The past week has seen both these 2 aforementioned players being given a kind of opposite response to varied news. One side was Rosicky who was deservedly getting praised from all corners of the world for a splendid performance at Brighton in the FA Cup. On the other side there were a lot of gooners cribbing at the news of an impending extension to our captain's contract. Fans are of the feeling that Arteta is not good enough anymore and retaining him would be a very bad decision. Many fans felt the same about Rosicky, but Hey well that has changed.
Anyways reaction to Arteta getting a new contract was not really well appreciated as can be seen below,
Anyways reaction to Arteta getting a new contract was not really well appreciated as can be seen below,
Anyways as this article goes I will look at the pros and cons about these players and it is for you to decide then If we have to keep or sell them.
TOMAS ROSICKY THE ULTIMATE SQUAD PLAYER?
Everytime Rosicky plays, he does so with so much endeavor, you almost feel like you are watching a kid trying to impress. Trust me I do not know how many of you remember much about the player he was. The club Rosicky played for before joining us was for Dortmund, a club where he is almost treated as a legend. He joint there in 2001 for a then Bundesliga record transfer! In total there he played for 5 and half season, playing 186 games, scoring 24 goals. He won the Czech footballer of the year 3 times in his 5 and half seasons there. He scored some truly spectacular goals and won a lot of accolades for his performances.
On 23rd May after much speculation linking him to other clubs, he signed for us for an undisclosed fee. He then later played in the World Cup in Germany and at that time I was younger and had not heard of him. So on reading the news of his imminent arrival and being an avid supporter I was waiting to watch all the Czech Republic matches. I saw his match against the USA where he scored a 30 yard screamer and also won the man of the match in the process. I realised then what a player we had in our hands and to say I was delighted would be an understatement.
When he started playing for us, he formed a superb partnership with Fabregas and Hleb and although was a no 10 kind of player, was put on the left side of attack. There were many reasons, he could cut inside and score fantastic goals, he did that too, he had an enormous work rate and hence would help defensively and he also had fantastic acceleration and so could dribble past players with ease. He joint us the season our legend Pires left, he almost seemed a perfect replacement. He had a decent debut season, started his 2nd season spectacularly before ending it prematurely. The reason was a tendon injury in his hamstring. It kept him out for the entire season of 2008/09.
Since recovering from that injury he exemplifies everything about Arsenal. When he plays, he is fantastic but he has enough injury problems to contend with. He seems like a player with a career saying "if only he was not injured". But don't take away anything from him. Despite all the injury problems he has had to contend with, he is always there to help us. Most importantly the season of 2011/12 when van Persie was taking all the plaudits, this was the man who was the unsung hero. Deployed in his favoured no 10 role he was a joy to watch and one of the most important reasons we finished in the top 4 that season.
PROS:
CONS:
WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAD TO SAY..
“Of course, that’s what Tomas does in training all the time, looking the other way when he’s passing the ball. It gets me all the time! He’s got that quality going forward. I love the way Tomas just turns and breaks with it. The goal was fantastic." Theo Walcott
“My idol was always Tomas Rosicky. He used to be phenomenal. He had such a good eye for an opening and knew where his team-mates were and he was so quick. I copied everything about him – right down to his sweatbands. He was so unlucky he had bad injuries at Arsenal because, otherwise, he would be one of the world’s best players." Marco Reus
"My hero was Tomas Rosicky. I have a shot of him in my room and it's fantastic to play with him. In my opinion, he's a great player and I focus on his game." Thomas Eisfeld
“It’s really cool to be a part of the first teams training sessions and experience the quality and tempo there. And the best one of them all is probably Rosicky. He’s always the best during spring. It was the same last year. Very few midfielders are better than him. He’s a really nice guy who likes to stay behind after practice to give us younger players some good advice and tips”. Kris Olsson
"If you love football, you love Rosicky." Arsene Wenger
MIKEL ARTETA - THE SILENT LEADER
When Arsenal signed Mikel Arteta from Everton on deadline day 2011 for a fee of around 10 million. All Arsenal fans were delighted with his signing. This was a player who was the creative force behind a decent Everton side. The feeling was there that we may have finally replaced Cesc Fabregas. Well Arsene had other plans. Not many people know that Arteta started off as a DM. He played there in the youth systems at Barcelona and also at PSG. However towards the end of his PSG spell he was moved towards a more advanced role and that was where he flourished even at Everton. Arsene felt with the wonderful range of passing he possesses it would be better to use him in a deep lying role, much like the position Xabi Alonso plays. He and Xabi are extremely close, childhood friends. When Arsene moved him into a deeper role, it was naturally greeted with a lot of skepticism. But soon the fans realised it was a wise decision. It was a role that was working wonders and suddenly when he got injured the entire team would collapse. Naturally with age his pace decreased (Only Rosicky I can think of as an exception!) and so he ended up being more prone to defensive howlers or slow to react to stop players going past him. This incensed the Arsenal fans who demanded he be sold. However everytime he was absent it really showed what a good and underrated player he was.
Arteta is something of a silent leader. Along the mould of Mertesacker. There is a reason he is named captain this season and vice captain the last. He has a strong control over the dressing room. He need not be the type of player who shouts, he makes sure his presence is felt. Also his job defensively is massively underrated. An old picture I got via Arseblog.
TOMAS ROSICKY THE ULTIMATE SQUAD PLAYER?
Everytime Rosicky plays, he does so with so much endeavor, you almost feel like you are watching a kid trying to impress. Trust me I do not know how many of you remember much about the player he was. The club Rosicky played for before joining us was for Dortmund, a club where he is almost treated as a legend. He joint there in 2001 for a then Bundesliga record transfer! In total there he played for 5 and half season, playing 186 games, scoring 24 goals. He won the Czech footballer of the year 3 times in his 5 and half seasons there. He scored some truly spectacular goals and won a lot of accolades for his performances.
On 23rd May after much speculation linking him to other clubs, he signed for us for an undisclosed fee. He then later played in the World Cup in Germany and at that time I was younger and had not heard of him. So on reading the news of his imminent arrival and being an avid supporter I was waiting to watch all the Czech Republic matches. I saw his match against the USA where he scored a 30 yard screamer and also won the man of the match in the process. I realised then what a player we had in our hands and to say I was delighted would be an understatement.
When he started playing for us, he formed a superb partnership with Fabregas and Hleb and although was a no 10 kind of player, was put on the left side of attack. There were many reasons, he could cut inside and score fantastic goals, he did that too, he had an enormous work rate and hence would help defensively and he also had fantastic acceleration and so could dribble past players with ease. He joint us the season our legend Pires left, he almost seemed a perfect replacement. He had a decent debut season, started his 2nd season spectacularly before ending it prematurely. The reason was a tendon injury in his hamstring. It kept him out for the entire season of 2008/09.
Since recovering from that injury he exemplifies everything about Arsenal. When he plays, he is fantastic but he has enough injury problems to contend with. He seems like a player with a career saying "if only he was not injured". But don't take away anything from him. Despite all the injury problems he has had to contend with, he is always there to help us. Most importantly the season of 2011/12 when van Persie was taking all the plaudits, this was the man who was the unsung hero. Deployed in his favoured no 10 role he was a joy to watch and one of the most important reasons we finished in the top 4 that season.
PROS:
- Injuries always play a part in Arsenal. Even players like Ozil who were hardly ever injured end up injured for 3 months. When you look at the squad the feeling arises that we have too many players of the same type. The diminutive creative no 10. It would be hard to say no to that statement. We have Rosicky, Ozil, Wilshere, Santi (even Alexis!). Look at things this way, the number of injuries we have every season a player like Rosicky, who is a team player and can play across the front 3, as a no 10 or even a deep lying midfielder is precisely what we need. His flexibilty allows us to adopt different formations, like this season a 4-2-3-1 or a 4-3-3. No matter where he lines up, he brings assured, incisive passing, intelligent movement, and defensive commitment.
- We hardly find players willing to sit on the bench. And each year, there sits Rosický, waiting on the bench, ready to hit the ground running. Fans hardly expect much from him. But if you've been paying attention to his quietly impressive career, you'd know Arsenal are in safe hands when they do have to rely on him.
- Rosický was the best player on the field against Brighton, instigating pretty much every dangerous Arsenal attack by sliding and chipping countless balls out to the runs of those around him, showing off the versatility that makes him so valuable. He was able to control the match in all phases, at times dropping deep alongside full-time defensive mid Mathieu Flamini to circulate the ball and slow down the pace, or instantly speeding things up by sitting in the number 10 position and flicking through balls to the wide players, or supporting the inside runs of Mesut Özil and Theo Walcott by making compensatory moves to the flanks, maintaining the space required for everything to work.
- The two goals he was directly involved in demonstrated his ability to influence the game from various positions: on his assist to Özil for the game's second goal, he collected the ball from a deep position before playing the German into space in the box for him to turn and score; and on his beauty of a strike which gave Arsenal their third, he tackled back the ball high up the pitch seconds after they had lost possession, shoulder-feinted his way past a couple defenders, rolled a look-away pass out to Olivier Giroud, then stroked a volley past the keeper to cap the game's finest bit of play.
- For a 34-year-old making only his fifth start of the season, he looked as fresh and in-form as any of the Gunners' younger regular starters.
- Loyalty. He has rejected many clubs to stay with Arsenal because he loves the club. For almost a decade he's known full well that in an ideal world he'd only grab a handful of minutes every month or so during blowouts, and getting the occasional start in matches that don't really matter that much. But instead of agitating for a move, he's stood by the club, secure in the knowledge that his opportunity will arrive—it always does—and he'll be able to make all the difference. It's a role few of his ability are willing to endure, and one that even fewer perform at his level. Rosický has never been Arsenal's star, but he's often been one of their most important.
- Given his experience he could be of vital use to help the younger players in the squad. Also he could move up to the coaching staff and help in the development of younger players.
CONS:
- Injury prone. He has suffered probably the 3rd most amount of injuries after Diaby and Wilshere.
- Not getting any younger. At 34 and his position you would not expect him to last much longer. He could though move into a deeper position.
- Wages. He earns around 4.16 GBP per year. That is a bit too much for a squad player.
WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAD TO SAY..
“Of course, that’s what Tomas does in training all the time, looking the other way when he’s passing the ball. It gets me all the time! He’s got that quality going forward. I love the way Tomas just turns and breaks with it. The goal was fantastic." Theo Walcott
“My idol was always Tomas Rosicky. He used to be phenomenal. He had such a good eye for an opening and knew where his team-mates were and he was so quick. I copied everything about him – right down to his sweatbands. He was so unlucky he had bad injuries at Arsenal because, otherwise, he would be one of the world’s best players." Marco Reus
"My hero was Tomas Rosicky. I have a shot of him in my room and it's fantastic to play with him. In my opinion, he's a great player and I focus on his game." Thomas Eisfeld
“It’s really cool to be a part of the first teams training sessions and experience the quality and tempo there. And the best one of them all is probably Rosicky. He’s always the best during spring. It was the same last year. Very few midfielders are better than him. He’s a really nice guy who likes to stay behind after practice to give us younger players some good advice and tips”. Kris Olsson
"If you love football, you love Rosicky." Arsene Wenger
MIKEL ARTETA - THE SILENT LEADER
When Arsenal signed Mikel Arteta from Everton on deadline day 2011 for a fee of around 10 million. All Arsenal fans were delighted with his signing. This was a player who was the creative force behind a decent Everton side. The feeling was there that we may have finally replaced Cesc Fabregas. Well Arsene had other plans. Not many people know that Arteta started off as a DM. He played there in the youth systems at Barcelona and also at PSG. However towards the end of his PSG spell he was moved towards a more advanced role and that was where he flourished even at Everton. Arsene felt with the wonderful range of passing he possesses it would be better to use him in a deep lying role, much like the position Xabi Alonso plays. He and Xabi are extremely close, childhood friends. When Arsene moved him into a deeper role, it was naturally greeted with a lot of skepticism. But soon the fans realised it was a wise decision. It was a role that was working wonders and suddenly when he got injured the entire team would collapse. Naturally with age his pace decreased (Only Rosicky I can think of as an exception!) and so he ended up being more prone to defensive howlers or slow to react to stop players going past him. This incensed the Arsenal fans who demanded he be sold. However everytime he was absent it really showed what a good and underrated player he was.
Arteta is something of a silent leader. Along the mould of Mertesacker. There is a reason he is named captain this season and vice captain the last. He has a strong control over the dressing room. He need not be the type of player who shouts, he makes sure his presence is felt. Also his job defensively is massively underrated. An old picture I got via Arseblog.
Now naturally the emergence of Coquelin has got people talking about a possible exit for Arteta and the need for a better DM. So the question arises, do we sell him?
Well my answer is no. Firstly because of his off field impact he has on the club and secondly there are not better backup DM's we can find. In my opinion we should retain him and precisely that has been done with a new 1 year extension for our captain.
Well my answer is no. Firstly because of his off field impact he has on the club and secondly there are not better backup DM's we can find. In my opinion we should retain him and precisely that has been done with a new 1 year extension for our captain.
As can be seen his performances last season have clearly been better than either Fernandinho or Mikel this season. The thing here is that he was a key player last season and he seems more injury prone this season. Well if he is a backup he will not play as much and hence would stay relatively more injury free. This season, given the poor form of Flamini, Arteta was again given a key job to marshal the defence. But now with the emergence of Coquelin he may just get a lighter job, which given his age would benefit him the most.
PROS:
CONS:
WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAD TO SAY..
"There is a reason he is the vice-captain of the team: he is a reference player in the dressing room," Cazorla said. He has helped me a lot. He knew I was a new signing, that it would be a positive experience for me but that I would also need time. He has had a calming effect on me. He has shown his confidence in me, and it is clear that Mikel has been key in my adaptation because he has always helped me." Santi Cazorla
"He's great. Tactically his positioning is probably the best around. He's an older player, so he's great for the younger players to talk to on and off the pitch." Jack Wilshere
"I think the manager (Wenger) was probably surprised what he offers: he is a great professional, a really good footballer and I'll be delighted to see him back - just disappointed it is in an Arsenal jersey. I see Mikel now and when they are having a bit of a huddle he is the one who is the leader and I think they look to him, he has taken on a lot of the leadership qualities in that side. He was part of the rebuilding process that had to take place at Everton when we tried to develop the team and move it on. We took Mikel on loan from Real Sociedad after he'd been at Rangers and it hadn't quite worked for him. We were a bit unsure when he first came here. He was a bit lightweight to play in the middle and so we played him off the side and he was great there for us, he really was. Eventually he moved on to be a real key figure in that period and was a big part of us developing and moving Everton forward." David Moyes
So Gooners what do you say? Keep them and they may become legends or sell them and lose their experience and control of the dressing room? Leave a comment! Cheers!
PROS:
- Well for starters he is a player who was dying to join the club. He took a pay cut from his Everton contract just to play for us.
- He has a strong control over the dressing room, with a lot of the younger players having utmost respect for him.
- As a backup DM he would be a perfect fit. Also against the smaller teams using him would help us to break the bus they are parking with some of his exquisite long passes.
- Has an excellent passing range and that will not change with age fortunately!
- Excellent set piece taker. Atleast he was, but none the less gives us an extra option.
- He is the main reason players like Cazorla, Monreal and Sanchez feel so settled at the club.
- Just like Rosicky with his experience he can help a lot of the younger players come up.
- He is an experienced member of the squad and even when his legs can no longer carry him, his tactical awareness is well established. Arsene Wenger has spoken about his on numerous occasions. He does not have to play all the matches as he has done in the past three seasons, he can be subjected to rotation now with Coquelin's emergence.
- For once, the club should keep more experience players within the squad. And Mikel Arteta’s role if not served on the pitch if he ends up seeing less playing time, such experience can be used off the pitch to aid the club’s course next season.
CONS:
- Age is catching up the Spaniard as he is losing out on his speed in a position where you need atleast some pace especially in handling counter attacks.
- Wages can be a waste especially as he is one of the higher earning members in the squad.
- Starting to show signs of injury proneness. Needs to be handled carefully.
WHAT OTHER PEOPLE HAD TO SAY..
"There is a reason he is the vice-captain of the team: he is a reference player in the dressing room," Cazorla said. He has helped me a lot. He knew I was a new signing, that it would be a positive experience for me but that I would also need time. He has had a calming effect on me. He has shown his confidence in me, and it is clear that Mikel has been key in my adaptation because he has always helped me." Santi Cazorla
"He's great. Tactically his positioning is probably the best around. He's an older player, so he's great for the younger players to talk to on and off the pitch." Jack Wilshere
"I think the manager (Wenger) was probably surprised what he offers: he is a great professional, a really good footballer and I'll be delighted to see him back - just disappointed it is in an Arsenal jersey. I see Mikel now and when they are having a bit of a huddle he is the one who is the leader and I think they look to him, he has taken on a lot of the leadership qualities in that side. He was part of the rebuilding process that had to take place at Everton when we tried to develop the team and move it on. We took Mikel on loan from Real Sociedad after he'd been at Rangers and it hadn't quite worked for him. We were a bit unsure when he first came here. He was a bit lightweight to play in the middle and so we played him off the side and he was great there for us, he really was. Eventually he moved on to be a real key figure in that period and was a big part of us developing and moving Everton forward." David Moyes
So Gooners what do you say? Keep them and they may become legends or sell them and lose their experience and control of the dressing room? Leave a comment! Cheers!