GUNDOGAN? YES PLEASE by JA
Hey guys, I heard that Arsenal are looking for a new DM and also heard that Dortmund’s Ilkay Gundogan is available as he has just 18 months left on his contract. How come Wenger hasn’t heard the same news! Now wait.I can see you boiling up with the ‘we need a proper DM’ scream but what exactly is a proper DM in the modern game? Well, judging by the qualities most teams are looking for, a good one should be;
-a great interceptor
-a great passer (long range accuracy is welcome )
-great sense of position
-great tackler
-strong
Those qualities are in order of importance – based on the best in the trade from the recognized top teams.
Now at Arsenal we have Mikael Arteta who holds those qualities but he is getting on in terms of age. You want to see a proper replacement? Then take a look at Gundogan, who is only 24.
Now I can see you screaming “that’s an attacking player”. Mate you got it wrong. Thing is, at all the top teams, that guy you see running around shoving people all the time and making lots of tackles is not the DM. The DM is supposed to stay away from direct confrontation and just stay behind the rest of the midfielders, but just in front of the back four. Inevitably,a defensive midfielder will find themselves tackling because they operate in the area of the pitch where all the opponent’s genius players are, but most of the tackling and dirty work is done by the box to box midfielder.
The defensive midfielder is more concerned with interception and distribution. Actually,the infamous sideways passing stats that most famed defensive midfielders achieve are just dictated by the nature of their job in a passing team.
Fact is, ALL good defensive mids can be attacking mids based on the ‘set a thief to catch a thief’ policy. Any good defensive mid should be able to think like an attacking mid in terms of passing and ball retention, so I think Gundogan can cut it for us. He can pass, he can intercept, he’s strong, and any modern day central midfielder can tackle, so I think we should sign him up!
Enjoy your weekend…
Joe