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Arsenal: Mohamed Elneny Accuracy Stat A Niche Honor
By Josh Sippie
Arsenal has another man topping a stat chart in the Premier League and it’s Mohamed Elneny. But does it change anything? Not at all.
There was a lot of quizzical optimism when Mohamed Elneny arrived at Arsenal last January. He was held back (naturally) so that Wenger could show him how tough life in the Premier League was, but when he was finally unleashed, it was clear that he was an upgrade in the Arteta and Flamini show.
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But that’s not saying much.
It was also clear that he was incredibly well-rounded. He dabbled in defense, offense, control, passing and any other facet of the game you want to include. He was a nice, wholesome player with a ton of usefulness in the grand scheme of things.
In terms of being a bonafide star, though, he was no Granit Xhaka. He was no Santi Cazorla. We all knew that though. His worth goes beyond the potential ceiling of being a world beater. His worth comes from his reliability. He doesn’t make many horrendous mistakes and he likes to slow things down and control the pace of the game.
There is always a need for someone like that.
When the stat was revealed that Mohamed Elneny was the most accurate passer in the whole of the Premier League, I smiled. “Duh,” I thought to myself. It’s such a niche stat that doesn’t really add much credence to his stardom, but definitely solidifies what we know him to be.
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I often rant about Elneny’s inability to create chances or move forward, but that’s probably becoming his strong suit. Again, he isn’t here to stir things up. He isn’t here to press the issue and make things happen.
He is here to not mess up. Sounds silly, but against, when thinking back to the Arteta/Flamini show, you can’t underestimate the importance of a good non-messer-upper. And that’s exactly what Elneny can look forward to.
Again, this is a niche honor. It’s not like this revelation is going to widen eyes and give us a whole new perspective of Elneny. It’s a nice solidification. When anyone in the midfield gets hurt or falls out of form, we can rely on the Egyptian to ensure that things don’t get any worse.
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By being so well-rounded, he has the ample malleability to fill any role. Like sticking bubble gum on a leak. Yeah, that’s it, Elneny is our bubblegum.