Arsenal Midfield Options (Part 2)
There will always be the option of playing two players in front of the defence line and it will give Fabregas even more of a free role than he has had up to now. Away to Liverpool on the starting match of English Premier League, Cesc Fabregas was injured and Samir Nasri played his role with Diaby and Wilshere behind him. It worked effectively enough as Liverpool failed to create any major chances. Arsenal, also has Denilson and Aoran Ramsey to play in the place behind attacking midfielder that can be Cesc Fabregas or Samir Nasri. In addition to that Arsenal can also play Alex Song as a defensive midfielder.
However, there is no player in Arsenal’s squad who can directly replace Alex Song because he is the only defensive midfielder in the whole club. Moreover, Song can't play every game so Arsene Wenger will consider all of those options when the need arises. As the season started the Arsenal boss had said that he saw a major role for Frimpong this season after his fantastic performances in pre-season matches. But Frimpong’s unfortunate injury has ruled out that option too. Eastmond is another player which was considered to fill in for Song but again he is very young and very inexperienced.
A lot of Arsenal’s fan community is very unsure about both Abou Diaby and Denilson as their performances have greatly varied at times for Arsenal. Abou Diaby can look a World beater at times but sometimes the Frenchman also has a tendency to completely overdo things when he is on the ball and that infuriates the Arsenal fans. When a pass is clearly open to him, Diaby will often look to take another man on. In addition to that, Diaby was criticized for not giving passes, when he had an ideal chance to set Theo Walcott up when Arsenal were already 1-0 up away to Barcelona in the second leg of their Champions League quarter-final.
In addition to that, Abou Diaby had a terrible leg injury only four years ago and the Frenchman still struggles with niggling injuries to this day as a result of that leg injury. But there comes a time when Arsenal expects more from him. When Abou Diaby was asked about his favourite position, he said it's playing off a striker but Arsenal already has so many players that play in that position. So he is unlikely to get his wish. Diaby does offer Arsenal extra height at set pieces and if Arsenal just gets some consistency from him, he could become an integral part of the Arsenal team.
Denilson can give the ball away far too often on many occasions. A lot of Arsenal fans were very unhappy with his performance in the home loss to "Manchester United" last season. Denilson was overtaken by the referee while tracking back in the lead up to one of their goals. It just looked like that Denilson couldn't be bothered putting in the effort. When you add that to Denilson’s collapse in the home game against Everton last season when in possession it looks to fans like he is too pampered.
Moreover, Denilson is a player of great calibre and he can put on some great performances for Arsenal. Every so often he does something that completely exhibits his skills on the field. With all of Arsenal players available, it would be quite hard for Denilson to get a lot of playing time this season but it is a squad game and Arsenal could well have to call upon him a few times this season.
However, it’s hard to say too much about Aaron Ramsey as there's no knowing exactly when or if he will recover fully from his terrible injury last season. At the moment he is scheduled for return in November but nobody expects him to challenge fully for a first team place until next season in reality. Arsenal Manager rates him so highly that he sees him as a long term replacement for Cesc Fabregas. Arsenal Fans can only hope that he recovers fully and they get to see him go on and have a fantastic career at Arsenal.
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