Arsenal: Sokratis proving the doubters, like me, wrong

There were many people, myself included, who doubted Arsenal’s decision to sign Sokratis in the summer. But in recent weeks, the defender has begun to provide his doubters wrong.

Arsenal needed to solve their centre-half problem. When the summer transfer window rolled around, that was the key position of need, perhaps more than any other in the squad. And it seems as though the club agreed, as one of the first signings they secured was Borussia Dortmund centre-half, Sokratis Papastathapoulos.

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The now 30-year-old — he was 29 when the approach was first made — was coming off his worst season at the German club, with Dortmund conceding 47 league goals in total, was perhaps deteriorating in his form and athleticism, and faced plenty of questions about his utility and efficacy as he arrived in north London. There were plenty of doubters.

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Another problem was that he was never going to be a long-term solution to the centre-half problem. Realistically, he could only give two of his best years to the position. Even for £17 million, a price that, in these markets, is very reasonable for such an experienced defender who has played at the domestic, European and international level, there were very acceptable criticisms to hold regarding the signing.

However, in his first six appearances for the club, Sokratis has set about slowly disproving many of the concerns that fans and analysts held before he arrived, especially in this past week in two appearances against Newcastle United and FC Vorksla — take the latter appearance with a grain of salt given the quality of the opposition, the control of the game that Arsenal enjoyed, and the lack of intensity of the match.

That said, Sokratis displayed poise, power and patience throughout both matches. He was aware of his positioning, leading the defence as a clear communicator, frequently seen pointing out instructions to those around him, and displayed his leadership qualities at the heart of the defence, something that this team has been lacking for many years.

I have to admit that I was one of those that was especially doubtful of Sokratis when he first arrived in north London. I was unsure of his effectiveness as a defender, especially in the faster-paced Premier League, something that he is known to struggle with throughout his career — ironically, one of his most impressive attributes at this early stage has been his recovery pace. I also wasn’t keen on his age and would have much rather seen Arsenal either trust in the young in-house centre-halves or invest in a longer-term solution at the position.

But, six games into his time at the club, even I must admit that he has been an impressively steady presence in defence. And that is precisely what he was signed to be: an individual who is consistent, reliable and is there to simply right the wrongs as quickly as possible to get the club back into the top four.

Does that mean that Sokratis is a successful signing? Well, no. It’s been six games. That is no time to properly evaluate any player. But it has been a good start, and that, for now, is all that the Greek Adonis can do.