A review of Arsenal's title assault so far

Mathieu Flamini

Apps – 13 Goals – 1 Assists – 0Performance of the season – Napoli (H)

What an excellent signing Flamini has been for us. I wasn’t one of the ones kicking up a fuss at the signing of Flamini, Wenger knows Mathieu very well and as he says it was a ‘no brainer’. Flamini isn’t the DM most people were yearning for, but has really put the ‘we need a DM’ topic to bed. The use of Flamini isn’t needed for every game, Flamini suits games where we need to press the opposition and be tenacious in our tackling pushing their midfield back, like we saw against Napoli.

Arteta is still firmly the number one choice in the double pivot role with Ramsey, but Flamini will give Arteta the rest he needs, as well as the option for Wenger to start both of them in games which suits the pair. We really do have an abundance of quality in the midfield, options to suit many game situations.

Mikel Arteta

Apps – 16 Goals – 1 Assists – 0Performance of the season – Cardiff (A)

Arteta has been a revelation for us since joining the club, he has been one of the most consistent performers in the Premier League over the past two seasons for Arsenal and has been Arsenal’s very own Mr Dependable. Arteta’s performance against Cardiff typified his role in the team, breaking up play, restarting play quickly, passing efficiently, all things you would die for your DM to have.

He may not be the most athletic bloke in the team, but he doesn’t need to be, his head gets him out of sticky situations and very rarely gets overrun, especially with the energy of Ramsey or Flamini supporting him. Last season we saw Arteta being played every game, relying on him solely to keep the team ticking, which was an unfair request to be made, this season we’re already seeing the benefits of being able to switch up our midfield and keep our legs fresh for a hopefully long season.

Aaron Ramsey

Apps – 23 Goals – 13 Assists – 6Performance of the season – Swansea (A)

In all honesty, not much needs to be said about the man, an absolute beast in midfield, surely one of the most in form players in the world football. I actually need to stop referring to Ramsey’s performances as form, it is no longer form it is ability. Form is for a few games, class and ability is something Ramsey has been displaying since March last season.

Confidence breeds success and Ramsey must feel like superman right now. The world is his oyster, he is capable of absolutely anything, the sky is the limit and there is no reason why he can’t be considered as one of the most complete midfielders in world football if he carries on improving. There are a couple players who can rival Aaron Ramsey’s engine, but to also be able to score goals, set them up and break up the play, is a set of skills that even fewer can display week in week out.

Tomas Rosicky

Apps – 14 Goals – 0 Assists – 1Performance of the season – Liverpool (H)

Every year Rosicky comes back into the team he feels like a new signing, the extra dimension he gives to our team is mesmerizing. Another player with a superb engine, with a directness about him that unlocks defences so easily. You could be mistaken for thinking Rosicky was younger than 33 years old, especially with his energy, all of his injuries means he becomes somewhat of a forgotten man by pundits and fans from outside the arsenal fan base.

His best performances have all come in the big games we’ve had this year, Spurs, Liverpool, Napoli and Dortmund (away), where he was exceptional, unfortunately missing out against United where we could have done with himself, Mertesacker and Walcott, I’m convinced the result would’ve been different if those 3 had been fit to play, but that is neither here nor there. I think we have a few more years left in Tomas Rosicky, he is going to be imperative in crucial games this season.

Jack Wilshere

Apps – 21 Goals – 4 Assists – 1Performance of the season – Marseille (H)

It’s been a difficult start to the season for Jack, showing indifferent form and lack of sharpness in the majority of games. That being said Jack has largely had to play out of position, either wide right or wide left, a bit like Ramsey had to endure for the 2/3 of last season. That has definitely not helped Jack, but in recent weeks we have seen an improvement in Jack’s performances and he certainly looks like he is getting back to his best.

The problem Wenger now has is deciding where Jack is going to permanently play? A debate can be had as to what is Jack’s best position, is he a box to box? Is he a deep lying playmaker? Can he be utilised in an advanced playmaker role? Or maybe Wenger has high hopes for him out wide (doubt it though). One thing is for certain, an in-form Jack Wilshere is hard to leave out of the team and definitely gives Wenger a nice problem to have in team selection.

Mesut Özil

Apps – 18 Goals – 4 Assists – 8Performance of the season – Sunderland (A)

The Genius, club record signing has had a decent start to English football, 8 assists and 4 goals for somebody who has hardly broken sweat as of yet is pretty impressive to be honest. The lad has obviously given the squad new found self-belief and confidence that anything is possible. We haven’t really seen a consistent run of outstanding performances from Mesut yet, but what we have seen is the ability to change any game in an instant.

He could be playing like Gervinho but still produce a moment of brilliance to win us the game, having someone like that in the squad releases the pressure from the likes of Cazorla, Walcott, Ramsey, Wilshere etc who previously may have felt like they needed to be the match winners, something we lacked in the big games last term. Mesut is on course for another 20+ assist season, if he could add a few more goals to his game as well then I wouldn’t complain.

Santi Cazorla

Apps – 17 Goals – 1 Assists – 1Performance of the season – Fulham (A)

Other than his moment of brilliance against Liverpool, we have hardly seen the Santi Cazorla from last season as of yet this term. Cazorla looks as though he is just trying to find his feet again after missing a few games this season, as well as settling in with Özil. It is bound to take time, it’s not going to happen overnight, we have seen bits and bobs so far with their interchanging play and clever flicks, I’m not too worried about Cazorla not finding form yet, we all know he has the ability.

The resurgence of Ramsey, the return of Walcott and Mesut Özil being Mesut Özil will be enough to release the pressure that Cazorla had on his shoulders last season where he was basically our only match winner, now we have multiple match winners which should enable Cazorla to really excel and play without that huge pressure on his shoulders.