Four UNSUNG Arsenal heroes from our great performance

THE FOUR PLAYERS QUIETLY TRANSFORMING OUR SEASON by Uche

Hello folks. I believe you are all in good spirits today. What a difference a great win makes. Just like our game against Hull City in the FA cup, we ran a strong Stoke side ragged in what was arguably our best performance of the season. One cannot help but feel that this Arsenal team might have turned a corner.

After the Stoke game, I sat analyzing this team to find out what is responsible for our current performances. Suddenly we are playing like the Arsenal of old with added energy and all round play to make it even better. Since the Southampton loss, we have had two wins, five goals scored, non-conceded and with totally dominating performances. What I found out is that, apart from the usual suspects of Sanchez and Cazorla, David Ospina, Francis Coquelin, Tomas Rosicky and Laurent Koscielny are the four players quietly transforming our performances. Yes it is a bit too early to praise them all but here and now, they deserve the praise and this is why:

David Ospina: David Ospina is a brilliant goal keeper that we acquired over the summer after a brilliant World Cup performance for his home country of Columbia. He came to us injured so he never really got to make that grand entrance into Arsenal. But having since recovered and played himself into contention, he got his second chance at goal and impressed against Hull City in the FA cup. And then destiny smiled at him again after Wojciech Szczesny followed his Southampton horror show with a cigarette and his loud mouth dad ridiculing Arsenal. Frankly folks, I have never been this excited about an Arsenal player smoking! I have been wondering what it will take for Ospina to finally get his chance. Szczesny has been cocky and inconsistent all through the period he has been Number One in Arsenal and while he is a decent goal keeper, you can always count on him for the occasional blunder. In contrast, David Ospina is humble, seasoned and switched on. Many say he is untested but his club form in Nice and his World cup exploits prove otherwise. Ospina inspires calm and confidence and if he gets to keep his place, he will make the difference for us in the second half of the season.

Francis Coquelin: Every man and his deaf grandmother have all heard by now of how Arsenal needs a ten foot tall beast of a defensive midfielder. This is a problem that has dogged us since Patrick Vieira left. But while we wait for that bruising monster in midfield, our very own Francis Coquelin is quietly pulling a Ramsey. Out of the blue, Coquelin was withdrawn from his latest loan spell in Charlton Athletic and he has been incredible in all the games he has played so far. Even when we were poor at Southampton, he was our best player. Francis is disciplined, focused and sits in front of the back four like a pit bull, breaking up attacks and initiating attacks with quick, forward moving and incisive passes. He is not the finished article but he has been good enough and can only get better. While I would still love a Schneiderlin or Carvalho, just to be safe, Coquelin has earned his place. Besides, players coming in at mid-season with no preseason training with Arsenal are not guaranteed to hit the ground running. With fewer and fewer points to play for and no room for errors, Coquelin just might be our best option now.

Tomas Rosicky: What a gem of a player. Rosicky has been at Arsenal now for almost a decade and is one of those attacking midfielders that best epitomizes the Arsenal way of playing. At the age of 33, this guy has more energy than all our midfielders and he is the oldest of them all. Tomas runs for ninety minutes, ups the tempo of our game, presses and harasses the opposition nonstop, and combines very well with Santi Carzola. He always plays the ball forward and carries a goal threat. Since Alexis stormed Arsenal with his tireless work rate, we have waited for our midfield to catch up with him. Rosicky is now making that happen because he too is a work horse. He has helped us cross the finish line a few times in previous seasons and come the business end of this season, Arsenal will need him again.

Laurent Koscielny: Unlike the other three players, Laurent Koscielny’s quality and value to the team is well known. I have only added him to this list because he recently came back from injury which has really plagued him all through this season. What Laurent brings to our defense, besides being solid and world class, is that he makes Per Mertesacker a better player. When Koscielny is in the side, our best defense is on display and that confidence can be seen from the way the team plays. Not having to worry about your defence fills attacking players with the confidence to play freely and go forward.

So let us hope that these four players remain available and involved so that the team continues to impress the way it has done in the last two games. With the form of Southampton, Tottenham, Man Utd, Liverpool and even West Ham, God knows a fourth place finish will be as hard as nails this time around.

Have a great week guys.

Uche Edochie
Lagos – Nigeria

Tags Coquelin Koscielny ospina Rosicky

37 Comments

    1. Very much doubt it. We have Welbeck, Giroud, Sanchez, Walcott and Akpom who can all play up front.
      Don’t expect too much either it tends to lead to disappointment.

    2. Wenger is offloading wages of these players, so he’s not going to sign more useless attackers when we really need defenders anyways.

      1. Eh, wouldn’t it be nice to have Chambers start ahead of the German ducker? A pairing of Chambers and Koscielny against City…

    3. He is off loading some wages and making some money from Afobe to please Kroneke. Kroneke and Wenger love economics and the financial side of football too much.

      1. Afobe and Sonogo gone. Should give Akpom reassurance that he will get game time. So he will sign contract extension.

  1. For some reason I am really afraid that Ozil will replace either Cazorla or Rosicky and it will unbalance and upset our midfield. Given Ozil has TONS of ability, our current midfield is what clicks, and if Ozil comes straight in it will take a while to adjust. I fear the same with Walcott also.

    1. don’t think that’ll happen at all especially with how Cazorla and Ox performed last match. Wenger has gotta know that an away match against Man City is not a time to start players coming off on injury. I’m more worried what he’ll do at the GK spot.

    2. For some reason, every time i read comments of people being afraid for some kind situations it makes me slightly go angry at them. Think like this. Santi is performing so good, that you can put him everywhere the pitch and you will know that he will perform just well.

      I am thankfull of having competition in many places, but very angry that we fail to find competition in some key poz like Cb, dm and striking role.

  2. Kosclieny is so damn crucial to our squad. You can just tell how much we’ve missed him last fall.

  3. Koscielny is world class when fully fit. Good to see Coquelin gets your praise, he definitely deserved it. If he fine tunes his passing game he can grow out to a squad player for a fit Arsenal very quickly! How on earth Rosicky is playing like he’s still 12 is beyond me, unreal player and still so useful and well integrated in the playing style. Links up so well with Ox and Sanchez.
    Ospina did well even though he didn’t have very much to do, start him vs City please.

  4. Anyone reckon this team would be capable of winning the title next season?:

    Szszcesny
    Jenkinson Reid Koscielny Gibbs
    Ramsey Carvalho
    Walcott Ozil Sanchez
    Giroud

    Subs: Ospina, Debuchy, Chambers, Wilshere, Cazorla, Ox, Welbeck.

    I’ve put Chambers and Debuchy on the bench together as I feel Chambers should be backup centre back and Debuchy should be backup right back. Bearing in mind there will more than likely always be the odd injury or in our case, loads of injuries so that leaves players such as Monreal, Rosicky, Flamini, Arteta, Diaby(if fit) Mertesaker and so on as squad players. Just an idea for next season, I think it would be a decent team tbh.

    1. no, for these reasons:

      giroud is not cuthroat goal scorer like costa aguero
      carvalho is not ready , still needs to improve on his passes, an he has trouble dealing with fast dribblers, plus he isnt as dynamic as a viera yet
      shezza concentration levels are poor
      reid is unproven at the highest level

      1. @muffdiver
        I still don’t get all the fuss about Carvalho. Every match I’ve watched him in he looks lackluster and out of shape. Yeah, he’s a big dude and thats about it…I’d rather have Kondogbia or Vidal, to be honest…

          1. @Ks-Gunner
            Vidal is still a defensive work horse, even after his injury. Kondogbia is like Ramsey but way more defense minded. I don’t play into the DM who just “sits” in front of the back 4…

        1. everyone an there mother would prefer vidal bro lol,
          i agree about carvalho he still looks very raw for such a vital position, but he has most of the tools,
          people on here are assuming he’s a ready made dm – bit premature

          1. Tell you what, guys, Carvalho isn’t the real deal and I really don’t think he’s worth the amount often quoted in the media. At the moment, keep Cock in that midfield, he’s been hugely good.

  5. For City

    ……………………….Ospina
    Bellerin….Koscielny…Mertsacker…Gibbs
    ………………………Coquelin
    ………………Cazorla……..Ozil or Rosicky
    Walcott………………………………….Sanchez
    ………………………Giroud

  6. Kondogbia has the aggressiveness and ball winning ability, that we need in a defensive midfielder! Coyg!

  7. That stinging shot by Rosicky reminded me of that rocket against spuds at the lane last season!!!! And Le Coc,well,he showed those cave-dwellers another side of our game with him in the side…not as immobile as flamini and not as soft as Arteta…a combination of a good passer and a tough tackler…and he wins over 80% of headed duels…i loved that step-over that resulted to a yellow to some rugby player too…what a win!!! What a player we have in alexis!!!

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