Guy Clarke
Ed’s Note – This piece was submitted before Flamini’s recent injury. When Arsenal announced that Mathieu Flamini was rejoining the club on the 29th August, the signing was met with anything but enthusiasm.
Re-signing a 29-year-old Frenchman who had struggled with injuries during four years in Italy was hardly inspiring considering the club’s alleged transfer kitty. Yaya Sanogo, another free transfer, had been the only other signing despite failed attempts to lure a big name, most notably Gonzalo Higuain and Luis Suarez.
However, just nine matches later, the former AC Milan midfielder has shown his value, having become a vital cog in the Arsenal machine which currently sits top of the Premier League. A player of the ilk of Flamini has long been needed - it could even be argued since his departure in 2008 - but with him back on the scene it is plain to see exactly how important he is. With his ball-winning, tenacious style, Flamini gives licence to the club’s midfielders like Ozil, Wilshere, Cazorla and particularly Aaron Ramsey to attack.
Ramsey in particular has benefitted from playing next to the Frenchman. At the back end of last season he was required to be more defensively minded next to the composed Mikel Arteta but, with his new partner, has been able to show his own attacking credentials. Ramsey has earned many plaudits due to his goal-scoring run of form, but it could be argued this is mainly down to the man next to him who holds things together whist he attacks.
It is not just the Welshman who has benefitted but the team as a whole.
With Flamini, Arsenal are more of unit, and are implementing a new counter-attacking style of play, to which he is vital. Even in the recent win over Norwich, Flamini showed his worth. This was a match Arsenal were expected to win and therefore in front of the home crowd didn’t really play their counter-attacking style but were more suited to controlling the match. While the 29-year-old was on the pitch the Gunners dominated and showed no sign of allowing the visitors back into the match after Jack Wilshere’s delightful finish gave them the lead. However, after Flamini went off due to concussion, having clashed heads with Alex Tettey, Norwich grew into the match.
Chris Hughton’s men found themselves pushing Arsenal back, and almost equalised before half-time, only for Wojciech Szczesny to stop a Leroy Fer effort. Even after the break, their pressure was unrelenting, though it was the quality of Arsenal’s midfielders, Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey, that assured the victory with their individual brilliance being too much for the Canaries to handle. It’s not to say the game was in doubt once Flamini left the pitch, but that Arsenal were in full control with him on the field of play, and, once he departed, the visitors asserted themselves on the match.
Against a tougher opponent, perhaps Arsenal’s soft underbelly would have been exposed once more, due to the lack of the defensive shield which Flamini offers. This can be highlighted by the result against Tottenham, when Flamini entered before half-time replacing the ill Jack Wilshere. He gave Arsenal the steel they needed to grind out the victory, something that is now becoming a regular occurrence (although Mesut Ozil often adds a touch of magic). In the past, rarely would Arsenal have been able to defend deep and see out a result like that, but with a defensive midfielder now at the club, and one so commanding as Flamini, it seems to have become an option; the talk of “no real leader in the Arsenal backline” is beginning to disappear.
With the attacking flair-players Arsene Wenger has brought to Arsenal there has always been a need for that balance and that issue now seems to have been addressed. Flamini may not have cost £42.5m but has had an astronomical effect on the team, and has helped the defence out no end. With him shielding in front of Mertesacker and Koscielny, it prevents players running straight at the heart of the defence, as has been the problem in recent years, and it is no surprise the Gunners have made their best start to a season since 2007/08 (the last year Flamini wore an Arsenal shirt prior to this).
One player who may be fearing for his place in the side would have to be Mikel Arteta. Arteta, the club’s vice captain, could become a regular feature on the bench with the Ramsey-Flamini axis working wonders. Wenger does still seem to want to accommodate the Spaniard, who started centrally against Norwich ahead of Ramsey, but does he really still merit a starting role?
After Alex Song left, Arteta looked to have filled the role of deep-lying playmaker, but does not quite have the strength to hold the midfield together, nor the sheer energy to run box to box. The side seems to have evolved, and with Flamini and Ramsey working wonders at the heart of the midfield, it would be difficult to see Arteta holding down a regular starting berth. His style does not seem so suited to the counter-attacking strategy currently being utilised, though against the lesser teams at the Emirates, like Norwich last weekend, he could find playing time.
As much as Wenger admires Arteta he will need to get the balance right and, despite being a fine passer of the ball and adding composure to the midfield, so far this season it has been shown that Arsenal really need a tenacious terrier-like player in Flamini protecting the midfield with the club currently on top, in both the league and Champions League group.
