On Wednesday night there was one player who finally captured the attention of many that he’s long been deserving. Alex Songs’ mazy run between three Dortmund defenders and pinpoint cross to the back post for Van Persie were more reminiscent of Robert Pires in his heyday than of a defensive midfielder, however this season Song has finally achieved the balance between the rock in midfield and providing another vital prong to our attacking force in the final third.

Birthing Pains

Wenger snapped Song up Alex Song in the pre-season of the 2005-06 season initially on loan, but the young Cameroonian impressed him so much he offered 1 million pounds for the versatile and energetic midfielder and Bastia agreed to sell him. Things were not plain sailing for Song however, he was ridiculed by rival fans and Arsenal fans alike. His seeming inability to control the ball and pass to a team mate made many critics wonder what had gone through Wenger’s head when he decided to sign him. This culminated at Craven Cottage where Song was booed so heavily and playing so poorly that Wenger substituted him before half-time. What a far-cry from that player we have now.

He was loaned to Charlton in January of the same season as the Fulham debacle and, like many other Arsenal youth players, impressed grew as a player. The 2007-08 season saw Song make limited appearances, most notably at centre-back, but the 08-09 season was when the Song we all know and love now really emerged. Alongside the marvellous Fabregas, Song became a strong midfield enforcer, patrolling the back four and breaking up play with his strength. He was the perfect foil for Fabregas who finally had the protection he desired after the departure of Flamini.

Coming of Age

The Cameroonian established himself as one of the first names on the team sheet and in the 09-10 season only missed 12 games. These two seasons marked the beginning of Song’s evolution. His defensive duties were paramount to his play and when he received the ball from the back four the first thing he quite often chose to do was find Fabregas, his attacking partner. The partnership was quite reminiscent of Vieira and Petit and like the two old stalwarts of the Arsenal midfield, there arose a problem.

Arguably Song’s best performance of the 09-10 season, misplacing only 3 passes, making 5 interceptions and 7/10 successful tackles

With Fabregas often out injured with his 90-year-old elastic band hamstrings, Song was trying to become defender and provider. The 2000-01 season when Vieira had lost his partner Petit saw arguably his worst performances in an Arsenal shirt and if it hadn’t have been for the emergence of Wilshere in 10-11 season we might have seen the same for Song. He was often caught out too far up the pitch but we did see the emergence of his attacking ability. He provided us with a taste of Wednesday night when he took on the Wolves defence, delivered a pinpoint cross to the head of Chamakh who opened the scoring in a 2-0 victory. Song’s desire to get forward and join attacks left him open for criticism from many quarters and his inability to much in the final third anyway left many wondering why he wasn’t focusing on the job he was suited best to, breaking up play and protecting the back four.

It is this season so far where Song has really matured into the player he wants himself to be and became arguably one of the Premier Leagues best defensive midfielders. He has perfected his tackling technique of muscling between the player and the ball to the point that even if he fouls the player it is innocuous enough so that he doesn’t pick up a yellow card. His positional sense has grown in the sense that he is not just taking up positions vacated by the defence, but also the attack as well. The assist for Van Persie against Dortmund on Wednesday was evidence of this, Gervinho had moved through the central channels as he tends to do, Song saw the free space and burst into it (the Messi-like skills are still inexplicable!). He has perfected the technique of when to join attacks and when to sit deep and his confidence in doing this has to stem from the signing of Arteta.

The summer acquisition’s fulcrum-like role within the team and discipline has let Song flourish and let his attacking skills shine, an assist tally so far of 5 assists (two more than the whole of the last campaign) is extremely impressive for a defensive midfielder. I would argue that Song is just as important to the team as RVP due to the formation Wenger plays being so reliant on the defensive midfielder having a good game, Song’s consistency ensures that this is what happens.

Future’s Bright

There were very few things to come out of Wenger’s failed youth policy that he signalled an end to this season, but surely Song ranks up there as the most impressive. His importance to the team is extraordinary, at one point towards the end of last season Arsenal’s win percentage with him was 71%, without him it was 0%. The factor his absence had in results at the start of this season cannot be ignored either. Wenger’s willingness to give Song the armband on the odd occasion shows how much he trusts the young midfielder and just recently spoke about his excellent leadership qualities. Cameroons failure to qualify for the ACN in January means that we will have Song over the difficult Christmas period where we have often struggled and the return of Wilshere in that same period should add another interesting dynamic to the midfield. Van Persie will certainly steal all the headlines, but I have a feeling it will be Alex Song’s season to shine.

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