Why our midfield trio needs a reshuffle

We have witnessed Arsenal play a midfield trio of Alex Song, Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey more than any other combination so far this season. It is a trio that has played consistently together more often than not with the likes of Tomas Rosicky and Yossi Benayoun coming on as subs, except for the past two months where we have seen a resurgent Rosicky coupled with injuries to Rambo coming into the attacking midfield position.

I have always questioned Ramsey’s deployment in the hole behind Robin van Persie as I don’t particularly think he has the skill neither the creativity nor vision to slice open defences with his passing. Compared to ‘little Mozart’ or Yossi, the Welshman takes a touch too many on the ball, is slow to get the ball moving, not a quick thinker nor does he match vision with accuracy. All the qualities the Czech midfielder acquires as well as Benayoun, who is a good dribbler as well.

Rosicky and Benayoun are not only quick passers of the ball, they are one-two passers and footballers who runs comfortably with ball at their feet, with Rosicky possessing a thunder bolt in his boots when it comes to having a go at goal. They both bring fluidity into the centre of the pack as well, qualities which Rambo does not have in abundance. With more games under the belt of Tomas, we are beginning to see more of the maestro we paid for some years back from Dortmund. You may beg to differ that Rambo has got more assists than Tomas; well you must check the ratio of assists and minutes played before you proceed with this theory. Talking of assists, I am still bemused to who our attacking midfielder is as Alexander the great, who occupies the defensive midfield, tends to pop up with more assists of the three in the middle of the park.

Statistically, you can say Aaron has done better than anyone else passing wise with Metersacker second. However, I would differ in opinion because an attacking midfielder’s job is to slice open defences and feed through balls to front man. Passing backwards and across the line may rack up your numbers statistically, but it is not as important as goal-scoring stats which Song, in my reckoning, has notched up more killer passes to date which win games.

This is not to say Rambo has no good qualities though. The Rambo I saw before the horrific leg break was a kid with a V-8 engine, who can charge around the centre of play, dictate the flow of the game and feed Cesc produce the magic. I thought we were going to be seeing more of the same until Arsene Wenger brought up other ideas with Aaron replacing Fabregas. Mind you, and with respect to British players, I am yet to see a proper attacking midfielder from the UK with raw skill and trickery like Ronaldinho, Nasri, Iniesta, Modric, Rosicky, Benayoun and so on. British lads are known for power, speed and aggression in the middle of the park and Rambo is no different. Trickery I must say comes with nature and not something you get over playing, though consistency improves your overall play.

Arteta for me would do a much better job in the hole with Ramsey doing the dog fighting and breaking up play and.

I believe a little role swap would bring more supply to an already efficient midfield. Another thing to note is the deployment of Yossi and Tomas out wide. With both players over the 30 mark, Arsene has not utilized them right, as the duo like Giggsy have lost the most critical element a winger needs to thrive which is pace.

Am I saying we have more players in the same role than needed? Maybe, maybe not, as Yossi, Tomas and Arteta are three players with almost similar qualities, though each differ in his own unique way and since creativity in the final third is a role that needs constant efficiency and optimum performance at all times, we may be having the right ingredients in the three of them to execute games, depending on our opponents structure and strength.

In conclusion, I would suggest that Rambo be deployed more centrally and Wenger allows the dudes with natural flair and creativity embedded in them, like Tomas, Yossi and Mikel to sit behind RVP.

In my reckoning, Diaby, Ramsey and Wilshere should be made to slug it out for central midfield positions while Arteta, Benayoun and Rosicky play it out for the attacking midfield role occasionally with RVP, so it gives Theo or Park to play the lone striker.

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