Arsenal: Setting and raising the bar for Denis Suarez

Denis Suarez’s big debut is just around the corner, and Arsenal fans all want to see what he can do to hit the bar that has been set, and potentially raise it too.

It’s been nearly three weeks since Denis Suarez arrived at Arsenal and we haven’t seen him start yet, though we may be just a few hours away from that debut (fingers crossed). The delay has done no favors to the bar that has ben set for him.

Thankfully, that bar was really low. Like… really low. When he first arrived, I set my standards – I want to see him create the most chances on the team and complete the second most dribbles on the team. It sounds crazy, but all that equates to is two chances a game and a dribble and a half per game. The fact that we don’t already have those kinds of numbers is astounding, but that’s why Suarez is here.

And that is why I am asking Suarez to put up perfectly reasonable numbers that would, in turn, top the club. Because he can do it, he’s done it before.

The things is, in the wake of his pending debut, the club has continue to prove that they can’t create chances, at least not from the midfield. And the anticipation is building to see Suarez get in there and fix this problem.

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Meaning that, while the bar is still set pretty low in terms of statistical production, it’s figuratively pretty high, because, as the club was unable to bring anyone else into the picture, it all falls on him. Thus, while the bar itself doesn’t change, the importance of it is changing as the desperation comes in.

Ideally, what will happen when Suarez does come in is that he finds these very modest expectations a bit low, and can thus raise the bar himself, aside from bloated expectations from a rabid fan base.

But that is always the risk as well. There always seems to be a grace period where a player hasn’t been figured out by opposing clubs yet, and has the ability to get around better (look at Alexis Sanchez, for instance), before having to innovate to stay ahead of the curve.

With that in mind, I’d almost rather Suarez steadily hang out around the bar rather than jumping out to an immediate bar-raiser and showing the fan base what he could do, but not what he consistently can do.