Arsenal the central midfield

This is meant to be a first of a serie to assess the team. It’s still pre-season so faces may still come or go. I am starting with the central midfield as it is the most critical part of a team in general and ours particularly because of the serial loss of Edu, Vieira, Lassana Diarra, Flamini and Gilberto in three to four years.

The players who are believed to be occupying the central midfield are Cesc Song Denilson Diaby Ramsey and to a lesser degree Nasri and Rosicky.

Last year Denilson played there more than any other player. Let’s look back at his time in the team at that position though he did play as a winger a couple of times. He started the season brilliantly (West Brom, Twente, Blackburn, Newcastle, Bolton…). At this period he was by a mile the best overall player on the pitch for us. I believe his pre-season was a bit tougher than the rest almost playing 90 minutes of all the preparation games. That meant he was better equipped than most from the start but it also meant he was more likely to get burnt than the rest. But for whatever reason he lost form badly. The good thing about him through out the season was when he lacked confidence he had the presence of mine to play it simple with the passes and positioning himself very well to win balls with less efforts. The critics never rested on his case comparing his every move with Flamini. The lad lost confidence and only was it at the end of the season from his second half appearance against Chelsea in the league at home, did he get back to his best. He finished well in my opinion. With the statistics he got and the way he really stood in the games I mentioned, one has to agree that the kid has talent and though he will never play like Flamini he can offer much more than the Frenchman but only on his own way.

While Denilson was losing form during the course of the season Alex Song was going from strength to strength. I have always doubted the lad’s chances to make it as a central midfielder. I always thought he was only suited to CB. Because of his lazy air his weird running I thought he lacks the stamina to become a CM. But he showed so much urgency at some point of the season, marking well bringing the ball forward and even assisting and scoring goals. His assist for the outrageous goal of Eduardo in the FA cup was great but I prefer the back heel to Eboué against Blackburn at home if my memory serves me right.

While Denilson and Song showed a lot of promises one player that failed miserably was Diaby. He was favoured for the CM post alongside Cesc when Flamini left and it did look like it was his to lose during pre-season before he got injured missed the start of the season came back rusty and never could impose himself. He played more as a second striker or a winger but overall a part from some glimpses here and there he did little to convince the gunner world. His away performances against Fener, Newcastle and Aston Villa were the only times when he could hold his head high.

Ramsey is another player who has shown a lot of promises during the short carling campaign. He did well for Wales at under 21 and at senior level. But during his first team opportunities I had the impression he was trying too much to impress as shown in Cardiff though you have to consider the emotional effect of that game. I believe he will turn out to be an excellent player for us but I cannot say when that is more likely. And now is our time to deliver so he will need to perform at his highest best when called upon.

Cesc Fabregas is not just our best CM he is the player in our squad, he is the star. He will be mentioned every time the best players are talked up. Even though he did not perform last year at the level he consistently showed from day one he is undoubtly one of the best midfielder in the Premier League and in Europe.

There are also Nasri and Rosicky who could do a job sometimes there but these four are supposed to be the midfield core team. Now if you compare them to those of the top teams in Europe what do you get? Manchester has Fletcher, Carrick, Hargreaves, Scholes and Anderson. Liverpool has Gerard, Alonso, Mascherano and Lucas. Chelsea has Obi, Lampard, Ballack and Essien. Inter has Muntari, Cambiasso, Vieira, Stankovic and Zanetti. AC Milan has Flamini, Gattuso, Ambrosini, Seerdoff and Pirlo. Juventus has Cissokho, Melo, Thiago and some youngster. Barça has Yaya Touré, Xavi, Iniesta, Busquets and Seydou Keita. Real Madrid has Lassana Diarra, Mouhamadou Diarra, Guti and Gago.

When you look at that Barcelona, Chelsea and AC Milan probably seem to have better options than the rest. While we, Man U and Liverpool are around the same level.

If you compare it to our invincibles when we had Vieira, Gilberto, Parlour and Edu you cannot say we are far as Parlour was getting old and Edu was injury prone. If Denilson and Song and it’s a big if can really step up and reach their potential we will be as fine as ever but if none of them get to the required level we are as good as dead.

So who’s ready for the gamble?