Has he failed to fill Pires boots ?

When you take a look at what we had in Robert Pires we was lucky to have such a talented winger who was not deterred by his lack of pace in the league which pace goes a long way to helping you fit in but he was just a magician so elegant on the ball with the composure and technique to put the ball in the back of the net from any range but interests me is his directness, That mentality of wanting to take on the defender putting the defender on the back foot which is something we lack. When Robert left we all knew that the time had to come but later in his career he wasn’t as effective considering his bad knee injury and probably needed a league where he could get that extra touch on the ball so Spain come calling with Villarreal the suitors and Bobby departed to finish off what was a remarkable career.

We the fans was looking for a replacement who was just as good as Robert as his presence was a big loss to the midfield, It was the 23rd of May 2006 when gradually the rumours got stronger and were eventually confirmed that Tomas Rosicky had turned his back from Atletico Madrid to head to the Emirates in a deal worth £7,000,000 and for me it was a shock but I was really excited at the same time!. Most fans would have known who Tomas Rosicky was from his Dortmund days and his games for the national team. Tomas the heart of their attack who was named the little Mozart for his picturesque performances lived up to his £18,000,000 price tag at Dortmund and became a cult hero but there was a different side to him alot like the Germans themselves, he would putting in alot of hard gritty determined performances and not afraid to lung into a challenge when needed it looked like we had a great player coming.

When we look at his Arsenal career he made his debut in the Champions League qualifier against Zagreb in an important game and managed to get his first goal against Hamburg also in the Champions League and what a goal it was, a cracking shot from 30 yards which left the keeper no chance and I think we was all rubbing our hands at the prospect of this season with Rosicky in the team. It was short lived because despite getting only 3 goals that season he showed flashes of brilliance but lacked consistency and can we put that down to the unlucky injuries he had? Or the fact he needed time to settle in the Premier League? I was going to give him that benefit of the doubt with Wenger saying he is the man to replace Pires. This season I’m far from impressed with his performances despite his 9 goals, not only can he not stay fit he is not the same player we brought because I don’t see him putting any defenders on the back foot with runs bursting from midfield taking 3 or 4 players out the game on a consistent level. I feel he should be doing alot more for his talent showing more confidence and more selfishness if you like rather than playing with his back to goal out wide and looking to pass which slows down the attack. So far he has alot of living up to do to fill Pires boots who was the ever reliable but despite his flashes of genius because we have not seen the Little Mozart yet more like the Injury Table Regular but am I being harsh on Rosicky who is a part of a team at Arsenal rather than being the stand out player of a team but it does look like he relishes a role where he is the key vocal point in attack which he isn’t at Arsenal.