He didn't. In his last season he thought he was Andrea Pirlo.

Saddest part about that was that he was the most reliable creator for RvP during that final season.

Limited playing time and being forced to play with less freedom at Barcelona MUST have made him more suited for a holding role.

If you look at the traits most people here look for in a midfield addition, Song actually possesses them:
Big - check
Strong - check
Good in the air - check
Dynamic - check
Strong in the tackle - check
Better than decent on the ball - check

I think most of us want a player who is more disciplined positionally than the Song we mostly saw here, but it isn't beyond the realms of possibility that he has actually improved that aspect of his game.

There is of course also the speculation as to WHY we let him go so easily without putting up much of a fight; if the rumors that he was disruptive are true, then there is of course no chance we are interested in taking him back. Personally, I'd be well pleased to have him back, and I reckon he can be had at a decent price too this summer. That is of course only of any value if we put what we 'save' from that into the 'Beast Striker Fund'.

It wasn't Song who started playing Arteta as the deepest midfield while pushing himself further forward and giving him more offensive responsibility, was it?

The fact that Song has successfully played the holding role for us on a few occasions, tells me it had more to do with what Wenger wanted from his midfield than with Song's lack of ability as a player.

Song wasn't pushed forward. He just sat at the halfway line spraying passes. Total diva.

I don't agree with that. It was easy to blame Song for our midfield being overrun so easily, but the reality is that it had more to do with the overall shape of the team than with Song's poor awareness and whatnot.

I've no idea how he's doing at Barcelona, but from what I've seen in the past few years, they're a mess defensively even without him.

Don't like how this thread makes Arteta sound like some form of emergency solution. He's been a class player for us and was already well familiar with the role we asked him to play.

Song had qualities, but I really don't miss the way he butchered our game. Watching Ramsey and Arteta is a great reminder of how you tackle opponents without causing fouls and breaking play. Song never learned that. Every time he lost the ball or the direction of play turned around he was a yellow card waiting to happen, no matter where on the pitch he was. Couldn't make a standing tackle if his life depended on it.

wenger let song do whatever the fuck he wanted in his last 2 years. i remember him saying song playing further forward wasn't really a conscious decision, it just happened, and wenger didn't bother putting a stop to it.

Wenger's idea to push players up ahead of the ball to create space in midfield is bonkers to begin with.

If we let song go it was for a decent reason. I was never happy with his close positional play as he got passed through to easily for me. I cannot see a situation where we go about resigning him.

Going by wenger I see us signing Rabiot off PSG in the summer. The guy is talented kid who said he would leave if another CM was brought in, then they went and bought cabaye. He wants game time so we would be the best option of the big clubs involved.

I don't think we afford to have another developing player in our central midfield. We already have a few who aren't the finished article.

Rex wrote:

I don't think we afford to have another developing player in our central midfield. We already have a few who aren't the finished article.

I don't think he will be able to stop himself if the guy is on the market with 12 month left on his deal.

It is also about playing time. Wenger needs to get Ox and Wilshere enough games to develop, and he certainly has an eye on bringing Zelalem through in the not too distant future.

We should be using Wilshere and Chamberlain on the wings though, especially with Walcott unlikely to be up to speed during the first couple months of the season. We need sound players on the ball in those holding positions or we are utterly screwed given Wenger's tactics. Even Ramsey needs to iron some things out. Wilshere and Chamberlain are far too mistake-prone at this point.

I agree Rabiot doesn't make sense with Zelalem in the squad though. Our next CM signing should be in the 24-26 age range - Schneiderlin, Iturraspe, Bender, etc.

ludovic van zis wrote:

He didn't. In his last season he thought he was Andrea Pirlo.

He got as many assists in his last season as Mesut Ozil has since coming to Arsenal. Is that supposed to be a bad thing? In a season where we struggled desperately for creativity, his Hollywood balls to Van Persie saved us on several occasions at the same time as he was held responsible for pretty much every defensive lapse.

An imperfect player but far from the unreliable and undisciplined narcissist that the haters like to make out.

I think people appreciated his creative contributions, but if we don't have discipline and stability in central midfield we are sunk. He clearly did something to piss Wenger off too.

Have to remember though that 1) he played about 8 or 9 of those balls a game and resulted in a lot of balls straight out for goal kicks and 2) less than 10% of those assists would have been made with any striker other than van Persie as he's probably one of a select few playing right now who could finish those volley chances in football that season.

That said he was a really good player prior to that season when he was focused on his defensive responsibilities and only really started thinking he was the next Pirlo when Fabregas left us. Maybe it was a subconscious decision on his part not believing in others around him to pick up the creative slack (who could blame him by the way) or maybe it was Wengers tactics. What it lead to, in my opinion at least, was us being exposed at the back a lot more than when he was focused on his defensive responsibilities.