When Mohamed Elneny tore his hamstring within the last week of the summer season switch window, with Thomas Partey already injured, Arsenal’s response was instructive for Albert Sambi Lokonga. They spent deadline day pursuing Aston Villa midfielder Douglas Luiz. Chasing a Kia Joorabchian consumer on deadline day is about as clear a sign as you may get that Arsenal are crusing someplace near panic mode.
Elneny returned inside two months and Thomas Partey was taking part in once more inside three weeks of the deadline passing. There are some caveats, in fact. Elneny recovered forward of schedule and Partey’s health all the time seems like it’s fabricated from crystal. Nonetheless, Arteta didn’t need to entertain the prospect of Sambi Lokonga taking part in within the deeper midfield position on something like a semi-prolonged foundation. That is, partly, as a result of a choice was clearly made through the spring that the ‘Partey position’ was not greatest suited to Sambi’s qualities.
After a pair of defeats to Brighton and Southampton in April, Arteta took Sambi out of the firing line and put in Mohamed Elneny into that deeper position. The Egyptian’s performances have been sufficient to earn him a one-year contract extension. The pondering was clear, Elneny was to be Partey’s back-up and Sambi Lokonga’s expertise have been thought-about extra becoming for Granit Xhaka’s present position.
The issue is, for Sambi, that there’s much more visitors forward of him in that place. Fabio Vieira actually looks as if a most well-liked various, perhaps even Emile Smith Rowe too when match. It’s tough to think about that Arsenal’s subsequent massive buy available in the market received’t be a midfielder with Partey and Xhaka each getting into their 30s. It’s also value remembering that, on the time Sambi signed, Xhaka seemed set to affix Roma. That he ultimately stayed meant one other obstruction to first-team minutes.
There doesn’t appear to be a lot of a path to that position for the Belgian. He performed there within the latest Europa League match in opposition to FC Zurich and, to my thoughts, had a really combined night. I believe the difficulty for Sambi is one in all identification. I’m not certain anybody actually is aware of what he’s but. In Arteta’s system, the place there are almost all the time 5 gamers forward of the ball and 5 gamers behind it, he hasn’t carved out a distinct segment.
To me, he doesn’t look particularly like he desires to be behind or forward of the ball. He desires to be on it and to comply with it and it makes me wonder if he’s, or could be, a match for Arteta’s positional type of play. His performances within the deeper position have been unspectacular, if not disastrous. The difficulty for him there may be that any comparability with Partey goes to be unfavourable.
Sambi is kind of good at making interceptions in midfield, which is one in all Partey’s key strengths, figuring out when to leap out of his bunker to gobble up free balls. Partey averages 1.28 interceptions per 90 (through FBRef) with Sambi on 1.07. Nevertheless, Partey makes 2.22 tackles per 90 with Sambi on 0.80. He doesn’t have the presence Partey has in that position and that stands to motive, actually, not many midfielders within the Premier League do.
Once more, understandably, I believe Sambi appears just a little reserved when he performs within the deeper position. He understands the quantity of accountability he undertakes because the lone midfield pivot and I believe it results in him being ultra-cautious. It wouldn’t be shocking if the Belgian’s confidence hasn’t dipped throughout his time in North London too.
The All or Nothing documentary from final season caught footage of a moon-faced trade between Sambi and Eddie Nketiah. Nketiah demanded to know why Sambi’s effusiveness round London Colney had dropped off a lot to which Lokonga replied, “I smile when I’m taking part in.” Nketiah’s rejoinder, “you assume you’re the one one not taking part in?” seemed worse for Lokonga given the way in which Eddie ultimately got here into the workforce and made a distinction.
That snippet was additionally unlucky for Lokonga as a result of it’s most likely gone some technique to shaping opinions of him inside the fan base. Whereas Nketiah actually did break into the workforce and make a distinction, his performances have been being stacked up in opposition to the completely impoverished ahead play of Alex Lacazette, versus the essential pillar that’s Thomas Partey.
Earlier this season, I spoke to Arsenal Women boss Jonas Eidevall over his resolution to instantly mortgage out 19-year-old summer season signing Gio Queiroz to Everton. “She is a younger participant however she is used to taking part in quite a lot of first-team soccer. She performed loads in Spain. I didn’t need her to take a step again from the stage she is at in her profession proper now in not taking part in common minutes.”
It made me consider Sambi and the way tough ana adjustment it should have been for him to go from the captain of Anderlecht, one in all their most vital gamers and somebody who was making the Belgium squad, to a participant on the fringes at a membership like Arsenal. The sense of brooding doesn’t simply prolong to that canteen interchange with Nketiah.
In October, he was essential of Belgium coach Roberto Martinez, “Possibly Martinez doesn’t consider in my qualities or he doesn’t like my type. However I’d relatively he talk that clearly. I’d have accepted his resolution with out hesitation.” His probabilities of making their World Cup squad have been slim anyway however, out of frustration, he relatively set hearth to the olive department.
It’s tough to flee the conclusion that it’s most likely not going to occur for Sambi at Arsenal. I believe the membership will spend massive on a midfielder in the summertime (perhaps even January) and that may easy his departure. With no extra Europa League group stage or League Cup fixtures, I believe the membership may most likely afford to mortgage him out in January and fatten him up for a summer season sale.
That doesn’t must imply that he has been a nasty signing although. He has helped Arsenal to guard Partey in much less vital competitions and that’s actually what Europa League rotation is about. It’s probably not about improvement and even giving recreation time to squad players- that’s a purely secondary profit. The foremost motive for that rotation is to guard the dads relatively than nurture the sons.
It feels as if Sambi has now entered a catch 22 at Arsenal the place he wants common minutes to flourish and, realistically, he simply isn’t going to get that in North London. Hopefully his age and profile will imply that the membership don’t take a lot of successful on a sale charge, it was a low-cost gamble that hasn’t actually had any dramatic penalties.
That’s the benefit of shopping for younger, you’ll be able to transfer on shortly. Nevertheless, youthful gamers additionally have a tendency to want the rhythm of video games and might’t actually get that in these shadow roles, because the likes of Emi Martinez and Joe Willock have concluded in latest seasons (and each introduced in good cash for Arsenal). An skilled campaigner like Elneny is much extra suited to an occasional transient however they have a tendency to value extra available in the market and have an even bigger draw back when strikes don’t work out.
Everybody would have recognized upon signing that Sambi would wish time to adapt and develop at Arsenal. Whereas Partey remains to be there, Arsenal don’t actually need Sambi to be rather more than a back-up. The query is then whether or not Arteta thinks there are sufficient uncooked elements to educate him right into a extra positional type of play, as he was ready to do with Martinelli, for instance.
The tea leaves counsel that isn’t going to occur. When Aubameyang was exiled, Arteta trusted Martinelli to undertake the left-forward position and didn’t make one other signing to strengthen the ahead line. When Partey and Elneny had medium-term accidents, Arsenal tried to signal one other midfielder and I believe that tells us every thing we have to know.
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