Written by Mean Lean
on
Saturday, 09 October 2010 11:49
As the international week has well and truly taken over, I thought I would turn my attentions to our squad options and one position in particular.
Arsene Wenger has assembled a squad brimming with attacking quality from the experience of Andrey Arshavin to the youthful exuberance of 18 year old Jack Wilshere. Even with the usual growing list of players in the treatment room, Arsene must still be scratching his head during his training sessions, wondering about which group of players he will select come the match day, at least in the offensive part of the pitch.
When Robert Pires decided his future should be elsewhere, Arsene acted quickly. In May 2006 Arsenal swooped to seal the services of Czech play maker Tomas Rosicky who was plying his trade in Germany for Borussia Dortmund. The German club had broke the transfer record for Rosicky in 2001, spending €14.5 million for his services. Arsenal being Arsenal managed to secure the deal for roughly £6 million, an absolute steal.
He went on to star at the 2006 world cup, his biggest highlight was probably scoring two wonderful goals against USA which would have left many a club envious of Arsenal's early business.
In season 2008/2009 Arsene Wenger was hit with an abundance of injuries to attacking players, we had dropped out of the title race and our fourth place spot in the league was under threat from the likes of Aston Villa and Tottenham. When the January transfer window opened, Arsene entered the market for a creative play maker to add some quality to the squad. Andrey Arshavin lit up the 2008 European Championships and was chased by a number of top European clubs, none of which managed to acquire his signature. His club Zenit St Petersburg had placed a price tag on his head that was clearly to heavy for other clubs to lift.
In January it was a different story. Cash wasn't as freely available to clubs and Arsenal were pretty much left alone to negotiate with Arshavin's club. It went right down to the wire and Arshavin eventually became a Gooner, signing for an Arsenal record fee of £15 million.
This season Andrey Arshavin is first choice on the left side of our front three, at least so far. We haven't as yet had every single member of our attack fit at the same time but as it stands the Russian is a starter. Tomas Rosicky has produced his best football in a number of years, this is the first time he has come through a pre season and remained pretty much fit and the results are showing on the pitch.
Arshavin remains an enigma, produces the goods in the last third of pitch only a few times a game but when he gets it right, it often leads to an assist or a goal. Andrey Arshavin is our top goal scorer with 5 goals in 10 games yet he finds himself on the periphery of the game time and time again. You would be forgiven for thinking that we were a man down at times when our passing game hasn't clicked and we are not dominating the ball. Often our number 23 gives the ball away with a sloppy pass and it also seems as if he decides when he feels like working back to win the ball, yet in games where it is tight and a goal is needed as in our recent defeat at the hands of Chelsea, his absence from the game becomes apparent.
It is difficult for Arsene to remove Arshavin from tight matches as he knows one little movement in between a full back and central defender followed by a slid ball or a snap shot from the edge of the box could yield goal scoring results.
It must be said though, that although Arshavin does not often grab the game by the proverbial scruff of the neck, he has increased his work rate off the ball when we are not in possession. It is not as consistent as some of our other players in that position but it is an improvement of last season.
Tomas Rosicky appears to be the polar opposite to Arshavin. He has flown out of the traps this season, recapturing some of his earlier Arsenal form. Often playing in his natural central attacking role, he has shone. Orchestrating the play as only Mozart can do. Launching into 50-50's, threading through eye of the needle passes. Rosicky has found himself on the right side of the front three at times this season and has done the job well yet you feel that when Theo Walcott and Samir Nasri are both available then he may struggle to earn that spot in the team.
The one major positive about Rosicky is that he makes others play. When Nasri and Rosicky are on the field together, they swap positions and keep the ball so well and make the opposition chase shadows. Last season against Porto at the Emirates those two produced one of the most fluid interchanging performances that I have ever seen, we have seen it in glimpses this year also. The more they play, the better they will become.
I would like to see how the team perform with Rosicky, Nasri, Cesc and perhaps Wilshere playing ten games together, all on top of their game. Our football could really go up another level with those players all passing and moving, exchanging positions and supporting the front man.
What Rosicky does not have that Arshavin has is the movement to get into forward, goal scoring positions. As well as the ruthlessness to put chances away once they come his way. Playing in the front three, Arshavin's eye for goal is vital but at the same time this is a catch-22 as you lose a bit of midfield domination, a bit of possession and that extra ball winning ability with Rosicky in the side can be converted into goals a different way over the course of the season.
Ultimately all the players will get plenty of games, especially with our incredible rotating injury problem we have had over the last few years but in the big games when it really counts, with all of Wenger's options available which of the two benefit Arsenal the most?
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