%20rotate(-8.06)%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22336.19%20136.81%20330.16%2094.25%20326.06%2071.19%20326.44%2071.13%20335.22%2093.54%20352.29%20134.52%20373.95%20131.46%20362.7%2052.01%20350.02%2053.8%20356.05%2096.36%20360.15%20119.42%20359.77%20119.48%20350.99%2097.08%20333.91%2056.09%20312.25%2059.15%20323.51%20138.6%20336.19%20136.81%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22402.91%2059.3%20412.36%20126.02%20427.17%20123.92%20417.72%2057.21%20431.59%2055.24%20429.79%2042.51%20387.23%2048.53%20389.04%2061.27%20402.91%2059.3%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22463.51%20118.77%20458.69%2084.71%20474.68%2082.44%20479.51%20116.5%20494.36%20114.4%20483.11%2034.95%20468.26%2037.06%20472.96%2070.25%20456.96%2072.52%20452.26%2039.32%20437.4%2041.43%20448.65%20120.88%20463.51%20118.77%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22540.5%20107.87%20538.77%2095.68%20518.91%2098.49%20515.77%2076.29%20535.63%2073.47%20533.93%2061.5%20514.07%2064.32%20511.11%2043.42%20530.98%2040.61%20529.25%2028.42%20494.53%2033.34%20505.78%20112.78%20540.5%20107.87%22%2F%3E%0A%20%20%3Cpolygon%20class%3D%22cls-1%22%20points%3D%22299.03%20155.17%20301.29%20171.58%20542.78%20138.39%20540.5%20121.97%20299.03%20155.17%22%2F%3E%0A%3C%2Fsvg%3E)
Creativity is the Ultimate Piece of a Very Convincing Jigsaw Puzzle
By Mac Johnson
With Arsenal putting together a very convincing transfer window, creativity is last on the shopping list.
It’s the last puzzle piece, and also the most important. Can we just take a step back and reflect on this Arsenal team? We’ve won two trophies in as many days as it’s taken Spurs years to win the same tally. Good GRAVY that feels excellent. But despite those spectacular results, we’re still missing a bit of creativity through the midfield.
The only reason I was comfortable with Dani Ceballos’ apparent exit was because he was signed to fill that creative deficit, but never really accomplished that. Now he looks on course to return, it’s welcome, but his role as a deeper-lying playmaker doesn’t solve the creativity issue – and the fact that we looked like the same-old Arsenal without him (given a sample size of one game) reassured me on that front.
More from Pain in the Arsenal
- 3 standout players from 1-0 victory over Everton
- 3 positives & negatives from Goodison Park victory
- Arsenal vs PSV preview: Prediction, team news & lineups
- 3 talking points from Arsenal’s victory at Goodison Park
- Mikel Arteta provides Gabriel Martinelli injury update after Everton win
With the exception of said creativity, we kind of have everything covered. Our defense is sneakily good, and the defensive side of our midfield is in solid shape. We have more full-backs and wing-backs than we know what to do with, a glut of wingers, some more experienced and others chock-full of youthful vibrancy, and we have a solid set of strikers too.
So as a result, creativity is the ultimate puzzle piece, in both senses of the word. It is both the final and most important hole in a surprisingly complete Arsenal team.
But we can’t just conjure a creative solution out of thin air. At the moment, Emile Smith-Rowe is the only viable creative player at the club, and I’ve already stuck every ounce of my trusting-people-younger-than-me points into Bukayo Saka, William Saliba, and Gabriel Martinelli.
The reason I say viable is because we have two people who could fill the role, but really just shouldn’t. Matteo Guendouzi is a petulant child, and Mesut Ozil is doing a very convincing impression of his on-field vanishing act off of it. So we have to look elsewhere.