M’Vila disappoints…by being exactly what we’re looking for
June 24, 2012
Did you watch the match last night?
What did you think of M’Vila?
A quick scout of the social networks suggests many Gooners are a bit disappointed with our prospective new signing. But a lot of that disappointment seems to be centred around the fact that he didn’t go charging around the pitch, sliding into tackles, rampaging through the middle and generally striking fear into the hearts of all men. He just sat there in front of the back four.
I thought that was exactly what we were looking for in a defensive midfielder?
I don’t know how many times I’ve heard it said that we’d concede a lot fewer goals if Alex Song just maintained his discipline and provided a wall in front of his defence instead of charging about all over the place. Here is a player who does exactly that.
Admittedly he struggled somewhat to stamp his mark on the game early on (although I felt he came into it it much more in the second half) but then he was playing against Spain a team who will pass and pass and pass and just wait for the opposition to make a mistake. In fact, had M’Vila gone charging around hunting for the ball chances are he would have left gaps which Spain would have immediately exploited. In fact, for all their possession they actually created very little. The amount that M’Vila was responsible for that was shown when, chasing a late equaliser, he was removed for Giroud and immediately France looked a whole lot more vulnerable.
He didn’t see a lot of the ball himself but when he did it was noticeable what a good range of passing he has. I didn’t see the stats but I don’t remember him giving the ball away and he mixed up very simple short passing with raking cross field balls and even a couple of defence splitters, one of which very nearly put Ribery in for an equaliser.
I’m not saying his performance blew me away, I’m just saying that a player like that in a match like last night’s was never going to. I was quietly impressed.
While I’m sure there are some more fashionable, headline grab-y names that we could go for, I know that we’ve been tracking M’Vila for a long time so Le Boss will know what he can do. Laurent Koscielny wasn’t exactly welcomed with bunting and street parties when he was signed but he was probably France’s best player last night, was named man of the match on French TV and (partly due to his omission up to that point) will surely now be recognised as one of the top centre backs in the world.
Let’s see how it goes with M’Vila.
With France now out we can expect that deal to be completed (if as so many ITKs seem to be claiming it is definitely happening) in the next couple of weeks. Giroud should be done any day too.
England Vs Italy finally rolls around tonight and by the sound of things Hodgson’s planning to start with the same team as last time so that means Theo and the Ox will have to make whatever impact they can from the bench. Fair enough. Who wouldn’t want to enjoy a big fat slice of James Milner with their espresso?
I suppose with Italy’s historical defensiveness and England’s new found erm… ‘solidity’ this one has the potential to be one of the dullest games ever seen. Still, if we do manage to get through I think the nation will finally awaken from its slightly ‘meh’ induced slumber and Euro fever will grip us all once again. Just in time for our inevitable ‘brave’ defeat in the semi finals.
Enjoy!
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Comments
37 Responses to “M’Vila disappoints…by being exactly what we’re looking for”
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Yea m,villa in dm, let our african zidane goes on a free rule, we all know song have dat killa pass.
you have got this spot on , you talk to most people and theyl just say mvila is shit , whys that? because he dint score goals or he wasnt as recognized as xavi and iniesta, yes he isnt on their level, how ever a guy who knows his football just like you will analyse mvila and see what he is good at which is standing infront of the defence providing a strong wall. but its a shame other people cant see that who just jump to a conclusion that mvila is shit beacuse he dint score and people think goals is what makes a player good.
i thought his ball control was amazing. he has really good technical skills. he doesn’t give the ball away cheaply even when he was charged by 3 mid fielders simultaneously. so all in all – i like him. hope we get him.
I think M Villa would be a great step forward. With the two strikers and keeping RvP (fingers crossed) this would be our best summer for some time. I do fear the Theo, RvP and Song situation (2 years left I think) if we don’t add the quality.
Whatever happens poldolski and Giroud are good additions to the team
Come on the gunners
Watch the game with great interest considering the Arsenal associations – quite impressive – either players past (Clichy, Nasri and Cesc), present (Koscielny) and possible (Giroud and M’Vila)
Although it would be wrong to judge any one player solely on evidence of one game against a team of Spain’s pedigree I agree 100% with what you are saying. Was impressed by M’Vila’s positional discipline and passing range and seems less prone to giving away free kicks.
He would be great addition.
How many mid’s do we have
1. Alex Song
2. Wishere
3. Arteta
4. Rosicky
5. Ramsey
6. M’villa (if we get him)
7. Coquelin
8. Frimpong
9. Diaby
9 players for 3 positions. That’s a lot of unhappy players if they don’t start. Coq, Frimpong – Loan. so 7. I think Lansbury will be sold to West Ham so I haven’t included him.
At the end of the game xabi alonso gave a ” well done ,son” look to Mvilla and me too felt the same.
Nicely balanced article.
I too was impressed by a understated performance, espcially given his relative youth and inexperience.
He held his ground against some of the best in the world, giving a calm and confident performance.
Good range of passing too and he doesn’t hold on to the ball for too long.
Hope he’s the next signing.
Marcel desailly what ever he’s name claimed this guy is going to better then vieira lolllll he ain’t even better then alex song! Watching overrated mvila makes me appreciate song much more.
@Vismay: with regard to mids, how many times last season were we blighted with injuries in that area? It cost us a few games as players had to ‘rotate’ and were not used to playing in that position. Better to have a surplace than to little.
Spot on with your assessment. I like the way M’Villa keeps things nice and simple with the occasional eye catching offensive pass. That and his and discipline to hold his position just in front of the back four would give us the spring board needed to go after the Mancs next season. Let’s get him signed up Arsene.
COYG.
france had to chase the game being a goal down and in that context i was not impressed by his performance once france were a goal down.
He does a lot of the basics very well and he has got quality but like i said when they went a goal down, didnt see much to make me wanna spend 17mil on him.
I didnt watch d game. Can mvila be compared to mikel obi?
dat gud if we can get those player mentioned in this summer and keep vp
Baba Wenger, please get us IKER MUNIAN from Athletico Bilbao, d guy is an Arsenal Player.
Nobody seems to have relaised that the reports out about 3 weeks ago were correct. I believe he either as signed or a contract is in place, my reasoning being the following.
other than some odd remarks on another website nobody has brought up his name in any form , now we all know that he is a good player some even suggest he can become very good so why no other intrest ??
obviously all the other teams know the situation hence no intrest. For what its worth I think he would be a brilliant signing.
spot on. saying the opposite is just silly.
i was massively impressed as i’ve never seen him throughout a whole game against spain in an unsettled team.
kos was the boss as usual, its been a pleasure watching him grow, thanx arsene.
so if it weren’t for us france would of got there asses handed to em? plus man for man id say were on par. ribery is good but you’d need to keep him happy all the time cos that sulk was no joke.
i hope we get him as he’s friends with sagna like kos and giroo and that can only be good for them bedding in quickly. the rotation options in mid would be well nice.
Let’s just be glad M’vila didn’t play like the bees knees against the Spanish because if he had have done he’d have alerted all the money bags and hey presto his price would have shot right up, and the same applies to Giroud.
@Royal man,he’s very very similar to mikel obi,except he’s got more flair and can tackle too..
dont we already have that in arteta.
i’ve always said m’vila is very overrated.
coquelin will become the man, so it would be an investment wasted if we were to get m’vila. arteta and song are enough.
assuming wilshere is past his injuries, we have a good squad and dont need m’vila.
i dont see any extraordinary item from M’Villa, i prefer Alex Song, he is very good at different positions, he has done it against Barca, Real Madrid and others, His assists are wonderfull for a defensive Midfielder check ur statistics.
The irony, looking at the comments. Hillarious.
An egg’s an egg. But you still get slated for being an egg. Go figure.
As always nice post MH.
We may have a lot of midfielders, but not enough quality depth in center defensive mid. To challenge in the EPL, FA Cup, Carling Cup and the Champions Leaugue simultaneously we need depth. Arteta and Song are not enough. Arteta, Song, Wilshire, Rosicky, Coquelin, Frimpong, Diaby, Ramsey are not enough (not enough quality that is). M’villa would be a welcome addition.
M’Villa has great off the ball movement plus he’s very good with the ball at his feet and an excellent passer somewhere in the mould of Gilberto Silva, remember him? How can people say that he is rubbish? Look how well he closes down opponents and intercepts passes. He reads the game very well also always two passes ahead of play. When the ball is out wide he always makes himself available to receive a pass. Going to be a great player mark my word, a silent worker.
Sure we need someone to sit in front of the defence, but that player still has to do something. M’Villa did fuck all and looked very ordinary indeed.
I feel we do not need him even though he’ll be A̶̲̥̅ welcome addition
Just wanted to say, Ashley Cole, you turd.
Spot on, great article
Too easy..
m’villa is the same type of player as gilberto silva, never really appreciated but will be sorely missed when not playing.
Gilberto silva was better he scored goals too mvila don’t score
“Yea m,villa in dm, let our african zidane goes on a free rule, we all know song have dat killa pass.” Algeria is not in Africa? Zidane’s parents are from there and could have played for Algeria so he is African though not black. Not all Africans are black.
I am a big fan of Alex Song. I am a big fan of Frances Coquelin. I fully appreciate the solidity that Arteta gave in his first season at Arsenal. I also hope that Jack Wilshere will come back and pick up where he left off. I would love to see a fully fit Diaby grace the turf again. Maybe next year we will see Frimpong be the real deal for the defensive midfielder role we need. All these players are/or will be top class players … but right now, M’vila is the player that could make the difference between an okay start to the season, or a real blinder.
If anyone doubts that, go check the other blogs for ‘M’vila by numbers’. it is impressive, and he is worth every penny of £17m.
Fingers crossed he comes, and in a very short space of time fans will come to realise why he is going to be the first name on the teamsheet. I am not being disrectful to the players I have named above because not only can they all play alongside him in various combinations, they actually need a guy like him to be the base from which attack turns to defence, and vice versa.
Very sharp performance. People forget we have been missing a tough guy in the middle for a while hopefully this is him. Just 1 song is not enough.
Diaby is not a tough guy.
Koscielny really has turned into a good defender – when he first came to Arsenal I thought he was a terrible signing considering how much we paid, he’s certainly made me eat my words over the past 10 months and I hope he continues to grow and work on his weak points because if he does and can keep up this amazing rate of progression he will definitely be one of the best CB’s in the league, perhaps even Europe. I’m still consistently told by other that he’s rubbish though.
M’Vila looked quite mature to me – at 21 he’s got huge scope for growth and he looks capable of pulling out the odd Pirlo-esque pass, personally I’d love to see us sign him, and when you look at who Song’s agent is it’s probably wise we have good cover for the holding midfield position.
Your spot on he is exactly the type of player we need to allow arteta and jack to actually push forward without having to worry about whetehr the DM is doing there job. You’ve got to bear in mind that most pele on twitter and in genral know nothing about football and unfournatley with the get AW out panic that happened at the beginning of last season some of our own fans don’t seem to knwo anything about football either. I think martinez if he goes anywhere it will be to barca so we should snap up m’vila while we have the chance. If you checkmhis stats they are amazing almost as good long ball completn rate as Pirlo! Then add his tackling and overall class and we really will have the next viera. He kept the ball really well against a spain side which is very difficult to keep the ball against so I thought he was top class. We get him I’ll be very happy.
he has a style which we need in Arsenal in order to avoid a hard work for Velemaelen and kochelny.
the match he played with Spain i was focused on him
he played well and as i was football player i will be happy to Yann in arsenal shirt. you will see we will able to compete the physical games. you remember if we are going to meet like Stoke city, QPR,………..