Who will partner Cesc in Arsenal’s midfield???

The Arsenal captain is scheduled to return for the match against city after the international break. He will take his place in the Arsenal midfield. There is still dilemma though on who will partner him.  There are three players looking to take the place beside him in a four man midfield that is always used while playing in the league. Diaby, Denilson and Song have all been used in Arsenal’s midfield this season and we have seen different combinations being used by Arsene at different times. Lets look into each one of their games and how they will complement Fabregas in the midfield role.

Diaby, the 6′3″ attacking midfielder on his day can dribble past defenders with ease breaking opposition defences. Injuries have not done him any good in this season as well as in the last few. He didn’t get a good run in the Arsenal midfield because of them and that has significantly hampered his education at Arsenal under Wenger. Wenger rates Diaby highly, he would have thought that he would have been the ideal replacement for the legend Viera. He keeps the ball quite well, has a good eye for the pass, can strike the ball well in the box, has the attitude of looking forward and can contribute in defense but there is a still a lot to be desired from his defensive abilities. On the other hand he sometimes keeps the ball at his feet for too long, is in a state of confusion at times whether he should be ahead of the ball or behind the ball.

Denilson, the brazilian has improved by leaps and bounds this season. In the beginning of this season I just couldn’t trust him. He has a good work ethic, runs a lot, sticks on to the opponent to rob him of the ball, and has a good shot though he shoots very rarely. The stats say that he has one of the best pass completion percentage in the league as well has a lot of passes to his name. That should make him ideally similar to Cesc since he owned such records last season. But there is one difference that the stats definitely fail to mention. For most of this season most of the passes Denilson made forward were always to opposition defenders. The only passes that are completed are the ones backward and sideward. Thats one of the main reasons Arsenal have looked dull when compared to last season. Denilson most times refuses to pass the ball forward. He gives the ball back to the back four when he should be working out a way of spraying the ball forward. But off late he has improved on this aspect. With Cesc back in the team he would just have to give him the ball and contribute defensively. I don’t see him providing any attacking threat for Arsenal.

Song is a sturdy figure in the center of the midfield. From his recent performance I think he is the most improved player this season. He is good on the ball, puts in a lot of tackles, runs a lot though he lacks pace, off late has been providing some good long balls ( remember the assist for Denilson’s beach volley).  Song has been steady in the midfield. Even he like Denilson at the beginning of the season was very reluctant taking the ball forward. When he and Denilson were paired together in few of the matches, it felt like looking Chelsea play ( last season’s Chelsea). Song has now got it in his head that his job is to get the ball and then give it one of his attacking teammates.

With Denilson and Song in the team we have improved a lot defensively. Most of players are now willing to help out in defense. We have been sound defending the middle third of this season and hope we continue to that. I would love to see Diaby play alongside Cesc for the rest of this season. They are both great players in the making. I would like both of them concentrate on defending for the team as well and complement each other. Denilson is still a player in the making. He has got a lot of aspects to be improved and I am sure Wenger trusts that he will realize his potential only by playing more in the side. But now we have come to the business end of the season and in matches where scoring goals matters or winning matters I think Diaby and Cesc should play together, otherwise I wouldn’t mind Denilson continuing his run in the team. Song would be a great asset playing away in the champions league. Off late he has been looking better than Denilson, should look to improve whenever given the opportunity or whenever the team needs to defend a lead in the last quarter of the game.

There is one player I would like Arsene to just gamble on in the center of the midfield alongside Cesc, and thats Nasri. He has great work rate and does his defensive duties very well. Many a time though he was playing on the wings he was forced into playing in the center of the midfield at the later stages of the matches because our forwards were not getting any service. If Walcott, Rosicky, Arshavin are all going to play in the last part of the season, Wenger will have one hell of a time playing the best out of them. Good luck Wenger…!!! because you are the one who knows best…..

This entry was posted on Thursday, March 26th, 2009 at 9:32 am by stephen_manti.