most likely, play Arteta. The Spaniard is, as I have said before, absolutely crucial to our game, keeping our shape consistent during times of pressure. He had injury problems with Everton but he seems to have overcome them and so will hopefully play regularly through the first few months of our season. I say ‘first few months’ because I believe, as much as it pains me to say it, that he will probably lose his place to Jack Wilshere once he comes back from his injury. I say this only because Wilshere is a world class player who would, in my opinion, walk into literally any club midfield besides Real and Barca’s.
And as if dropping one top class midfielder to the bench isn’t enough, it looks like Nuri Sahin will be joining Mikel there – though I’m sure he’ll put up a strong fight before going.
That leaves one midfield place to fight for, the attacking role. By common vote, it seems as though Arsenal’s new Spaniard, Senor Cazorla, will start. Cazorla’s explosive style will come in useful in the final third and his passing abilities are the perfect complement to the pace we have out on the wings.
To back him up, Aaron Ramsey will be there off the back of a strong Olympic campaign. The lad has come under his fair share of criticism but trust me, he’s ready to deliver the goods. And, come September/October time, Rosicky will be fighting too, a player of huge quality himself.
And then there’s the Ox. And then there’s Diaby. And then there could be Arshavin. And then there’s a load of promising young talent from the reserves…
From what I can see, AFC currently have at least three solid players in each of their midfield positions, which is what you need if you’re challenging for trophies. Our current squad means that, even with injuries, we could field a midfield trio on Sunday in the League, and then a completely different one in the Champions League on Tuesday. And (this is the important bit) they would both be virtually as strong as each other.
It’s good times to be an Arsenal fan, eh?
If you liked this article, you can follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SVGunner
COMMENTS GUIDELINES: ANY COMMENTS WITH SWEARING OR PERSONAL ABUSE WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT EXCEPTION: PLEASE DISCUSS THE SUBJECT IN A FRIENDLY AND OBJECTIVE MANNER. SERIAL ABUSERS WILL BE BANNED. PLEASE BE NICE TO YOUR FELLOW GOONERS! NEW IDEA!! If A comment is deemed EXTRA SPECIAL I reserve the right to sopy it and use it as an article in its own right. (Edited of course!)
No comments:
Post a Comment