Arsenal: Georginio Wijnaldum the perfect transition for Alex Iwobi

Georginio Wijnaldum was the best player on the pitch as Liverpool dismantled Arsenal 5-1 on Saturday. His midfield transition would be ideal for Alex Iwobi.

Alex Iwobi was one of Arsenal’s brightest players in Saturday’s humiliating 5-1 defeat to Liverpool. That is a far more praise-enthused sentence than its actual meaning. In reality, hardly any Arsenal players played even remotely brightly. For Iwobi to be the brightest is not to say very much whatsoever.

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Nevertheless, after some rather underwhelming performances following a strong to the season, it was nice to see the Nigerian play with the same energy, directness and attacking purposefulness that punctuated his play earlier in the year and as a fearful youth prospect.

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Iwobi started on the left wing. That has predominantly the position that he has most commonly been used in throughout his career, especially since Unai Emery’s arrival in the summer. And he does bring some key skills that are useful in that role. He is a good dribbler, has decent pace, is an intelligent and creative player in the final third, and is improving in his end product.

That said, his lack of goals and assists, especially the former, does limit his value and efficacy when playing so high up the pitch. In the modern game, wingers and attacking midfielders are expected to contribute to the attacking returns of the team. In fact, it is often the case that wingers are the team’s leading scorers — Eden Hazard, Mohamed Salah, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo. Iwobi, though, will never really be that kind of player. He simply does not have the quality or striking mentality.

The same was said about Liverpool central midfielder Georginio Wijnaldum. He was an attacking midfielder and winger built very much in a similar mould to that of Iwobi. Skilful, smart on the ball, athletic and intelligent, but lacking in the number of goals that he created and scored. And so, Jurgen Klopp, when Wijnaldum arrived at Anfield from Newcastle United, decided to change his position.

Now, two years later, Wijnaldum is one of the best central midfielders in the country, a dominating force with terrific range, composure, consistency and power. This slightly deeper starting position accentuates what Wijnaldum can do well and limits what he does not so well. And those pros and cons are comparable to Iwobi’s — for the record, I have long spoken of Iwobi’s potential in central midfield.

It took Wijnaldum time to adapt to the new role. There were some defensive vulnerabilities, with his positioning sometimes exposed on the counter-attack. But as he grew into the position and became more acclimated with his responsibilities, such was the complementary nature of his physical and technical skills that he took to it superbly. The modern game demands a mobile a central midfielder with comfort and composure on the ball. Wijnaldum, and Iwobi, offer precisely that.

Whether Iwobi will every try central midfield or not remains to be seen. I cannot remember a time that he has played in midfield, but it is something that I would like to see. Hopefully Emery will give him a chance to do so sometime soon.