Don Pacifico wrote:
Bumper Rex wrote:
That's not enough?
Well how does that tangibly improve the team? Does it make is more secure in defence or more creative in attack? I think there's a trend (especially amongst Arsenal fans) of hyperbolising over players that in effect just move the ball on. Sure he doesn't lose possession that much but then he's also not tangibly improving the team. Last season, we needed more creativity in our team and Arteta didn't make a great contribution to that.
The angle you're approaching this from is wrong. To my mind, Arteta had a better season than Wilshere did two years ago playing nearly a similar role. Michael Carrick barely scores or assists but United fans had him in their top 3 players last season.
Arteta has a similar influence on the team, he doesn't just keep the ball moving. That would make him Denilson. Instead, he plays between the lines and keeps the tempo high. If you find those claims intangible, look at any of the games he didn't play in to see how rapidly our midfield disintegrated to shit: United (H) and Swansea (A) come to mind immediately. Hell, we only won a single game without him last year and the common criticism in those games was that our midfield couldn't keep hold of the ball to start attacking the opposition in the first place.
Besides, he's not in the side for his creativity, he's the most defensive minded of our midfielders and in terms of tackles and interceptions he's up there with Song. You might as well blame Jenkinson.
