Player Review – Carl Jenkinson (vs. Manchester City)

Carl Jenkinson continued his meteoric rise to hero status among Arsenal supporters as he impressed in his fifth successive league outing, this time against reigning champions Manchester City.

The 20-year-old again showed scintillating form in both his attacking and defensive play, bombing up into the depths of Manchester City’s half and then back to defend his own goal without hesitation.

Early on in the game Jenkinson was tasked with keeping quiet pacey ex-Swansea winger Scott Sinclair, a task he completed with ease, not allowing the Manchester City man to get the better of him once.

Coming into the game Jenkinson had not allowed an opposing player to dribble past him, a statistic he retained at the end of the City game despite the likes of Sergio Aguero, Carlos Tevez and Yaya Toure all pitted against him.

It’s amazing to think how far the youngster has come from being part of the infamous squad that sunk to an 8-2 defeat against Manchester United, to a calm and collected defensive wall on the right flank.

His defensive prowess is clear for all to see, but what is equally impressive about young Jenkinson is the offensive side of his game that he showcased on Sunday.

Throughout the latter stages of the second half the Finland U-21 stunned the Manchester City defense with marauding runs down the right of the pitch.

The best example of this actually came in the first half when Mikel Arteta launched a through ball into the path of a charging Jenkinson, only for the ball to be collected by England international Joleon Lescott.

Unfortunately for the City man a fired up Jenkinson soon won back the ball and bolted into the box, coolly slotting a ball back to Lukas Podolski who proceeded to launch the ball into orbit.

In the dying moments of the second half Jenkinson was an ever present force in the Arsenal attack, constantly pushing up and pressuring the Manchester City defenders while putting an almost continuous stream of crosses into the middle for hungry forwards.

His final move of the game, a potential match winner, was an outstanding run that he created himself by intercepting a pass and then exchanging a neat headed one-two with Aaron Ramsey.

As if from nowhere Jenkinson shot onto the ball, cruising round a lethargic Javi Garcia and was heading for goal. Or so we all thought. The only way the Spaniard could stop the storming Arsenal player was to jump on his back and bring him down.

Carl Jenkinson played a key role in securing a 1-1 draw at one of the toughest stadium’s in Europe to come away with a point as his tireless runs, solid defensive work and near-perfect passing were a thorn in City’s side all afternoon.

Bacary Sagna should be thinking long and hard about his future because Arsenal seem to have found their new favourite right back.

Super Santi – Arsenal’s midfield savior?

Last season Arsenal lacked a creative presence in the top end of the midfield, Jack Wilshere was out with a string of frustrating injuries and the the departures of Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas in the summer left the Gunners relying mainly on holding midfielder Alex Song for creativity.

In the summer Arsene Wenger worked his transfer magic, stealing an absolute gem from cash strapped La Liga side Malaga in the form of Spanish ace Santi Cazorla, immediately solving his sides creative issues.

Cazorla has been nothing short of a star for Arsenal in his first few games at the club, asserting himself as the heir to Fabregas’ crown as Arsenal’s midfield king.

The little Spaniard has a variety of tools that make him the complete midfield package, but the most polished of these tools is almost definitely his passing ability.

In the Premier League season so far Cazorla has completed 333 out of the 367 passes he has attempted, that’s a pass success rate of 90.7% and an absolutely outstanding statistic. To call little Santi a pass master would be a understatement.

Not only does he make a lot of passes, he makes a lot of important passes. In his first five EPL games Santi has racked up two assists and 20 key passes, four per game making him an absolutely vital cog in Arsenal’s midfield.

Santi has revolutionized the firepower at the front of Arsenal’s midfield. His link-up play with fellow summer signing Lukas Podolski is as if they had been playing together for years and his chemistry with Abou Diaby and Mikel Arteta make Arsenal’s midfield a formidable force for the first time in a while.

The ever smiling, ever shooting, ever speedy Santi Cazorla has settled into life at Arsenal very nicely and it is already hard to imagine Arsenal without his tiresome presence in the middle.

Arsene Wenger has done it again, he’s managed to bag Arsenal another absolute gem and we should be very thankful to our manager for this early Christmas present.