DON'T SLEEP ON MOHAMED ELNENY'S VALUE.....

in nigeria ā€¢Ā  6 years agoĀ  (edited)

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šŸ˜•Mohamed Elneny is not a flashy player. Heā€™s a bit boring, he doesnā€™t do much special, and heā€™s never going to be a regular starter for Arsenal .

ā˜ļøBut that does not mean that he does not add value to the squad .

šŸ˜ŽLet's provides his insight .

Entering the summer, there was not a position group in the whole Arsenal squad that I was more concerned about than central midfield.

Jack Wilshereā€™s future was uncertain with his contract expiring at the end of June, Santi Cazorla was, at best, returning after two years out with injury and at worst not at the club whatsoever, Aaron Ramsey had just one year remaining on his contract and could easily force an exit if he so wanted, and Granit Xhaka was not all that convincing in his second season, even if he did make improvements in the latter months of the campaign.

And now, two months later, my concerns are still not settled. Cazorla has left, Wilshere has left, Lucas Torreira, who will help but is not exactly a world-beater, has been brought in, and Xhaka and Ramsey are as they were. It is still an uncertain and unconvincing bunch. And at the heart of it all is Mohamed Elneny, the everpresent, wonderfully consistent, oft-overlooked Egyptian, who rarely gets the credit that he deserves.

Elneny is not a special player. Heā€™s not even a good player, not at the top level, anyway. Heā€™s just a solid, reliable, steadfast presence at the heart of the midfield. A diligent, willing, disciplined and versatile player who will do anything he can to win, even if it means understanding his limitations and ensuring that he plays within them.

In the increasingly flashy modern world where the whole sport lives on social media, players are more bothered about marketing themselves than they are winning games, and the silky skills of a mercurial, inconsistent winger are deemed more important than the intelligent positioning of a centre-half or the precision and timing of a slide tackle, players like Elneny are ignored and overlooked.

He is boring, bland, predictable, the same. He is not special in any aspect of the game, he is not a stand-out athlete or a great goalscorer or nuanced creator. Heā€™s just a decent player who can do a job and do it well. But the value of that should not be underrated, especially in an Arsenal team that is so uncertain in central midfield.

While Ramsey is umming and erring over his future, Xhaka is learning how to tackle and Cazorla and Wilshere are leaving, Elneny is just being. He enjoyed a solid World Cup, though certainly not a spectacular one, he is coming off his best season in north London, though it was nothing more than perfectly adequate, and he is not considered a starting player next year.
But players like Elneny are important. Squad players are important. He adds great value to this squad, even if itā€™s boring. Donā€™t sleep on it.

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Ā  Ā· Ā 6 years agoĀ 

Hi! I am a robot. I just upvoted you! I found similar content that readers might be interested in:
https://paininthearsenal.com/2018/07/07/arsenal-dont-sleep-mohamed-elnenys-value/

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