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Why This 23-year Old Has Been A Rare Bright Spot For Arsenal Amidst All The Chaos

Arsenal finally have something to cheer about as the side managed to defeat West Bromwich Albion. It was a win but the deserted seats at Emirates was the result of their own tale. After an irritating 1-1 draw against Crystal Palace last time out, many fans decided not to return to the scenes at Emirates for Brom’s game.

It was a comfortable victory for the Gunners where Alexis Sanchez scored the brace and game finished 2-0 in favour of the Gunners. Wenger made 3 changes to his squad that faced Palace last Sunday as Ramsey, Mertesacker and Giroud were introduced. Ramsey impressed the fans after a long time and as Ozil and Sanchez took all the praise Mohamed Elneny gave another example of what he can offer to his team.

In most of the cases, the goal scorer or the attacking midfielder takes the applause of the crowd. The central position of the park remains unsung. It was not so long, in November 2015, Arsenal was hit by some major injury crisis in their midfield as Cazorla, Coquelin were out injured. Wenger signed Mohamed Elneny from Basel and till then, he was an unknown figure. Not instantly but, eventually he brought the composure in the midfield and stabilized the area.

His defensive mindset, intelligent distribution, and tactical awareness can never make it to the headlines but, he can be a significant asset for the team and that’s for sure. As Wenger contacted the player while he was in Basel, Elneny’s agent revealed that the Egyptian would find it tough to set a strong foot in the physical nature of the premier league but look, it turned out well.

In Arsenal’s 4-0 victory over Watford, Elneny set a record for the season as he completed 122 of his 127 passes and that’s the style Wenger wants. In just 7 appearances for the gunners in the premier league, Elneny has completed 466 passes and possesses an average passing accuracy of 92%, even better than Mesut Ozil.

The Egyptian is always available for the pass in the game, he keeps his composure in the tight areas and is greatly capable of recycling the possession. Even in the last 2-0 triumph, he was involved in Sanchez’s first goal and completed 88 of his 96 passes. We have seen in times as how he partners up with Coquelin in the heart of the midfield. Fans have started to trust him and his immediate impact in the premier league is impressive. Not just building the attacks, the Egyptian also has a defensive sense too and averages 4 defensive actions per game. Since breaking into the team, he has injected a great amount of energy and enthusiasm amongst the players with his remarkable stamina.

Premier League is known for its hard running and aggressive challenges. Well, Elneny was never in doubts about his stamina and he is a fast runner as well. Talking statistically, Elneny in his last three games, have covered more areas on the pitch than any other player on the pitch.

Everton (a) 12.5km 1st
Watford (h) 12.0km 1st
West Brom (h) 12.0km 1st

He is a selfless player and is determined to achieve his ambition. The Premier League title is far from gone for the Gunners but, they surely have an important asset who can help the team to challenge for the title next season.