Quote Originally Posted by Blink 1nce Quince 2wice View Post
I was talking about his short passing but incidentally I think his general passing range is better too. I think Arteta is probably our best player at maintaining and setting the rhythm of passing in a midfield whilst being equally as positionally disciplined, a little less rash whilst still happy to make a cynical foul when needed. It's not always about how far a player passes it or how well he passes it but also about his choice of pass. Because our midfielders stay close together there is often 2/3 5-10 yard passing options and sometimes the trick is to pick the right one in order to mount a potential attack from. Sometimes Arteta will receive the ball on his right side let it run through his leg and play a short pass which is not necessarily an obvious pass to make but one where a passage of play opens up in the centre for an attack. I think Arteta is much better at seeing and playing that kind of pass from deep than anyone else who plays deep.

I'm at pains to use Cesc as an example here but that is what Cesc was exceptional at. Arteta is not in Cesc's class but he does have that bit of nous to be able to control the passage of play with a little more finesse than most.

Like anyone I'm glad with have 2 different options and I'd rather only see Flamini play with Arteta on one off occasions if it is needed rather than seeing it a lot.
I disagree with a lot of that. Rosicky is our best passer in the squad when it comes to controlling the tempo. Before he receives the ball he knows who he's passing to and where he's moving. I've seen Arteta on too many occasions pass the ball back into a tight space when he was plenty of time to turn and spread the ball. Because of his past rep at Everton, I've been disappointed with Arteta.

If Rosicky or Diaby could stay fit we'd get that old free flowing football back. There presence would have a massive impact on the rest of the players and the speed of our game. With or without Arteta, there isn't much of a difference to the way we move the ball. It's still slow and labored. That's not all his fault because Ramsey and Wilshere aren't much help either.