Arsenal: Joe Willock showed Elneny and Iwobi what they should be doing

Willock partnered Elneny in the middle of the park along with Alex Iwobi for for the FA Cup game in which Arsenal lost. While the result read for a poor reading and Elneny & Iwobi had a poor game, Willock was not so bad to watch.

During Arsenal’s 4-2 defeat to Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup third round, Joe Willock was deployed in a midfield trio alongside Alex Iwobi and Mohamed Elneny. The overall performance was poor and well below par, but a few players were a treat to watch, with Joe Willock being one of them.

Let me also start by saying that all of the senior players bar Mathieu Debuchy and David Ospina had a very poor game. As for the young players such as Reiss Nelson, Ainsley Maitland-Niles, Joe Willock and Eddie Nketiah, they proved that they all want to play for the badge and put in a much better performance than the senior players.

One of the many reasons the game was lost to Nottingham Forest was due to the lack of attacking threat and the inability to control the midfield due to the Forest players constantly pressing high.

Related Story: Arsenal vs Nottingham Forest Player Ratings

Iwobi was dreadful this game, which has become a very familiar sight this season, with only one goal in all competitions. But whilst Iwobi isn’t out to control the midfield, Elneny is. Elneny failed to control the midfield and is constantly passing the ball backwards and sideways.

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Whilst it took 80 minutes before Iwobi would eventually start passing the ball forward in order to create, I can’t remember Elneny ever passing the ball forward to create. This is quite worrying considering the amount the Egyptian goes forward.

Whilst Willock wasn’t spectacular during the game, what he did do was a much better job compared to his midfield partners. The youngster was making tackles, jumping in for challenges, shooting from distance, wanting to create by linking with wide players, but most importantly looking ahead and playing the ball forward.

An 18 year old to be the most positive central midfielder in the park not only shows credit to the youngster, but shames the other two playing alongside him. Elneny and Iwobi should have been the ones controlling the midfield and creating chances and giving Willock an easier ride, but the Egyptian was too busy making 1 yard passes whilst the Nigerian would often halt counter attacks.

Per Mertesacker would state after the game that:

"“I don’t think anybody justified their selection today”"

I tend to disagree with this, this was obviously aimed at the senior players, because players like Maitland-Niles and Willock definitely tried to make hay out of their selection. Players like Theo Walcott, Iwobi, Elneny, Danny Welbeck, Rob Holding and Mertesacker himself on the other hand, embody the statement.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against Nottingham Forest

Elneny was subject to a £10 million bid by Leicester City during the summer transfer window but chose to stay at the Emirates, but with limited game time and performances that allow an 18 year old to outperform him, he didn’t do himself much favors by staying.