Eduardo’s excellent link-up play against Bolton key to Arsenal victory
It’s often been said that Eduardo da Silva is purely a goalscorer – the insinuation being that he’s lacking technically in other areas. In recent weeks, Arsene Wenger has deployed Andrei Arshavin as the lone striker, with Eduardo on the left-hand side, but against Bolton Eduardo played through the middle as a lone central striker, and he took to the role brilliantly.
But far from being limited to finishing, Eduardo proved today that his all-round game is up to scratch, as this Chalkboard demonstrates.
Indeed, the one ‘unsuccessful’ (red) pass he attempted in the whole game was deflected into the path of Fran Merida, who scored Arsenal’s second, which will be credited elsewhere as an assist.
So that’s 22 passes, 20 of which found the intended target and kept the Arsenal attack going, and 2 of which directly resulted in goals.
Apparently Jamie Redknapp said tonight that “Arsenal are carrying Eduardo” (I didn’t hear this myself, I didn’t bother staying tuned for Jamie’s ‘analysis’) – it would be interesting to see him try and defend those comments in light of these statistics.
Eduardo’s excellent link-up play against Bolton key to Arsenal victory
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Michael Cox, Michael Cox. Michael Cox said: @timothydclark @timothydclark That's a ludicrous thing for Redknapp to say – look how good his passing stats were 2day: http://bit.ly/6zRHvh [...]
Quality, cheers mate, proves Redknapp is talking shit as usual
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This post was mentioned on Twitter by MichaelCox: @timothydclark @timothydclark That’s a ludicrous thing for Redknapp to say – look how good his passing stats were 2day: http://bit.ly/6zRHvh...
And this is the problem of what to do with Eduardo in the summer. His finishing is poor at the moment, he’s missing chances he used to bury, including some rather embarrassing ones, and with Chamakh coming in, Van Persie returning to fitness and Bendtner improving with playing time, it’s hard to see where Eduardo “fits” as a forward.
But, as your article highlights, maybe he still has something to offer the club in the wider positions? That way Arsenal can utilise his good link-up play and he’s got more chance of starting games. This season he’s looked better there than Rosicky (who’s looked better in a deeper midfield position alongside Cesc and ahead of Song, thanks in large part to his immense work rate).