Arsenal: Is Mohamed Elneny the unassuming answer or the anonymous problem?

Mohamed Elney was a surprise starter in Saturday’s North London derby. His inclusion was not vindicated. Is the Arsenal midfielder the unassuming, overlooked answer? Or is he the anonymous, insignificant problem?

Player of the month Mohamed Elneny was in the starting lineup for Tottenham Hotspur’s1-0 Wembley victory over an Arsenal side that had run rampant against Everton the week before, netting five times in 90 minutes.

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The Gunners put in a disappointing performance against their North London rivals, and whilst the scoreline was a close 1-0 advantage to the home side, the game was anything but even, with Spurs missing many goal scoring opportunities and Petr Cech having to come to the rescue time and time again.

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Part of the reason the performance was such a disappointment was because the manager didn’t execute a solid game plan. Either Arsene Wenger implemented the wrong tactics going into the game or the tactics that he did implement were not exercised astutely by the players. The starting lineup that the manager chose was a strong enough team to win the game. But they didn’t, and much of that can be attributed to the midfield.

Elneny started in a midfield three alongside Jack Wilshere and Granit Xhaka, but throughout the game would mostly have his back turned to the goal. Whilst Elneny sat deeper than his midfield partners, there were times when he would be seen running up the field to involve himself in the build-up play, even though nothing concrete would come of it.

At times Elneny seemed to be the only composed midfielder, but apart from his composure and the everlasting fuel in his engine, he really didn’t offer much else. It is harsh to single him out because the rest of the players were so poor as well. But at least the other players have a defined role. Elneny’s is still unclear. Is he a defensive midfielder? Is he a box-to-box player? Or is he just a back-up for when the starters are unavailable, making him the utility man?

The problem with Elneny is that he can have a solid game one week by putting in tackles, winning possession of the ball, controlling the tempo of the game and running the most yards on the pitch at the same time as being involved in a game where his only contributions are five yard passes sideways or backwards.

Elneny’s numbers against Spurs are quite appalling. In the 65 minutes he was on the pitch, the Egyptian was dispossessed once, lost two of two duels, made 28 accurate passes, 22 of which went backwards, and just one cross. Most importantly, however, he made zero tackles. Zero tackles for the midfielder sitting the deepest is not a good stat, by any means.

So what exactly does he do? Is he the quiet, unassuming answer that is often overlooked? Or is he the anonymous problem who fails to ever have a serious, genuine, significant and positive impact on the game.

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Most of the fans know the Egyptian is not a flair player, nor is he a hard man in the midfield. So when a player with the basic skillset of Elneny starts in a North London derby, it makes you question whether his inclusion in the team was meant to be that as a secret weapon, or just purely the wrong choice. It’s not easy to know what he does. As a result, it’s easy to question his role.