Is Tomas Rosicky Arsenal's most underrated gem?

Arsenal’s Tomas Rosicky

Arsenal bounced back from last week’s Champions League defeat at the hands of Bayern Munich with a stylish victory over Sunderland at the weekend.

Record signing Mesut Ozil, who was on the receiving end of plenty of criticism last week for his recent lacklustre performances, was given a rest ahead of a testing run of fixtures with 33-year-old Tomas Rosicky taking his place in the starting line-up.

After joining the Gunners in 2006, the former Borussia Dortmund made a promising start to his career at the Emirates but then struggled with injuries, missing most of the 2007-08 season and the whole of the 2008-09 season. In more recent times, Rosicky has proven himself to be an extremely useful member of the Arsenal squad, often being given the nod in the big games by Arsene Wenger.

It is fair to say the excellent job he performs for Arsenal often goes under the radar, meaning Rosicky is extremely underrated and undervalued by many. On Saturday, he was involved in three of their four goals, which catapulted him back into the spotlight, especially in the absence of Ozil. The Czech Republic midfielder started and finished a phenomenal passing move which resulted in Arsenal’s third goal, a strike which was his first in the league this season.

Rosicky’s versatility means he can do a job anywhere in the midfield, either providing balance on the flanks or creativity in the centre. Not only is he superb technically, as you’d expect in any Arsenal midfielder, but he is also very smart with his movement and has tremendous vision. It is amazing how often he is the unselfish one making a run off the ball to set up a goal-scoring chance for a teammate. In this youthful Arsenal squad, his experience of winning trophies and playing at the highest level combined with his pure intelligence are vital assets to possess.

The Sunderland game was the perfect example of a vintage Rosicky performance as he kept the ball very well in tight areas at a high success rate of 93%, often providing that killer pass between the lines to accelerate Arsenal’s passing. His link-up play is always neat, tidy and very efficient, something which makes him difficult to contain.

It is this ability to speed up an attack with just one pass which makes him such a brilliant player. Arsenal’s passing is never predictable or sideways when he is playing as he is always energetic whilst in possession and looking to make something happen. Rosicky is also a reliable dribbler and shooter, his take-on success rate stands at 73% for the season with his shooting accuracy at 60%.

Despite his poor tackling success rate of 32% for the season, he has shown he can play a key tactical role in any big game for Arsenal. Against his former club Dortmund earlier this season, Rosicky was the star of the show which is why it was a surprise when he was left out of the starting line-up in that loss to Bayern last week. He worked in tandem with Bacary Sagna that night to help stifle the threat of Marco Reus down that side of the pitch.

He also helped stop the German side from playing their usual fast-paced passing game often tucking in from his right flank to help clog up the midfield as well as being extremely reliable when in possession himself, something which is vital in any European away game. It would be an even bigger surprise if Rosicky’s name isn’t on the team-sheet in the return leg against Bayern as they look to salvage the tie.

Rosicky may be under-appreciated by many but the job he does when he plays is a very important one. He may be in the twilight of his career but he is one of the few members of this Gunners squad that has experience of winning trophies, meaning the three-time Czech Republic player of the year is a huge asset to Arsenal.