What has Arsène Wenger got against Tomas Rosicky?
For long periods of Saturday’s game, as we played tippy-tappy around the edge of the Birmingham box, it was obvious that we needed some good old-fashioned directness.
Apart from Wilshere, none of our players were willing to take the responsibility to make the quick killer pass or take the first time shot at goal.
Diaby, with his bursting power-runs, seemed to be affected by an invisible force field on the edge of the opposition penalty area. Unfortunately he also had ‘goldfish memory’ syndrome, so time and again he would charge forward only to go DOING!!! into the invisible wall.
Arshavin, I think, is suffering from sore toes. It’s the only possible explanation for his unwillingness to use the front of his boot when making a pass. Either that or he is involved in some kind of bet to see how many back-heels he can make in a single match.
Nasri, who has been a consistently good player this season, could only get so far with his dribbling runs when the opponents were packing the defence as resolutely as the Brummies were.
And poor old Alex Song, lumbering into dangerous areas and misplacing his passes, was like your 10-year-old son trying to help you assemble an Ikea wardrobe: eager to help, but generally getting in the way and making you hit your thumb with the hammer.
Don’t they know that if you want to get to Birmingham, it’s best to take the M1?
When Tomas Rosicky came on the difference was immense and immediate. Instead of zig-zagging through Warwickshire, Leicestershire and Staffordshire, suddenly we were taking the fast route. Here was a player whose first priority was not to create beautiful 20-pass moves, but to hurt the opposition.
It was another excellent cameo from the little Czech – and raises the question of why he is getting only cameo roles. Why doesn’t Arsene trust him to start ahead of Diaby or the clearly misfiring Arshavin? In eight league fixtures TR7 has started two and come on as a substitute six times.
The two games that Tomas started? Blackpool (6-0) and Bolton (4-1). We certainly had ‘thrust’ in those matches. He was also in the starting line-up for the League Cup hammering of the Spuds. That’s pretty strong evidence for his impact on the team – and the fact that for the West Brom calamity he was on the bench makes me want to cry.
As Peaches pointed out in the comments yesterday, Rosicky is a ‘proper footballer’ who has played elsewhere – clocking up five seasons with Borussia Dortmund and 74 caps for his country. He is experienced and, age-wise, is at the peak of his career. He definitely adds something to the way we play.
But Wenger doesn’t seem to see it. Could it be that the Boss is more keen to persevere with the players who constitute his so-called youth experiment: the likes of Diaby, Denilson and Song?
Is he worried that Rosicky’s injury record means he can’t be exposed to more substantial amounts of playing time?
Or does he simply think that the other players are better?
If it’s the latter I would respectfully suggest that he needs to reconsider. Rosicky is a player who, at his best, can come close to matching Fabregas for ability. And above all he adds a forward momentum to our play that is often lacking.
A starting line up that includes Fabregas, Wilshere, Rosicky and Walcott has the directness to hurt any team, especially those who ‘park the bus’. We have been unlucky (again) with injuries this year, so that foursome has never been on the pitch together at the same time.
Wouldn’t it be nice to see them soon in the starting eleven?
RockyLives
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Morning all
Great post Rocky, can’t disagree with a thing and I’m going to spend the day chuckling at Arshavin’s sore toes 😉
Its very confusing that now we have a fit Tomas Rosicky we only use him sparingly. If Arsene wants to use him sparingly why not at the start of a game, let his directness have an early effect then sub him.
Morning all, Wenger hates Tomas’ taste in music – he’s anti-metal. Wenger wants all his team to listen to “nice” safe, boring, bland music.
Wenger must go.
Agreed but wenger probably can see how good he is and wants to keep him for exactly this reason as an impact sub to win games. The best teams need one great player on the bench and I dont think wenger wants to overuse (an older player) and end up injuring him.
Peachy are you around tomorrow evening pre match or are you going for a post match drink ?
”Is he worried that Rosicky’s injury record means he can’t be exposed to more substantial amounts of playing time?”
Thats exactly why he is being kept on the bench! or sure he will be starting the champions league game…
Great post rocky,
I’m in agreement on all counts. AA is about the same age as Rosicky and he has been played many times when carrying injury or just plain exhausted – why is Rosicky wrapped in cotton wool and AA played whatever?
I think Rosicky is only 85-90% fit given such a long period of layoff. He is a part of the team when he plays. But Arshavin is a sole (if not selfish)player: when he gets the ball, other 10 teamates are just watching together with the 60,000 Emirates Stadium audiences.
Great post indeed rocky
“And poor old Alex Song, lumbering into dangerous areas and misplacing his passes, was like your 10-year-old son trying to help you assemble an Ikea wardrobe: eager to help, but generally getting in the way and making you hit your thumb with the hammer”.
That is exactly how to describe Song Version 2010 😆
rosicky should play ahead of arshavin, or take capt cesc position when capt cesc injury.
Mozart7 is RP7, & on the way out I’d say 😦 Its the only sensible reasoning I can come up with, coz skill wise he is a gem.
As for Diaby, I’ll say it again. When he shaves all his hair off, & while its still groing back, he is horrible, clumsy you name it. But when his hair is grown, he is a good player. What is it about the hair 😉
Hi gg,
When I watched the extra time at the end of the game on MotD it was panic defending just trying to clear the ball. Diaby just stood rooted in the midfield watching the ball being passed around him – he doesn’t have a clue how to play when not in possession of the ball…. but he can be amazing instinctively when on the attack – if only he’d keep going and pull the trigger once in a while.
Rosicky started on the bench because he will start on Tuesday. We have a rotation policy here.
G’Day rasp
Did Hleb play?
That’s a very definitive comment King Richard – but still only supposition on your part!
AA played 90 minutes twice for Russia preceding saturday’s game, he was due a rest.
Hi gg,
Yes Hleb played and was pretty much anonymous. There was none of the clever interplay we associated with him when at Arsenal, but of course, he doesn’t have the same quality around him in the brum team. Jack put in a particularly meaty tackle on him which drew a cheer from me 🙂
Hi Gooners,
I have always said to my Gooner friends and acquaintances that TR7 is the best technical player at Arsenal. For me, he even edges Cesc because TR7 is a seasoned pro. He rarely loses the ball, if he does, he generally recovers it, he is direct, he can dribble and take on players, he is quick and strong and not afraid to shoot from distance. I have been disappointed this season that AW has not played him more. TR7 is key to Arsenal getting a good run together and players like Wilshere, Nari and Diaby will do well to watch him and learn from him.
Dear Mr. Wenger, more Tomas Rosicky please!
Cheers
agree with everything Arshavin should be dropped and play Rosicky
Morning All…Really i think TR shuld come in as a Sub in most cases the way it may be we all knw AA is a world class player who plays class football with class players like Cesc..RVP..Nasir and the likes just becos AA had a bad performace on Saturday doesn’t mean he’s not a good player but i think he’s poor game lead to Fatique if i may say…Instead i think TR shuld be played ahead of Diarby..who is more slow on the ball and tends to dribble all the players on pitch before passing the ball….
Morning all
I think Arshavin should be dropped. Vela should get more chances too.
In my opinion, I believe Rosicky plays better than Diaby and AA in most cases but again they are qulity players. But Wenger sometimes even as in the case of last Saturday’s game didnt not bring Rosicky early enough to try and find more goals for us. Its high time we let Rosicky start more matches.
gm
Hows it all going over there @ Le Curry & Chips?
Exactly!
Tom is a monster! Like Mas said; on his day he’s technically our best player, and should be utilised so much more. Unfortunately his condition allows him to be deployed sparingly. Which is a shame.
Bring on tomorrow evening, Tom to set up 2 and score 1!
morning all
It’s high time Mr. AW has to realize that Arsenal has fans all over the world, not only in London and France.
First, am not sure if those players have a chance of watching the tapes of their opponents…West brom could not have beaten us at home.
Second, I don’t understand why he takes too long to read a game for him to make changes when the team is losing.
Maybe AW doesn’t know what players like Rosicky are made of, that’s why he’ll keep on fielding the likes of Diaby. that team needs creative and experienced players.
My opinion about TR is well known on this site. I would start him in 3 out of every 4 games. He is top quality and looks to be regaining his pre-injury form. Which considering his time out with injury is remarkable.
I like the idea of having at least one top quality player on the bench but would prefer 7 of them. In a fully fit squad we could have Theo, JW, Diaby, Bendtner, Chamkah, Koscielny, Ramsey,Denilson, Almunia, Eboue, Gibbs on the bench.
This assumes a team of
Fab2
Sagna Squill TV Clichy
Nasri Cesc Song TR
RvP AA.
We have a wealth of talent and at last a reasonably deep squad
Hi Gnarly. What’s le curry and chips? Hi Raddy.
Absolutely right, Rosicky and Denilson should start ahead of Diaby. For instance, when passes are faster Diaby slows down the moves and most of time gives out a blind pass. I remember what he was doing against Birmingham. But it is not his first time. I wonder what Wenger is thinking about in that position.
Rosicky will literally break(like fine China) if he is played more then 45 minutes.
Am sorry to say but Vanpersie’s ever-problematic ankle is one of the big problem we are facing with our Quest to win the Epl Title or anytitle, Imagine our top striker being an injury prone, all season same problem. take a look at the top 4 teams top men. Drogba, Rooney and Torres are never prone to Injuries not that they dont get injured, they do but not like VAN DOES. if you ask me, i would prefer Wenger to go for another top man in Janaury, cause even if Vanpersie is back today, we will still be seeing him get injured more often, and as for Cesc, we all know its a matter of some little time before he leaves Arsenal, lets not deceive ourselves to beleieving thjat he will be sticking around,i think he is talked too much of barca, if he wants to leave, he can, we have been playing well without him. but he should be bears that before Cesc there was Arsenal and After him there will still be Arsenal. he should ask Henry, and Others even Adebarwhore.they are not happy playing elsewhere. they are Loads of players that fill his position, Wenger go and get Snilder and sell Cesc to Real madrid, i wish to see that happen, love to see those 4king bitchee barca boys heart broken , most expecailly xAVI.they talk too much, WENGER SELL CEC TO MARDRID AND BUY SNILDER, that will be the best.lol
Not sure I agree Peter. Diaby has his place in this team, and he has a fine future
I’d disagree abouit Torres. He’s a crock too
Would be nice to have the players you mentioned but you don’t have a holding midfielder in the lot.
Ben whilst agreeing with you to a certain extent about Van Persie, I would point out that if we can get 20+ games out of him and, 20+ out of Theo, that adds up to one world class player – though at 2 players wages!
We cannot sell such a wonderful talent who is a proper Arsenal fan.
As to Cesc, you are wrong , totally wrong. Let me put it this way – you have an absolutely unbelievable girlfriend who makes you happy in ways you didn’t know were possible, yet you know she has itchy feet. Do you dump her or live the good life until she leaves – IF she leaves? There is a fine expression ” a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush!”
IMO to sell Cesc before we have to is total madness.
And why would Schneider come to a team that sells it’s best assets??
Love the invisible wall and the hurty toes! 😀 From where I was sitting (Upper North) Song had a great first half and was our most dynamic passer. Have to say I was a bit worse for wear in the second half and didn’t pay as much attention to detail!
Pretty sure Diaby was in for his high on set pieces as their giant must be a tough one to outjump!
@Big raddy
Good one, on Cesc. I totally agree.
don’t get me wrong guys,but in this situation i do agree with sir arswen since he didn’t played rosicky full time. as we know there’s nobody in our team played such industrious as ‘flamster’ our former no.15 but it is such a way to protect him from any injuries.besides rosicky become sharp in limited period so as arshavin.arswen love to play him because with his such neat skills & movements he can perform wellwhile all d opponents heavy legs
Celeh. What you say is true, but perhaps AW could start with TR and bring on AA after 60 mins when as you say the opposition has heavy legs
Thanks for the comments. TR7 looks fighting fit to me (and I use the term advisedly – because despite his injury record he never shirks a tackle).
Perhaps when we have Fabregas and Wilshere fit and available you could argue that we hold Tomas back as an impact sub, but when Fab and JW are not available I think he should start every time. His form this season demands it.
BR,
Naturally, we all like the “bird in the bush” line, however, there is another way of looking at things,through the eyes of Mr Groucho himself: “If you have the opportunity of marrying either an ugly girl or a beautiful one, then always choose the ugly one, that way, if you wake up in the morning to find that she has left you, then it doesn’t matter”.
I might think of the relevance or context of that later. Maybe, maybe not.
Great Groucho quote Micky. By the way, I hope you didn’t mind me pinching your use of ‘THRUST’ to describe what TR7 brought to the team when he came on on Saturday. It sums it up perfectly.
Rocky,
I bow to you post. “Thrust”. Oh yes.
Vito pays the price for speaking out, he’s loaned off to the Orange mans ex-team.
From Hull, Hell and Halifax good Lord deliver us!
Carlito – Diaby may well have been in for his height, but he’s not usually that good in the air (although I thought he did well against Chelsea in that respect, where he headed away several of their corners from a near post position).
Oh give Diaby a break Rocky.
He scored a belter for Manu last year! 🙂
Carlito,
Weren’t you Shakinstevens yesterday? 🙂
Don’t want to give Diaby another break RA – the last one kept him out for 10 months.
Nice one Rocky. 🙂
Amazing, the number of people on Arsenal sites all over who just don’t rate Diaby, and probably would like to give him a break, a yard above his knee! 🙂
Opposition sites frequently rate him highly (when they think I’m not looking). 🙂
Rocky 3.27 🙂
Byebye Vito ..
Watcha BR. I’ve no idea who made the ‘Hull, Hell and Halifax” quote but I did live in Hull for a while many years ago. Whisper it gently – it was actually quite nice.
Rocky,
I haven’t been on the site much today, so forgot to say how much I liked reading your article. 🙂
Rosey Kee, is one of my favourites too!
I’m glad you agree Redders. For me, last season was all about Tomas getting back in the swing after his long-term lay-off. This season he looks back to being the player we originally bought so I would like to see him used more.
Hi BR,
Is it as cold and gloomy in mainland Europe as it is here in the UK?
I can’t wait for my next assignment to sunny climes. 🙂
Red Arse- don’t know who I am anymore- the gremlins seem to have control of my identity. It’s like having a split personality where both halves are the same!
It’s shakin’ swedens tho! Owing to Swedish ancestry and the DTs!
Hi Carlito,
I am currently reading Steig Larsson’s fabulous trilogy. 🙂
If you are anything like one of his Swedish characters it is no wonder you had the DT’s on Sunday, all that booze and women, or women and booze. Bit like the British in fact! 🙂
Got to go. Tomorrow! 🙂
Evening all,
I don’t really think I’ve to tell anyone here how I feel about Mozart. Was delighted when we signed him and he’s been my favourite current Gooner ever since. I firmly believe did he not go through that bad injury we’d be talking about him on the same terms as Cesc. Rosicky is a stunning player, hopefully its just a case of Wenger not wanting to burn him out.
Rosicky this season is Rosicky back to his best. He’s such a wonderful player to watch and everything in his locker. Admittedly, he was pretty dire this season. He should be starting over Arshavin as far as I’m concerned as of now.
I think Arsene’s just being cautious. Rosicky is afterall the original glass-man.
*last season. Caffiene and all nighters screw with my head.
RA. Cold enough to freeze the nuts off a squirrel, but the sun is shining and all is well with the world.
The Larsson Trilogy is just brilliant – I loved it.
[…] What’s Wrong With Rosicky? What has Arsène Wenger got against Tomas Rosicky? […]
Rocky
I’ve since had another think about Mozart & your post. What makes it even more confusing is that he has worn the captain’s armband in some fixtures, now he is relegated back to bench warmer. Maybe Arsene Wenger is punishing him for missing the penalty against WBA 😉
I still rate him, just keep him away from the penalty box 🙂
BR says
“Cold enough to freeze the nuts off a squirrel, but the sun is shining and all is well with the world”.
Are you here in Tassie BR?
Oh squirrel! No we have possums 😉 Sorry
Racoons where I am GG.
I can’t believe AW doesn’t see TR7’s ability. Maybe it’s as simple as wanting to choose taller players when we play the big burly teams?
Well, there are squirrels too – most of ’em are black.
G’Day Rocky
peaches said you’d moved to the good ol’USA. We have a nightshift 😀
i think rosicky is money wasted like rvp cant stay bluddy fit.sell rosicky bring back bobby p
TR7 is a beauty to watch but one wonders why AW is frustrating not only TR7 but arsenal fans as well.Can somebody please tell me their relationships off the field otherwise …..
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Hi, thanks for this comment 🙂