Arsenal: He's Under the Radar, But Armand Traore Could Add a New Dimension

That, I think, could be the reason Arsene persisted with him over Theo Walcott when it appeared the entire Premier League wanted his head (to the point that Eboue’s name was brought up in the shareholders meeting!!!!)  How many goals did we concede from that side last year?  I don’t have the stats but I can’t remember many. 

Eboue knows how to hold the opposition play up on the wing and allow Sagna to recover.  Theo doesn’t.  Same for the more defensively-aware Diaby on the left wing, though Hleb was still some way ahead of Theo and Diaby in terms of the options he gave us going forward last year.   

Unfortunately Arsenal are a possession team, so we are on the ball for most of the game, every game.  Individual performances are magnified… when you’ve seen 15 perfect passes and one goes astray, you remember the player that got it wrong as the one that ruined everything (slight exaggeration but you get my point). 

And that, unfortunately, is how we saw Eboue last year despite what he gave the side defensively, because unlike with other teams who are used to losing the ball and winning it back, we keep the ball.  The player who made the wrong decision the most in important attacking positions, previously Hleb, was Eboue last season. 

Going forward he had a very mediocre year.  But it’s his first as a midfielder, he’ll improve, and despite his theatrics (which I know is the key reason for his dislikeability…incidentally I’m pretty sure I can see him trying to curb this – another article I’m sure), when he plays well we all know he’s very, very good.

Wenger decided Eboue was good enough going forward from full-back to be a midfielder, and in April last year, 18 year-old Armand came out publicly to offer the boss the same option on the left-hand side, as he’d been starring in that position for the reserve team.

Wenger promptly challenged him to put his money where his mouth was, throwing him into the fray during a stalemate against Everton.  He completely changed the game, in the way that Theo made his trademark during the campaign. 

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