One of the revelations of Arsenal's Asian pre-season tour was Gedion Zelalem; a German of Ethopian descent, who has lived and played in America for several years, played 3 games in the tour, against Vietnam, Nagoya and Indonesia. His play drew the attention of many startled people, pundits and fans alike. And while the season started and attention was drawn away from him, his play hasn't left my mind. With Mesut Ozil now having arrived, most people would think that Zelalem, still 16, would be going to the reserve team, or out on loan; but in fact, the German creators' arrival is probably the best thing that could happen for Gedion.
Most people have been comparing Zelalem to Cesc Fabergas, or even Michael Laudrup; indeed, all three share the common ability to see spaces, to put balls into the spot where their teammate is going, setting up the player for a beautiful goal. But it seems from research that Zelalem isn't as small as the former, measuring up pretty well against the 6 foot 3 Arsene Wenger, and, from the videos on the internet, is more defensive minded than the later. Both Fabergas and Laudrup seem happy to score, and just as happy to set up the goal. Zelalem, in those three games with the first team, showed not that he had an eye for goal, but that rather, he could cut out the oppositions play. He seems just as content to make the first pass in an attack as he is to make the last. You can see this perfectly in the build up to Arsenal's third goal, against Indonesia. Zelalem made just a simple 10 yard pass, straight to his right, but it proved to be the catalyst for the attack, allowing a player to make a run that he couldn't have made a pass to. It looked simple and thoughtless to the naked eye, but proved to be brilliant. Later in that same game, he put a ball through the back line to put the striker through on goal; although the assistant referee would flag for offside, which would be shown to be a poor call, the pass was beautiful, setting up a sure goal. That game alone showed the midfielder's versatility.
As noted above, most pundits have made comparions of Gedion to Fabergas and Laudrup; I think, however, he is more like Andrea Pirlo, the Italian playmaker. Pirlo is what the Italians call a regista, or deep lying playmaker; the midfielder is slated as a defensive midfielder, but really plays more of a creating role, sometimes cutting out plays, and sometimes picking balls up from the defenders and goal keepers; both times he will create attacks from the back forward, either playing a short or long pass to stimulate the more attacking players of the sides. Gedion reminds me of the Italian because of his willingness, at least in the games he has played, to play a defensive role; several times in the games he stopped budding attacks, whether outside his own box or the opponents box, and won the ball back for his side.
Gedion will soon prosper in the side now that Mesut Ozil has arrived; the German fills a slot that Zelalem would have to otherwise had to compete for with players like Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla and Tomas Rosicky. He can fit comfortably into one of the two defensive midfielder slots, in a 4-2-3-1 formation. Think of Arsenal's bright future; Zelalem and Wilshere at the back, Ozil, Cazorla, Lukas Podolski and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain vying for the next three spots, and Olivier Giroud up front. That would be a formidable team, one that would be a consistent title contender.
