Has time now come for Arsenal to CASH in?
Not so long ago now, Alexander Hleb divided Arsenal fans. He was a tidy, if rather slight player who had an eye for a pass but simply didn’t provide the Gunners with enough goals. After three years with the club and only seven goals he was shipped off to Barcelona. He is now on loan at Birmingham City. Hleb is worthy of consideration because I believe that Arsenal currently hold a similar player amongst their number.
Tomas Rosicky has been with Arsenal since 2006. I’m not questioning Rosicky’s talent or ability by any means, but he is a little too goal-shy for the likes of Arsenal. That’s always been the case. Rosicky is not the kind of player you ought to bring on if you’re chasing a game. He’s the kind of player that tends to score when Arsenal are already 2-3 goals to the good. He is the master of the ‘icing-on-the-cake’ goal. For all his talent and ability, the fact remains that he hasn’t scored in the last 34 games he has played in.
The Mail have suggested that the Arsenal midfielder is at the top of Gerard Houllier’s January transfer wish-list. With the Czech’s Arsenal contract set to expire in June, is it time for Arsenal to cash in?
There’s already healthy competition in Arsenal’s midfield and it’s known that Rosicky wants more games. He told the Press early this season that he “would like to play more. I could imagine playing more even though I have been involved in a lot of fixtures.” But with players like Samir Nasri, Cesc Fabregas and Andrey Arshavin ahead of him in the roster, it’s little surprise that his goal-drought is keeping him from playing as much as he would like.
Fans of Rosicky may be keen to point out that he adds something else to the team. He can pick out a decent pass (He’s currently Arsenal’s fourth highest assist provider) and is a surprisingly good tackler for a player of his build. He’s also 30 years old and has been in the game a lot longer than most of the youngsters currently playing for the Gunners. In this respect he provides the Arsenal squad with invaluable experience and somebody for young players to look up to and approach when they are struggling.
In response to the claim that Rosicky adds ‘something else’ to the squad, I would question whether this is enough to merit renewing his contract. Sure, Nasri is firing on all cylinders right now, but what happens if he goes through a bad patch of form? Can we expect Rosicky to come in and start scoring? I very much doubt it. Wenger needs wingers who can chip in with the goals, so is much more likely to find himself looking towards the likes of Theo Walcott and Andriy Arshavin.
Furthermore, although Rosicky’s age means he has an experienced head on his shoulders, it also means that he is approaching Arsenal’s ‘danger-zone’. Wenger does not give players who are over the age of 30 long term contracts. Would Rosicky be content to work on a one year rolling contract? Given that he’s already pretty injury-prone, won’t he be looking for more career-security than that? Would Rosicky staying with Arsenal be productive for either party?
With his contract up in the summer, if Villa come in with a decent offer for Rosicky in January, Arsenal should sell. His sale will make room for a player like Aaron Ramsey to step into the first team on his return from Nottingham Forrest and would be generally beneficial for all.
Do you agree with my take? Or are you preparing a passionate defence for Tomas? Leave your opinions in the comment section. Remember to follow @ThePerfectPass on Twitter for more football related opinions and chat.
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I agree with the general thesis that he’s a quality player who needs to score more goals. I, however, think he’s an essential squad player and if he’s happy with his lot at Arsenal at the moment, then Wenger should keep him on the books
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A very reasonable point. I can’t help feeling that Tomas is toonmuch of a bit part player, and could behefit from getting his teeth into something more substantial – as Danny Murphy and Phil Neville did with their respective moves.
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wenger should not sell him he is too good for me more then fabregas he is the best we have now and he will give our young star something to lean wenger should give him more contract pls to wenger he is too good to my liking look at his passing and the way he move the ball pls to wenger dont sell him rather give him now 2years contract
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we need diaby in the manu game pls to wenger if he is fit feed him in that game and pls pls tomas rosicky on the game
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Goals arent everything, rosicky can make us play. When fabregas has been out, rosicky has kept things ticking. He has made tonnes of chances wiht his passing and is surprisingly strong in the tackle. His experience is massive for our squad imo.
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Henry Cloke Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 8:34 pm
Good points. But don’t you think that Rosicky’s going to start clamouring for more game time eventually? Good he also hamper Aaron Ramsey’s attempts to get into the team?
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Please get the facts right, Rosicky signed a new contract in January 2010, 4th Jan 2010 to be precise. I don’t think that was from Jan’10 to June’11 coz that doesn’t make any sense.
http://www.arsenal.com/news/news-archive/tomas-rosicky-signs-new-contract
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Henry Cloke Reply:
December 7th, 2010 at 8:31 pm
Hello Mate, thanks for your comment.
I realise that the contract was signed in January, but it was an 18th month contract. That mean’s it up in August, not June, so sorry about that.
But it was only an 18 month contract because Rosicky was approaching his 30′s at the time and we all know Wenger’s policies in that regard.
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Has any of you been watching our best performances this season? That was when rosicky was on the pitch with Nasri and our diminutive russian beeing bothered!! Cash in on Rosicky?? just sell Denilson Diaby or even Fabregas who hasn’t really been that effective this season!
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I thnk we need Rosisky more than Diaby & Denilson who never improves on their games years in years out. Thnx God Diaby is not even around to messed up thngs for us. I’m now very happy with Arshavin performance. A very different frm the Russian i used to knw. Maroune Chamakh need to upgrade his skills toward keeper,i thnk he need to more vigorous,aggressive & offensive the way Nasri,Arsh & RvP does when facing their opponents. Lastly Wenger need to address the issue of defence ths January if he really a title contender.
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he’s better than joe cole.some of you wanted him replaced by that 80 grands a week fulham road reject.
i am tired of reading pathetic comments from so called arsenal supporters.have you noticed he’s the oldest mildfielder we have. how can we get rid of our most experienced mildfielder.his turn will come and he’ll start scoring.
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