YAY arsenal have finally signed sagna
heres someone who knows alot about him
i'm sure most of you will agree if I say Sagna wasn't the player we were all waiting for. I'm not here to convince you guys that this is a good or a bad signing. I'm just here to give you my impressions on the player.
Defensively it'll definitely be an improvement for us as he's a true defender and always has been. When it comes to one on one Sagna is a rock and knows how to stop the attacking player when he's right in front of him. Positionally he has no problems as well. He knows how it works and knows his job well. Moreover, physically he's incredibly strong- he's quick, tough and solid in general.
Offensively, some of you may be disappointed as Sagna is no Eboue. The latter is incredibly strong when it comes to bombing forward with or without the ball. Sagna is not as good but he's not that bad either. He can do the job when it is needed but he mainly focuses on his defensive duties. Maybe this will chance at Arsenal but it was the way he worked back in France.
I haven't seen enough of his crosses to comment on them but his overall passing is more than decent. Anyway we all know how Wenger works when it comes to players: if they're not good footballers they don't wear the Arsenal shirt. Simple. Even Mad Jens is a good footballer.
Jokes apart, I think Sagna's mental strength is right up there with the best. In fact I'd say it's his main strength. He's a confident player, is a winner and a fighter who never ever gives up. He knows what he wants and he knows how he wants it. He got into Auxerre's team by accident and never gave up his starting spot. He's strong enough mentally to be considered one of the most consistent player in la Ligue 1. That speaks volumes because usually young players aren't consistent, mainly because they aren't strong enough to motivate themselves on a constant basis. If my memory serves me right I think Sagna's featured in every single league game this season which is a huge achievement.
Will he be able to make the step up though? Only time will tell but his physical and mental strengths lead me to think he'll have no problem in the English Premiership.
So where do I stand on Sagna? Well, it's good to hear that he is at least a very good player at what he does. And there have been times that Eboue really hasn't cut the mustard for us in the last 12 months or so, so having another top quality player in this position can only be a positive.
I do feel though that many would too lightly sacrifice Eboue's marauding attacking play from the right back position in favour of a more solid defensive player. Last season one of the things that really struck me was that our opponents didn't seem to be scared of us any more. Two years ago, teams would sit with 10 men behind the ball, and look terrified that we might thrash them, which often we duly did. In 2006/07, teams seemed to have lost their fear - no more would they camp in their own half, inviting us onto them and hoping they could close down enough space to prevent us scoring. No, last season, teams came to the Emirates, and actually played football, because they knew that, even though we were probably man for man a better side, and better coached too, we weren't good enough to score consistently enough to thrash a team very often. They could hand us the possession - because they knew that we couldn't use it. And when they had the ball, they didn't have to be terrified of losing it and being stretched up the pitch, because we weren't fast enough to catch them on the break.
Perhaps it's the way I like to see football played, or perhaps it's something Wenger's teams have ingrained in me, but I've always believed that attack is one of the best forms of defence. Give me a rock solid centre back pairing every day of the week, but a pair of attacking fullbacks can pin back an opposition, and I worry that with Sagna we may lose that. Although he may be more solid at the back than Eboue, the effect of playing him there may just mean that teams feel they can attack us even more.
We shall see though. At the very least, Sagna sounds like a good player, with good spirit, good heart, good professionalism, and good knowledge of his job. He may not replace Eboue immediately, but having options surely won't hurt us in the long run.