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Serge Gnabry Is Being Egregiously Wasted In Loan Deal Away From Arsenal
By Josh Sippie
Loans are a fantastic resource. Especially for a club like Arsenal. Anyone will tell you that. It is working well for Gedion Zelalem, Emiliano Martinez and Ainsley Maitland-Niles, just to name a few. But one Arsenal man that is not working well for is Serge Gnabry.
Sending Gnabry out on loan was already a major question. He had made significant inroads towards a first team spot. In the 2013/14 season, the young German played 464 minutes for the senior Gunners and even notched his first goal at the age of 18.
Fast forward two years and one knee injury later and he is rocking out with the West Brom U21 side.
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Expletives aside, what the… happened?
Fans were already up in arms when Gnabry knocked in a goal for the U21 West Brom side. Small condolence to the fact that he is being egregiously wasted. Wenger should be organizing an angry mob to march to the West Midlands and spring Serge Gnabry from his Pulis-sized prison.
Arsenal have injuries and they have fatigue. Along with that, they have a place for Serge Gnabry. With squad questions looming going into the Sheffield Wednesday clash, the answer could have been as simple as Serge Gnabry. But thanks to a loan deal that has seen Gnabry on the pitch for a whole 12 minutes, we will not be answering the questions that need answering.
In those 12 minutes, he managed to pocket Cesc Fabregas, which clearly upset Tony Pulis, who went on to give Gnabry zero more minutes and a demotion. For what?
West Brom is not exactly wacking the socks off opposing defenses. They have only scored two goals twice this year and both times were in losses. They are tied for the fewest goals scored this year – eight. Eight goals. That is the grand tally. Eight goals. If they had nabbed 18 goals like Arsenal and had no room to fit Gnabry into their attacking masterclass, then fine, demote the lad. But when goals are at a premium and you demote a 20 year old who already made the Arsenal first team two years prior, questions need to be rammed into your ear canals.
And yet Tony Pulis is still blankly smiling away on the sidelines as his mediocre team keeps their fingers crossed for a clean sheet.
The loan deal was set at one-year. But there has to be some clause that indicates that if Gnabry is not being used, for whatever unthinkable reason Pulis has conjured up in his head, then he can be returned to the mothership. It is nothing short of insulting that Gnabry has been relegated within a team that cannot score goals.
Let’s take a deep breath and watch some splendid highlights of the young Serge Gnabry:
What part of that could West Brom not use right now? He has great dribbling technique, an eye for the key pass and great composure in front of goal. He is a creative mind, something that Tony Pulis has not exactly excelled at fielding. Is 12 minutes of game play really enough to determine if a guy is a fit?
And who does Pulis put above Gnabry? Stephane Sessegnon? James McClean? Victor Anichebe? Since name dropping is not the most effective form of proving a point, let’s get into statistics.
Gnabry trumps McClean. One goal in 466 minutes for Arsenal beats the zero in 669 that McClean has at West Brom. Plus, McClean completes 70% of his passes. Rather low compared to Gnabry’s career 82%, which is very good for a flanker, especially when that 82% was compiled when he was 18 years old and under (all stats via WhoScored).
Arsenal FC
If it is McClean’s defense that keeps him in the team, fine, he tackles 2.1 times a game to Gnabry’s 1.4. But given that Gnabry has only played 12 minutes, it is a bit harder to assess how exactly he would adjust to the West Brom scheme. Plus,
Meanwhile, Sessegnon is a one-dimensional player. He does not play defense in a defensive-minded scheme. Can’t really blame him though, he’s never been a defensive minded player in his entire career. Don’t get me wrong, he has plenty of quality, but Pulis himself said that defense is the name of the game and I’ll tell you right now that Gnabry’s defense is just as good as Sessegnon. Although, it must be noted that Sessegnon has stepped it up defensively in his brief season. As far as offense is concerned, Sessegnon has only scored one goal in his last 30 appearances for West Brom.
The only possible explanation is if Serge Gnabry is hurt. Pulis has noted that Gnabry is spending a lot of time with the fitness coach. Yet we have heard nothing about any injury. Not a peep. The guy is healthy, he played for the U21’s. If Arsenal’s medical staff cleared Gnabry to play and if he did not hurt himself again, which, given his playing time, he did not, then there is no reason that Gnabry should not be in the Premier League.
Pulis has pointed out that he wants to play a defensive style of football, something that Gnabry would not exactly fit into. That is more of the issue here than any ghostly injury. Which begs to question why exactly Serge Gnabry was sent to West Brom in the first place (looking at you, Arsene Wenger).
Arsenal need to rescue Serge Gnabry. Letting him rot away in the Baggies basement is not fair to Gnabry, nor is it fair to Arsenal, who would be starting Gnabry against Sheffield Wednesday if he was still on the team.
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