Arsenal: Mohamed Elneny Proves Exactly What He Is Not

Mohamed Elneny struggled greatly against Manchester United. However, he was put in a position within the Arsenal squad that proved exactly what he isn’t.

That was a dejected, disappointing performance from an Arsenal side that had a chance to lay down a title marker. Manchester United were a wounded team lacking the form and seemingly the talent to stake a genuine claim to the title.

Jose Mourinho has, having spent a whole lot of money trying to assemble the best talent from around Europe, struggled in his first season at Old Trafford, resorting to lashing out at players, medical staff and referees – essentially anyone who could possibly be blamed who isn’t him – while he watches his team toil, now eight points off the top after the 1-1 draw.

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However, while much of the build-up focused on the issues that Mourinho had been suffering from, the 90 minutes itself painted a very different picture. This was a United side brimming with pace in attacking areas and energy in midfield. They buzzed around Arsenal, leaving them with little time or space on the ball while remaining disciplined and determined in defence despite a whole host of major absentees.

Much of the praise should be given to Mourinho for the set up that he employed with his team. But, for every merit he deserves, the equal and opposite should be given to his opposite number, Arsene Wenger. In particular, Wenger, trying to cope with the debilitating absence of Santi Cazorla thanks to an ailing knee injury, turned to Mohamed Elneny to rescue the sinking central midfield ship. Elneny, though, simply jumped overboard.

The Egyptian was the worst player on Saturday, in a game littered with tripe, lacklustre performances. He was desperately immobile without the ball, failing to cover the ground defensively, and far too mechanical and clunky when in possession. He certainly lacked the flair, the fluency and the vision that Cazorla provides this midfield unit.

However, while Elneny is deserving of criticism for such a display, his manager should not go unwarranted. Wenger should by now understand what type of player Elneny is, and in particular be aware of his limitations. Elneny is nothing more than depth. He’s more than adequate depth, capable of filling in with great effect here and there, but he is not the dominating, box-to-box midfielder that Wenger asked him to be against high-quality opponents.

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The Arsenal performance against Manchester United was undoubtedly poor and much of the blame – at least the blame that is portioned out to what happened on the pitch – should be shouldered by Elneny. However, Wenger is not exempt from criticism, and in turning to Elneny in his time of need, criticise him, we should.

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