Greetings from Planet Zog

Alex Song is a fine player.  I’ve rated him since I saw him bossing the midfield for the reserves against Portsmouth a few years back, when Denilson made his debut and much fanfare was present for a particularly young Theo Walcott partnering Jeremie Aliadiere in attack.  However, that doesn’t mean I won’t criticise him.  I’ve read a lot of very positive comments about his performance post-West Ham, apparently because he provides some semblance of defensive stability in the centre of a midfield which has been decidedly porous whenever Denilson has been present.  For me, this is not worthy of much praise.  This is a bare minimum requirement for our Flamini replacement. 

In the first half in particular, Song was crippling our attacking game because he offered nothing to it.  It was the Gilberto-Fabregas midfield of 06/07 all over again.  No urgency, no penetration, no aggression.  Every time Song got the ball, almost without fail, he’d play a five yard pass to Fabregas.  It reminded me of Henry’s last days at the club, young players terrified of ignoring or bypassing the main man.  Flamini did not have that concern.  If he saw an opportunity for a penetrating pass, he’d make it.  Hell, even if he didn’t see one, he’d hang on to the ball for a little while to see if he could create something.  With Song on Sunday it was this:  ‘Here Cesc, you’re the orchestrator.  I’m the waterboy.  I’ll roll you the ball and I’ll return to the fringes of the match.  Go do your stuff.’

The added pressure isn’t helping Cesc and it isn’t helping the team.  I like Denilson because he isn’t afraid to make things happen.  Unfortunately, he is missing the qualities that Song is getting praised for.  As always, the new boy or the unknown quantity, Song in this instance, receives a burst of popularity because the fans haven’t seen things go wrong with him in midfield (Sunderland aside), as they have with Denilson.  It’s like when Gilberto was out with his long-term back injury – he was the best defensive midfielder in the world by the time he came back.  Song is now resoundingly the best choice to partner Cesc. One or two nil-nil draws though, and that will quickly change. 

Of course, this isn’t really a surprise.  We knew this in August.  Unfortunately, there’s nothing we can do it about it now, so we’ll just have to muddle through until Arsene signs someone, or until Song or Denilson develop.  Personally, I can’t wait for my next trip to the Emirates on Nov 11.  The Randall-Ramsey pairing is also some way short of the required standard, but it is refreshing and intriguing to watch all the same.