Arsenal: Oh come on, Denis Suarez hasn’t been “disastrous”

Denis Suarez has not thrived since coming to Arsenal and making six substitute appearances, but it’s a bit overblown to call it “disastrous.”

If Denis Suarez though the hardest part of moving to Arsenal would be acclimating to the stresses and physicality of Premier League football, he was wrong. Because whatever you face on the pitch is child’s play compared to what then media (and fans) will do off the pitch, particularly behind their screens, tapping away at the keyboards like I’m doing right now.

For those of you that haven’t followed my often exorbitant coverage of Suarez, just know that I’ve been hyper analyzing every single step he takes on the pitch, every single direction he looks. And, of course, he hasn’t been an immediate impact. He’s been anything but.

But to see a headline that calls him “disastrous” is just ridiculous, but of course, it’s coming from The Sun, so it’s not like that’s surprising, now is it?

The article claims that Suarez has failed to make an impact and that, while Unai Emery has been fine with letting Suarez acclimate, he has been disappointed.

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Of course, all these claims are unsubstantiated, but it does stand to reason that Suarez hasn’t made an impact in training given his lack of involvement. And that’s okay. The guy has hardly been given a chance, not to mention that we’ve had some seriously tough matches since he’s arrived.

The big turning point, for me, was when he came on as a sub against Manchester United, in a 1-0 match where he couldn’t just coast and, for the record, he didn’t.

Before that substitute appearance, I was over here waving off Suarez too, dismissing him as inconsequential until something else grabbed my attention. But knowing that Emery trusted Suarez in that fixture, a trust that Suarez justified with positive play, tells me that he has made a breakthrough.

Now, granted, Henrikh Mkhitaryan wasn’t available, and may have been the chosen sub had he been, but whatever the case, Suarez proved when he got on the pitch that he absolutely deserved to be there.

It was a short sample, of course, because they’ve all been. But there is progress being made.

I consider Yaya Sanogo disastrous. I consider Kim Kallstrom disastrous. But Denis Suarez? Not only is it too early to call it disastrous, but it’s also just wildly untrue. Let’s talk at season’s end.