Tomas Rosicky: A Slideshow About Arsenal's Most Complete Player

Rosicky has the ability to score some seriously impressive long range goals. One remembers the screamer at Hamburg (his first Arsenal goal) as well as his FA cup cup brace at Anfield during his first season.

In the 07/08 season, Rosicky didn’t score goals from outside of the box. Rather, he stayed in a less advanced stage, choosing to pass and defend, and attacked more after we scored to maintain the grip Arsenal had on the game with less opponents in the attacking half.

Too many players in our squad lack the confidence to shoot from outside the box. This means that the opposition team can keep their players easily marking our more advanced players, making intricate, short passing that Arsenal thrives on much more difficult to execute.

If I’m a defender in the box, I would be rushing out if Rosicky was incoming from midfield with the ball.

http://carpentera11.magnify.net/video/Rosickys-great-2nd-half-perform
This is a video of Rosicky's impact substitution vs Tottenham in the semifinal of the Carling Cup in 06/07. We won 3-1.

Tomas Rosicky is capable of playing in many positions. He can play as a defensive/holding midfielder (and he has often done it for Czech), a central midfielder (during his time at Borussia Dortmund), a winger (Arsenal), or behind the striker.

While many commentators assume Rosicky is simply an “attacking midfielder,” Rosicky is really an amazing tackler of the ball. He has everything a good tackler requires; an ability to read the game, he times tackles well, pulls out of challenges if there’s a risk to the opponent (I think he’s only got one yellow card for Arsenal), and also, the ability to pass-tackle (making a pass in the same touch, something Vermaelen is great at too).

Flamini was a great loss, but it wouldn’t have been as big a loss had Rosicky been fit.

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2495426/best_match_ever_played_rosicky_comp_highlights/
This is a video of Rosicky playing as a defensive midfielder at Euro 2004 against Netherlands. Czech came back from 2-0 to win 3-2.

Rosicky is by no means copy of Fabregas or Arshavin. Fabregas is amazing at through balls. Arshavin is a genius at dribbling and passing, opening up space.

Rosicky has his own passing specialities.

While adept at through balls, what separates Rosicky from the rest is his ability to maintain and accelerate the flow of the game, making all kinds of short passes and flicks, as well as longer, counterattacking balls.. reliability is the key word here.

Rosicky is the perfect role model for a player like Denilson, who, though he does keep the ball moving, all too often makes passes backwards and sideways to a still team-mate rather than slightly more forward to a moving one, leading to a decreased rate of counterattacking.

Lots of fans criticized our defence and team in general for not coping with the physical requirements of the Premier League. I believe that it was the loss of Rosicky and Hleb, two players who are so reliable in possession, that led to an inability in the team to “defend by attacking,” in other words, keeping the opponents away from our half by keeping the ball with confidence.

Already against Man City City, it was easily visible how much Manchester City went on the back foot after Rosicky came on.

Another all too often overlooked fact is how important Rosicky was for Clichy’s development. If you remember, Clichy was at his best in 07/08, right until he made that disastrous mistake in February, a month after Rosicky’s injury.

The young Clichy and Rosicky had a great partnership, Clichy saying in an interview that it was “easy to play” football when Rosicky was on the left wing.
Let’s hope Clichy returns to his best with the return of Rosicky.
Rosicky’s record against United reads:

Played 3
Won 2
Drawn 1

He only assisted one goal in these games, but surely a record like this proves the importance of having such this guy on the pitch.

http://www.dailymotion.com/user/carpentera11/video/x8cfj7_rosicky-vs-chelsea_creation Rosicky's contributions in our win vs Chelsea at home 07/08.

Rosicky has undoubtedly lost some pace, but from what we’ve seen in preseason as well as against City, his ability to shield the ball against players much bigger than him remains intact.

One of the games where these attributes shone the most was at Blackburn 06/07, when we won 2-0 despite losing Gilberto to a red card, leaving Fabregas, Hleb and Rosicky on their own in the centre of the park.

See his Blackburn video here
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/2496664/rosicky_at_his_best_vs_blackburn_reading_sevilla/

It’s a bit difficult to describe Rosicky’s attitude as anything but amazing. But still, a few quotes should do the job.

Quotes

Sagna: "He will bring some new power and a different style of game. I think Tomas is a very technical player in the middle of the park and I am sure he can make a difference.”

Wenger: “So far Tomas has been exceptional frankly - exceptionally strong, exceptionally patient, exceptionally resilient. He is a top class player and is a very important player in the dressing room, because he is very positive guy on a daily basis.”

Fabregas: “"He's the type of player you enjoy playing alongside and as a guy he's amazing… he's my best friend in the team and one of my best friends in football and my life…

"He's a guy with a lot of experience, he has won things, he knows how to compete, he's very humble and he works for the team… Technically he is one of the best in the world and physically I am sure he will be really strong.”

Thanks for reading about my favourite sportsman, Super Tom Rosicky.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbNlN96iDsY
The video of Rosicky's comeback after 20 months.