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Arshavin, Chamakh & The Five Arsenal Players Who Need To Prove Their Worth To Arsene Wenger Against Leeds United
With the Gunners chasing a top four spot and Champions League glory, a number of stars need to show they have what it takes to challenge for the first team at the Emirates
09-Jan-2012 2:15:00 PM
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ANALYSIS
By Jonathan Birchall
The restoration project undertaken by Arsene Wenger following Arsenal's 8-2 demoliton at the hands of Manchester United at Old Trafford has entered its fifth month and, despite being in keeping with a logic-defying season on occasion, has been an unforeseen success.
The first stage of the recovery, based on short-term solutions and consolidation, saw the likes of Andre Santos, Per Mertesacker and Mikel Arteta arrive at the Emirates with little fanfare and arguably less expectation. None have come close to driving the Gunners' rise from the relegation zone to fifth as much as Robin van Persie or Wojciech Szczesny, but each has contributed to steadying a previously rudderless ship.
Now, a new transfer window can herald the next step in Wenger's strategy, but at a club in which the wage structure is more watertight than its defence, casualties are inevitable and a fixture against Leeds in the FA Cup provides an ideal opportunity for the Frenchman to decide who is worth keeping in north London, and who can go.
Squad rotation is likely against Simon Grayson's side and Goal.com have selected the five players who could use a rare start on Monday night to prove their worth to Wenger and survive Arsenal's New Year's revolution.
| ANDREY ARSHAVIN |
Andrey Arshavin's acknowledgement that he has been little more than "average" at Arsenal back in November was as telling about the forward's state of mind at the Emirates as it was, in large part, accurate.
After arriving at the club in February 2009, Arsene Wenger looked to have secured one of the finest talents on the continent, with the Russian, then 27, having seen his reputation rocket following a Euro 2008 campaign in which he announced his name on the global stage with phenomenal performances against Sweden and the Netherlands as Guus Hiddink's men reached the semi-finals.
However, Arshavin's performances in England have been a mix of the brilliant and the absurd, with his four-goal haul at Anfield in 2009 and his half-hour cameo in last season's 2-1 win over Barcelona running parallel to countless displays in which the former Zenit man, whose contract expires in June, simply hasn't appeared interested.
As such, rumours regarding his imminent departure have grown, and Zenit director Igor Korneyev admitted that he would be willing to bring the forward home to St Petersburg, stating: "We are always interested in Arshavin."
| MAROUANE CHAMAKH |
Similarl to Arshavin, Marouane Chamakh has shown himself capable of producing for the first team, with an impressive start seeing him bag 10 goals before December following his 2010 summer move from Bourdeaux.
However, after admitting to being exhausted by the pace of the Premier League, the striker lost his place in the team, and his edge.
The forward has since lamented the Gunners' system, claiming that he would benefit from the side starting with two recognised strikers, and also hinted towards a return to Ligue 1. His diplomacy in doing so has been admirable, but he made his unsettled state of mind clear to Sud Ouest last month, stating: "I'm 27, I'm a competitor, I want to play, I accept many things here because it works. But I cannot live like this forever. I will make a decision this spring.”
The Moroccan has delayed his departure to the Africa Cup of Nations for the clash at the Emirates on Monday night in a move that suggests he wants to throw on the Arsenal shirt, whether it proves to be for the last time remains to be seen.
| PARK CHU-YOUNG |
Having only arrived in the summer, you would suspect the South Korean international is safe at Arsenal for now but even Wenger, a manager whose steadfast faith in his players has occasionally done more harm than good, must be concerned by the time it is taking the forward to adapt to English football.
"Tonight you could see that he lacked the pace of the game a little bit because he has not played enough games," said Wenger of the former Monaco forward after the Gunners' 0-0 draw with Marseille. Park has played one game since that clash at the Emirates, and was substituted 66 minutes in as Manchester City knocked Arsenal out of the League Cup.
The departures of Gervinho and Chamakh for the Africa Cup of Nations are likely to free up some playing time for the South Korea captain, but the arrival of Thierry Henry of course provides extra competition for a player who has himself criticised his own performances since joining the relegated French side.
At 26, Park is in no way a veteran but at a club whose stadium has often looked more creche than colosseum in recent years, he can ill-afford to take much longer in staking his claim for a first-team place.
| TOMAS ROSICKY |
Having suffered injury misfortune to rival any other player in the game, Tomas Rosicky's remaining time at Arsenal has arguably been in doubt since he spent over a year and a half out of the game due, in large part, to a tendon injury in 2008 and 2009. Even the signing of a new contract in January 2010 has done little to revive the career of the former Dortmund man.
Having arrived from Westfalenstadion over half a decade ago for £7 million, 'The Little Mozart' appeared to possess all the attributes of the ultimate 'Wenger player', but the fluidity of his play has since matched that of his career, with the huge amount of time spent on the sidelines no doubt blunting his sharpness on the ball.
As a result, Rosicky has only started three Premier League games this season and is known to have attracted the interest of Wolfsburg boss Felix Magath, who said of the Czech to Bild: "Tomas is a good player when he is fit, no doubt."
It was a comment weighted with the thought that Rosicky cannot be consistently relied upon. He, like Arsenal and his manager, must wonder what might have been. A dominant performance against Leeds may just convince Wenger to keep hold of the 31-year-old.
| SEBASTIEN SQUILLACI |
The 31-year-old signed from Sevilla in 2010 has been near non-existent for Arsenal this season, with his first league appearance coming on the 80th minute in the 2-1 defeat to Fulham on January 2. Cruelly enough for the former Monaco man, his was a catastrophic cameo as he failed to deal with Stephen Kelly's cross and headed it into the path of Bobby Zamora, who got the winner at Craven Cottage.
Limited opportunities coupled with defensive error would, for some, be the two hallmarks of Squillaci's brief spell at the Emirates, and with the arrival of Mertesacker and the emergence of Ignasi Miquel, his first-team opportunities are likely to remain limited at Arsenal.
Squillaci himself faces a battle to be fit for Monday night's curtain-closer for the third round proper as he looks to overcome a hamstring tweak, but an opportunity awaits should he prove his fitness with Johan Djourou suspended and Thomas Vermaelen sidelined with a calf problem.
One suspects Squillaci's Arsenal career, possibly more than any others at the club, is hanging by a thread.
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