Everybody seems to be falling over themselves to laud the performances of Emmanuel Adebayor at Arsenal this season as the striker continues to be the media’s focal point of their push for the title but, for all his effect on the club this season following the departure of Thierry Henry, he is not the reason that the Gunners are where they currently sit in the Premier League table. Arsenal are a team who are always likely to score goals as their creativity is often far too great for average teams in the league. Such is their ability to maintain possession and run the opposition into submission that the need for a physically dominant centre-forward is nothing like as vital as Chelsea’s needs. That is why Chelsea look a shadow of themselves in attacking areas when Didier Drogba is not on the field. Yet the reason why Robin van Persie, Eduardo and a host of other Arsenal strikers over the past few years have always been able to get goals is because the midfield can put chances on a plate for them. Over recent seasons, Adebayor, Van Persie and Henry have all missed large chunks of the season without it derailing Arsenal’s bid for silverware. The only time things have fallen apart for them is when Cesc Fabregas has been unable to rule the centre of the park. The evidence can be no clearer than in Arsenal’s two most recent embarrassments and latest success. Fabregas was a flustered and anonymous spectator as first Tottenham, then Manchester United ran riot against Arsenal’s mythical young and inexperienced team. His force going forwards as well as back was non-existent in either of those games and those displays only serve to show his impact on Arsene Wenger’s team. At the San Siro, Fabregas was at his inspirational best and Arsenal bossed the game and won at a canter. If Arsenal are to win anything this season then they will have to keep Fabregas fit and get him playing at a level which made him one of the most sought after midfielders in the game. The Mathieu Flamini’s and Gilberto’s of this world are not a patch on the talismanic young Spaniard while the performances of Arsenal’s over-hyped second-string have been returned to an inadequate level in the games in which he has not played or failed to perform. No wonder Arsene Wenger is keen to tie him to the Emirates stadium for the rest of his career.
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I rate Hleb as equalLy important. Fabregas is a stronger leader, he is in the spotlight, but creativity, vision and skills of Hleb should not be underestimated. If you analyse Arsenal goals you will see that Hleb is behind so many of them. Fabregas got all the praise for scoring against Milan. But note who has robbed Milan of the ball and provided Fabregas with the great pass? It was Hleb, of course.
As you know, Cesc himself said recently that Hleb in his opinion "was the best player in Arsenal, often making others look silly in training". Arsenal success lays inside this triangle of Fab,Hleb and Flamini. When they play and interact well Arsenall are bossing the midfield and supply strikers with enough balls to score at least twice as much as they manage this season.
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