I have
affection towards simplicity. I have affection towards those characters that
play their roles to perfection with total nonchalance. I have affection towards
those players who prefer to remain in the backdrop, playing selflessly for the
name on the front rather than the name on the back. These are the players who
are not preferred for interviews, commercials or photo shoots, but usually are
amongst the first names on the team sheets because their silent work makes the
team tick.
I
prefer music to dance. As in I hate the Bollywood stars who gain the limelight
by dancing away to the tunes of music composers. Some people are even unaware
of the identity of the music composers. So in short I have a liking for people
who prefer to stay away from the limelight and continue to slog it out
(sometimes without credit from fans or the media).
And
these kinds of people are present in all walks of life. These are the silent
mechanisms which make an engine tick. And surely there have been several
underrated players to have donned the Arsenal jersey.
So here
I present to you the ‘ARSENAL INVISIBLES’, a list of the 5 most underrated
Arsenal players (according to me)-
1)GILBERTO SILVA- The Invisible Wall
He was signed by Arsenal for a meagre 4.5m from Athletico
Miniero after his heroics in the 2002 FIFA World Cup. He was appointed as the
Defensive Anchor Man to sit in from of the defence. His defensive work was
undoubtedly top notch. I would even go to the extent of saying that his
defensive work was better than Vieira. He forged a brilliant partnership with
Vieira in the centre of midfield. His exploits were usually overshadowed by
Vieira.
He was an integral part of the ‘Invincibles’ playing 32
matches out of 38. After the historic season it was discovered that he had a
fracture in his lower back. This is when Arsenal’s performance started dipping.
Arsenal lost to Manchester United after a run of 49 unbeaten games(Silva was
absent). Call it coincidence or whatever. But I personally think his work rate
was unparalleled.
Gilberto is often called "the invisible wall" in
Brazil. His play often goes unnoticed as he positions himself between the two
centre backs and the rest of midfield, breaking up opposition attacks before
they gather momentum. As Arsenal and Brazil are both attack minded teams, he
offers cover for attacking wing-backs and other midfielders who have a poor
record of dropping back to help the defence. Having Gilberto Silva on the pitch
was equivalent to having 2 players. His work rate was so high. He usually
dropped back into the centre of defence whenever Kolo Toure made a darting
forward run. He would just step back and provide a very effective cover. Gilberto's style of defending is unlike that
of normal midfield enforcers, rather than tackle a player, he is more likely to
shadow him, thus pushing him back. As a result, he has an unusually clean
record for a defensive midfielder: he has twice gone 45 games or more without
receiving a single booking during his Arsenal career. A highly astonishing fact
given he plays the ‘Dirty Player’ role. He is more likely to offload the ball
frequently to more creative players close around him, such as Cesc Fabregas (He
has a lowly 7 assists in 6 seasons at Arsenal). But that doesn’t bother me
because he played the role which he was given to perfection. The only thing he
lacked was flair. But that he covered up with his work ethics and discipline.
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| DEFENSIVE COVER. |
Gilberto’s best quote- "It's much more responsibility
for me but I'm very confident I can do my best for the team. I am the oldest in
my position but it doesn't matter who I play with because they are good
players."
2)RAY PARLOUR- The Unsung Hero
Do you remember him?
He was nicknamed ‘The Romford Pele’, which was given in an
ironic sense of humour due to his solid performances but his unglamorous image.
Isn’t the above enough to prove that he was tremendously underrated.
He played instrumental roles in the famous Double winning
squads of 1999-2000 and 2001-02. And just to remind you he was adjudged Man of
the Match in both the FA Cup finals. His 30-yarder in the 2002 FA Cup final
against Chelsea to open the scoring for Arsenal is remembered till date. He was
not a great goal scorer but a scorer of great goals.
He was a loyal servant to Arsenal for 14 long years. Parlour
continued to enjoy success with Arsenal for another four years (winning another
Double in 2002), but generally received little acclaim in the media compared
with many of his more illustrious Arsenal team-mates, especially as he was
almost constantly living in the shadow of Patrick Vieira for much of his time
at the club. Despite having won 3 Premier League crowns, 4 FA Cups, 1 League
Cup and 1 European Cup Winners’ Cup with Arsenal and having played 464 games
for a top-end club like Arsenal he was capped ONLY 10 times for England. That
is how much this great was undervalued.
In short he is an "unsung hero" and praised as a
"fans' favourite" for his high-energy performances.
3)FREDRIK LJUNGBERG- The 17th Best Dressed Man in The World
Why I gave that intro? He is still known more for his
‘Sex-appeal’ than for his footballing skills!
What do you know about him except for the fact that he had
funny coloured hair? Do you remember he had a bright red stripe in his hair?
It was not extravagance or something of that sort. He had
done it to show his loyalty to the Arsenal fans. He was the perfect anti-thesis
of Arshavin. He was not a burden during defence. He was brilliant in attack and
was equally good at tracking back and helping the defence. He was a perfect
wide-man who gave his all for the team. He was so versatile that he could
comfortably play on either wing, in the centre of midfield or even as a second
striker! He was one of the few players who Arsene Wenger signed without seeing
him play LIVE. Isn’t that fact enough to justify his pedigree?
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| VERSATILE |
He usually had to live in Pires’s shadow. He got his first
break when Pires had suffered an injury. He only established himself after the
departure of Emmanuel Petit and Marc Overmars. He also had to overcome rib
injuries and migraine bouts. The above was what made him strong and a very
tough nut to crack for the opposition. He flourished under Arsene Wenger being
part of the ‘Invincibles’ and an integral part of 2 Double winning squads. In
all, he won 3 Premier League titles, 3 FA Cups and 3 Community Shields with
Arsenal.
Many people don’t know it (even I didn’t before doing the
R&D for this post!) that he was awarded the PREMIER LEAGUE PLAYER OF THE
SEASON in 2001-02.
He endeared himself to the Arsenal faithful by his
commitment on the pitch. The Arsenal faithful sang, "We love you Freddie,
because you've got red hair, we love you Freddie because you're everywhere, we
love you Freddie, you're Arsenal through and through"
So isn’t his worth underestimated?
4)TOMAS ROSICKY- ‘The Little Mozart’
A classical playmaker known for his skill and ability to
orchestrate the midfield with his passing range. Arsene Wenger describes him as
a player with “Remarkable Vision”.
His skill in undervalued by many because Rosicky hasn’t had
enough time to display the skill due to his ‘Swarovski Crystal’ like delicate
and injury prone body. After signing for Arsenal in 2006 he has had just 1 full
season, 2011-12. And to be honest he has been superb for Arsenal this season.
Everybody talks about Robin van Persie single handedly carried Arsenal on his
shoulders. But nobody talks about the number of goals created due to Rosicky’s
skill. He had the responsibility to orchestrate the midfield after the
departure of Fabregas, and he proved that he was worthy of it by putting in
action-packed performances day-in and day-out. He may not be having that many
goals and assists, but I am sure that there are uncountable instances when he
has provided the assist to the assist!
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| When healthy (there’s the rub isn’t it?), Rosicky provides energy, pace and intelligence to the team that few others can. He is quick thinking, attack minded and has the ability and vision to deliver sublime, defence-splitting passes. He's a great decision maker and is not afraid to take a crack at goal. In addition, he does not shy away from the tough tackle, getting nasty when necessary, and helping out defensively. He too is very versatile and can play in any of the attacking positions available on a football pitch. |
Whereas many praise Wilshere for his committed tackling,
Rosicky's slide tackling has always been sublime, yet overlooked by most.
Standing tackles require a strong build, which neither Wilshere nor Rosicky
have, but the slide tackle, however, is more about timing and accuracy, therefore
it is sensible that players such as Wilshere and Rosicky use it. Rosicky
meanwhile has never gotten a red card (to my knowledge).
Hopefully, these points have shown that Rosicky has been
vastly underrated, by media and fans alike, and it is my hope that he gets the
recognition he deserves, instead of the bashing he gets. The benefits of
playing him - brilliant close control and passing technique, excellent
awareness of where the space is in the final third, quick one touch passing,
powerful long range shooting, as well as fine leadership skills (he is a well
respected figure in the dressing room) and bags of experience will certainly
help us in ending that damning trophy drought.
5)LAURENT KOSCIELNY- St. Laurent(For the die-hard Gooners!)
When Arsenal signed Laurent Koscielny for £10 million from
French side Lorient in the summer of 2010, eyebrows were raised. Over the
course of his debut season, it seemed that many formed the opinion that he’s
not a very good defender. This is probably because alongside the woeful
Sebastien Squillaci and the occasionally error-prone Johan Djourou, Koscielny
was part of poor defensive showings. Of course, the Carling Cup final incident
wouldn’t have helped either – a horrible mix-up with goalkeeper Wojciech
Szczesny saw Birmingham lift the trophy in the dying seconds.
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| Inconsolable after Carling Cup Final |
Come 2011, Laurent has undoubtedly been Arsenal’s most
improved player. His rise has been meteoric to say the least. I would even go
to that extent that I would prefer him ahead of Mertesacker and Vermaelen too!
He has been very solid at the back and his consistency has been rewarded with a
French Cap.
However, those freak incidents should not affect people’s
judgement of Koscielny, although inevitably they do. If you watched Koscielny
closely, you’d see countless perfect interceptions and tackles; he’s excellent
aerially as well as on the deck. He is stronger than he looks. He scores
important goals too. Communication may be an area in which he lacks, but he
makes up for that with a combination of physical and technical prowess. For
example, a couple of times against Dortmund he played a BVB player onside, yet
managed to recover and put the player off each time. He quite clearly has the
infamous mental strength that Arsene always goes on about.
I still don’t quite understand how some fans don’t rate
Koscielny higher. I’ve been banging on about him for months (it hasn’t just
been me in fairness) and some people are only just realising how good he is
when he’s playing with a good partner. It’s a wide perception that he struggles
in the air, but that’s actually not true; he came up with several brilliant
headers against Dortmund, as per usual in fact. Perhaps it’s his brilliance on
the deck that makes his aerial ability seem less in comparison.
These
are the players that make a team tick. These are the players who perform
consistently day-in and day-out. These players have the ability to enter into
opposition team-talks on a regular basis rather than tabloid spaces! Just that
somehow they manage to evade the limelight(A bit like Rahul Dravid). And they
perform selflessly for the cause of the team. Some of the above may lack the
flair but they more than make up for it with some special qualities.
HATS OFF TO THESE GUYS!
(Disclaimer- Any more Underrated Arsenal players in your
mind? Please let me know by commenting below.)
