Arsenal picked up another Boxing Day victory after narrowly beating QPR 2-1 at the Emirates, despite Arsene Wenger’s side dominating possession throughout the game.
Goals from Alexis Sanchez and forgotten man Tomas Rosicky saw Arsenal bag all three points and the Gunners now sit in sixth place in the Premier League table, two points behind fourth placed Southampton.
It was a game which all of the Emirates faithful expected to win yesterday, but the inclusion of Rosicky into the starting line-up perhaps wasn’t.
Nearly half the season has passed and believe it or not but yesterday was Rosicky’s first start for us.
The Czech has had to play second fiddle to almost every midfielder in our squad, but with many of them missing, Wenger opted to give the ageing playmaker a run out against Harry Redknapp’s men – and Rosicky reminded us and Wenger why he should be playing more.
Before getting the nod from Wenger yesterday, Rosicky only featured from the bench (six times), with his other start coming in the Carling Cup loss to Southampton back in September. As a result, his future has been plunged in doubt and all the Czech midfielder wanted was a chance to prove his worth, which he did to the max against QPR yesterday.
His display yesterday showed why he should be featuring more regularly, in my opinion.
His passing, movement and creativity was superb throughout, and his energy and fitness levels are still there to be seen. Granted, it was only QPR (no disrespect intended Hoops fans) but you wonder with the vision and ingenuity he possesses why he doesn’t start or feature more in Wenger’s side. He may be getting on and Wenger does have younger players to utilize, but Rosicky is still very much one of Arsenal’s best and influential players (even at 34), he is not in decline physically and still has energy to burn.
I for one really hope the Czech midfielder gets more game time under his belt from now until the end of the season as he can still offer something to this current squad. No matter the age, if you still got it you should be playing.
Nice post. I totally agree with you
I for one love rosicky. He is always trying to attack with d ball, not returning it backwards. He has a good vision and pass accuracy. We Av players with immense quality in the side and we really need to use them. In d match against Liverpool, podolski would Av scored with dat last chance after d equalizer. But he was on d bench. We really need d German. He really and truly do get lost in games, but he doesn’t waste time and chances at firing in like welbeck and giround does. Campbell has also proven himself in games where he was given a chance, but still they all rot on d bench.