Date: 16th November 2014 at 9:00pm
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It is easy to get carried away and fall victim to the hype surrounding a player. A few good performances is often enough to link a player with a big money move to a top team. Former Arsenal man Alex Song is a perfect example of this, as he has been impressive for West Ham since joining on loan from Barcelona.

I’m amongst those who share the train of thought that Song should never have been sold to Barcelona and therefore should be an Arsenal player to this day. But what’s done is done, and bringing the player back for a second spell would be a mistake.

Beside the fact that Wenger hardly ever resigns anyone, second spells don’t usually pan out well regardless of player and team. A lot has changed at Arsenal since Song’s departure and bringing him back would cause a lot of unnecessary congestion.

Song played in a midfield duo with Fabregas, where he had room behind Fabregas to play. Wenger now favors a system with three central midfielders; one holding (usually Arteta) one box to box (usually Ramsey or Wilshere) and one play maker (Ozil or Sanchez). You could make the argument that Song could replace Arteta and fill the role of holding midfielder, but I don’t think Song at this point offers a big step up from the Spaniard.

Arsenal need a tall, quick, strong, aggressive ball winner. Kondogbia and Gonalons come to mind, not Song. I still rate Song and thank him for his contributions to Arsenal but that ship has sailed now I’m afraid.

Click below to see Arsenal’s latest signing…

europcar

 

7 responses to “Bringing back former Arsenal ace would be a mistake”

  1. paul35mm says:

    I would agree with this assessment. Song was good for Arsenal, not great. He was out of his depth at Real Madrid. By that I don’t mean he didn’t play well, only that on a team where every player is a ‘galactico’ Song was merely very good. At Arsenal, he was part of a team that was good in stretches but never won a trophy. I think that Arsenal supporters forget that about that group. For all the quality in those teams, they never won it all in any competition.

    Song is playing really well at West Ham. He has, like Stewart Downing, found a club that needs him, one where he is one of the best players on the team, where he stands out. Not every good player can be a big fish in a big pond or is content to be a small fish in the ocean. Song, like Downing and Andy Carroll, perhaps, might be best suited to being big fish in a West Ham pond.

    I support Arsene Wenger’s decision on Song and Fabregas both. Not because they aren’t good players, but because their time at Arsenal is past. The club is trying to compete at the highest levels and the only way to do that is to keep moving forward and to take calculated risks.

    • DelM says:

      Except song played for barca not Madrid…

    • spidergk says:

      If Song was currently in your team, you would be 2nd/3rd and still in contention, NOT 6th and out of it! Yes there is still along way to go, but what exactly is Wenger going to change to improve results. I kind of understand your thinking about never bringing back an old boy, but in this instance it’s utter garbage, the simple fact is, with Fabregas and Song in your side, you would probably be top!!!!!!! But hey your loss is our gain and I hope Song signs permanently for us(although I doubt it) Oh and if you are going to steal Winston Reid from us, I will quite happily swap him for Jenks….you know its gonna happen…………

  2. Bigsize Gunman says:

    Having Song back on loan was going to be good news. When comparing Arteta and Song what Arteta lacks is what we were to gain from Song. Song is better defensively and can offer a baffer that Ariteta will never be able to provide. If u are being sencere u could see that Arsenal is a wounded defensively is ever bleeding. That’s what is needed to be resolved. Song was not the best candidate but was better than nothing that we got.

  3. Iceko says:

    When you name the things we need, I actually believe Song fits that description quite well. Don’t quite understand why he left, nor did I understand why we didn’t bring him back. Now we’re playing Flamini almost the whole season because Arteta is always out with some injury.

  4. alamu says:

    I will like to see song back at arsenal, for the fact that when we brought flamini back does not really help, songs case may be different. Arteta is no longer as he is at Everton back then. Song can had a good balance to arsenal defence, and don’t forget he can also be a cover up in the defence, so with this he knows that is first job as a defensive midfield player is to be 60% defensive than attack.