Arsenal has gone nine years without dusting a single trophy inside their cabinet. With the myriad of bygone trophies of days left in the past, Arsenal are on the brink of stopping the nine-year drought. With the FA Cup finals on the Horizon, Arsenal’s Manager, Arsene Wenger, will have a tough task ahead of him in preparing his side, which most recently took a hard defeat to Stoke City. There are four potential game changing midfielders at hand that have been playing near top gear for over the past month. Jack Wilshere, Thomas Rosicky, Santi Cazorla, and finally Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. The last three could put Arsenal on the fast track back to winning trophies.
Jack Wilshere has been controlling the midfield for Arsenal all season long, sitting deep in a defensive position, or attacking through the middle. Even though he has had a few rocky patches of play, his game of late has only been on the rise. This was clearly seen in Thomas Rosicky’s goal against Sunderland two weeks ago with beautiful “one-touch” passing. His vision appears to only increase with every game picking out the runner to feed through beautiful through balls or lob passes. Unfortunately, he will miss the next six weeks due to an injury sustained with England, and his absence will definitely hurt Arsenal’s aspirations towards a trophy this season.
Thomas Rosicky’s goal, mentioned above, was a display of Arsenal’s attacking prowess when they are firing on all cylinders. Roscky missed a few weeks due to injury, but has come back with a vengeance finding space to attack on both sides of the pitch, slipping markers left and right. On the other side of the pitch, Rosicky has also been a positive influence, getting back and helping to create counter attacks with good defensive play. Being able to create the counter attack is when Arsenal seem to be the most deadly, with Rosicky ready and able to start the attack Arsenal are primed for success.
Santi Cazorla has become a threat with either of his feet when attacking the goal, but has of late been equally deadly distributing the ball. According to Arsenal’s website, Cazorla is second on the team in crosses (80) and Key Passes (42). With each passing game Cazorla, and the rest of Arsenal’s attack, appear to be working with one cohesive thought creating space and opening defenses game after game. This game against Everton should be a perfect place for Cazorla to continue creating chance after chance for his teammates. With Everton defender, Phil Jagielka, out due to injury Cazorla might find more space to work with.
Arsenal’s player of the month of February (according to their official website) came on as a substitute in the loss to Stoke last and provided a much-needed spark. Even though Arsenal lost the game Oxlade-Chamberlain is proving hard to leave off the team sheet. With a constant energy and an ever-growing understanding of the game, “The-Ox” is scoring goals and giving defenses all kinds of headaches. If the manager, Arsene Wenger, looks back over the past game and sees the kind of performance, (even if it was only 20 minutes) “The-Ox” has put in over the past month, Wenger should have no qualms about including him on Saturday.
Hopefully, with the creative midfield Arsenal do have they will be able to attack Everton from all sides. Utilizing speed, “one-touch” passing, and key passes from all three of these players; Arsenal should be one step closer to prepping a new space for an old trophy. Prediction: Arsenal 3-2 Everton
