Alex Song completed his transfer to Barcelona this morning for £15million from Arsenal. In a matter of just a few days, Arsenal fans witnessed two of their best players from last season leave the club, but will Song be difficult to replace?
Although Song was able to not only provide a physical presence in the Arsenal midfield over the years, his last season was one of, if not his best since his arrival. He not only was able to help dictate the pace of the game in the midfield, but he also made significant contributions to the Gunners offense. His vision of the game became more complex, allowing him to thread some of the most difficult of passes through to new Manchester United man Robin van Persie.
Many Arsenal fans appear to be divided in regards to this move, but if you look at it from a neutral stand point, Song's contributions on the pitch were far from what he may have been expected to do. He was not only a big physical presence in the middle of the park, but he was their to make an attempt to protect the Arsenal defenders which he didn't do that well.
As he became more comfortable with the ball at his feet, Song started to get caught out of position more often than not. With a suspect back line at times that lacked confidence, Alex Song needed to be the player who would stop opposing midfielders and forwards from running at the Arsenal defense, but he rarely did that.
If you look back at last season, many will argue that Song was one of Arsenal's top three players though out the whole campaign. While that may be true, how often did Alex Song fulfill the duties on the pitch that he gets paid to do, or at least is asked to do?
Rumors of his indiscipline and lack of commitment appear to have forced Arsene Wenger to consider his transfer. His constant run-ins with management in training due to his lack of effort or not following instructions led to his downfall at the club.
With his move to Barcelona, he will be able to adapt to their style of play with more ease considering the Blaugrana don't really need that physical protection to their back line. The Barcelona style of play when they don't have the ball is a full team operation where they won't depend only on someone like Song to help close down opponents. Being able to keep the ball for large parts of the game will allow him to 'hide' his weaknesses even though he would not be asked to play such a defensive role for his new club.
It goes without saying that at the moment, and most likely going forward, Song's opportunities to win titles will almost always be better than if he was with Arsenal. With that said, Arsene Wenger can now spend the transfer money on a more defensive midfielder who will stick to his tactics and who will protect the back four.
One big question will be how much playing time will Song actually get considering the abundance of talent Barcelona has?
Many Arsenal fans appear to be divided in regards to this move, but if you look at it from a neutral stand point, Song's contributions on the pitch were far from what he may have been expected to do. He was not only a big physical presence in the middle of the park, but he was their to make an attempt to protect the Arsenal defenders which he didn't do that well.
As he became more comfortable with the ball at his feet, Song started to get caught out of position more often than not. With a suspect back line at times that lacked confidence, Alex Song needed to be the player who would stop opposing midfielders and forwards from running at the Arsenal defense, but he rarely did that.
If you look back at last season, many will argue that Song was one of Arsenal's top three players though out the whole campaign. While that may be true, how often did Alex Song fulfill the duties on the pitch that he gets paid to do, or at least is asked to do?
Rumors of his indiscipline and lack of commitment appear to have forced Arsene Wenger to consider his transfer. His constant run-ins with management in training due to his lack of effort or not following instructions led to his downfall at the club.
With his move to Barcelona, he will be able to adapt to their style of play with more ease considering the Blaugrana don't really need that physical protection to their back line. The Barcelona style of play when they don't have the ball is a full team operation where they won't depend only on someone like Song to help close down opponents. Being able to keep the ball for large parts of the game will allow him to 'hide' his weaknesses even though he would not be asked to play such a defensive role for his new club.
It goes without saying that at the moment, and most likely going forward, Song's opportunities to win titles will almost always be better than if he was with Arsenal. With that said, Arsene Wenger can now spend the transfer money on a more defensive midfielder who will stick to his tactics and who will protect the back four.
One big question will be how much playing time will Song actually get considering the abundance of talent Barcelona has?
