It’s evidently clear that Gervinho has become our new Mr. Marmite – you either love him or hate him. Simple as that.
Gervinho arrived at The Emirates, in 2011, with a lot of expectation following a successful season with Lille, lifting the Ligue 1 title and former team-mate Eden Hazard stating the Ivorian is the best player he has ever played alongside.
The 25-year-old’s first season at Arsenal saw him make 35 appearances in all competitions (24 as a starter), contributing just four goals and seven assists. Needless to say, it was an ok introductory season for Gervinho, who performed on a fairly consistent basis.
However, since his return from the African Cup of Nations last year, which saw him miss a penalty in the final against Zambia, The Ivorian has struggled to regain his form and composure in front of goal. As a result, Arsene Wenger has only granted him 10 Premier League starts this season. Gervinho had to play the waiting game at the start of the campaign following the summer arrival of Lukas Podolski. But with the German forward out-of-form, the Ivory Coast international has managed to work his way back into the starting-line.
Some will say that Gervinho has been fairly poor for us this season and has not managed to replicate performances we saw two years ago. Yes, he has scored more goals than he did last season (7) and created the same amount of assists, however, many still believe he is not Arsenal standard – and I can see why these fans may think that. His decision-making isn’t great at times, sometimes he overworks the ball and his finishing isn’t something to be taken aback by (well, not in a positive way anyway).
I believe Gervinho can become a very good player for our club, I really do. He has good feet, pace and technical ability to succeed, but we aren’t seeing it for some reason. Maybe it’s because he is low on confidence, or maybe, and this is what I think makes him look crap at times, it’s because he is playing in an unfamiliar role in the centre-forward position.
Wenger loves to experiment, deploying players in unnatural positions (Podolski on the wing, Santi Cazorla on the wing, Aaron Ramsey behind the striker, the list is endless). For some strange reason Wenger sees Gervinho as a striker, even though the Frenchman admits he’s not ‘clinical’ in front of goal. Perhaps he sees something we don’t see. But to me, the Ivorian doesn’t have the composure required to lead our line, despite netting two goals in his last two Premier League appearances.
Wenger reckons Gervinho will get ‘better and better’ and his inconsistency is all down to the player’s psychology. I for one hope he is right in his diagnosis of Gervinho and he does get better and better (we all want him to succeed), and it is just down to a confidence issue. But I can’t see him progress or get better in a position that he clearly isn’t comfortable in.
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Ooh, to be an Arsenal fan? Its those small little detail that discern us from the majority. Booing own players that some are so dejected they cry in public. Remember, Emmanuel Eboue? He was constantly jeered that he must have had a fantastic feeling out of our club. I am not just saying this to hurt anyone’s feelings but our club has some unique supporters in fact, I dont remember any other club treating its players like that.Why are we like that? Can anyone tell me?
Arsenal fans do a good job ruining its own players sometimes for fun
As an alternative to podolski on the left I am fine with that as they are so very different. With gibbs or monreal supplying yet another more defensive alternative I would say I’m happy with the left side. What I would like to see is an alternative to giroud and I think that is where wenger will focus. I also think he will focus on an alternative to theo on the right just so that we can offer a similar option down the right as to the left. I see chamberlain being given the opportunity to replace rosicky as the cam option to cazorla as once again he is an alternative option but can play with both his left and right. This will leave wenger with one more problem to solve the holding partnership. Arteta wilshire ramsey coquelin and diaby need to be joined by at least one player plus may be a temporary option until diaby returns in january. Personally I would go for wanyam or capoue with perhaps letting frimpong and/or aneke take the opportunity to temporarily replace diaby. Then in january review the diaby/frimpong/aneke situation. Finally I would like to see djourou squillaci and santos leave to be replaced by another top centre back and also another right back. I would try to retain sagna also but use him as the versatile defender as he can play both full back roles and centre back. Eventually I see angha taking this role as he to can play every position in the back 4. I want to see shea and mannone replaced by a decent keeper to push the 2 poles!
Gervinho played well on saturday against a limited team at home.He doesnt seem to know what to do with the ball when he has time to think.Our way of playing demands a certain level of football intelligence, unlike say a Stoke or such like.You cant learn to make the right choices,either in football or in life,and we have better wide players and better finishers.Might be time to move him on and free up a squad place