Gilberto Silva may have surprised Arsenal fans with his praise for Mohamed Elneny but seeing how Arsenal have changed under Mikel Arteta, he may have a point.
"In the last few years, the situation has been difficult at Arsenal. They have very similar players in midfield, with profiles that resemble each other and not really players of the profile of Patrick Vieira, or even my profile," the Brazilian told France Football, as per Get Football News France .
"The only individual who resembled (us), that could have been Mohamed Elneny, but he didn’t play. But they have not really had those types of players to cover the defensive midfield position.
"Arsenal always plays positively, trying to deploy an attacking game, and it is not easy to find someone to marry the ability to play the forward game and to do the work in the shadows in the defensive phases."
The comparison to himself and Vieira may not sit well with Arsenal fans but that isn't where the focus should be when discussing Elneny. He has never had the physical attributes or playing style to match either Invincible. Instead, where Gilberto is making his point is how the Egyptian plays the game.
During his time at the Emirates, Elneny has often been criticised for being 'too safe'. Rather than driving forward with the ball or playing penetrating passes, he tends to more of a supplier for those around him while holding his position deep in midfield. This has continued on his loan spell at Besiktas where he has formed a reliable partnership with Atiba Hutchinson as their double-pivot.
Now, when looking at how Arteta has set up his Arsenal side, one of the consistent themes is the role Granit Xhaka plays. Compared to how previous managers used him, the Swiss' job is a lot more reserved and almost passive in ways. Despite this, the impact he has on the side is unquestionable.
Spending most of his time slotting between the left-back and left-sided centre-back, he has helped the Gunners' attack flourish down the left since Arteta's arrival. Rather than trying to play the killer pass, take on every opposition midfielder or launch efforts on goal from 30 yards out, he simply acts as the supplier for the left-back and centre-back. Out of possession, his positioning the allows him to clean up in front of the back four with relative ease, 'marrying the ability' to impact the game on both sides of the ball.
Although this has improved Arsenal massively, Xhaka hasn't had a partner who could do the same job to the right-hand side of him. Dani Ceballos has impressed but finds himself roaming much further forward [and is only on loan] whereas Lucas Torreira doesn't have the passing ability to match his defensive work.
This is where everything Elneny is criticised for can come into play.
Having proven both at Besiktas [where he's played 22 games out of 25 as a No.6.] and Arsenal that he is comfortable holding his depth paired with being a reliable passer [lowest league pass success rate since joining Arsenal is 90.8%] with more than decent range, he could slot into the right-sided 'Xhaka role' nicely.
Although Arsenal traditionally stack their midfield full of technical wizards capable of magic at any given time, if anything Liverpool have proven that isn't the only formula for success. Their midfield three of Jordan Henderson, Fabinho and Georginio Wijnaldum may appear bland but their functions have a direct impact on the success of the team.
With Arteta openly admitting that he is striving to "balance what I want to do" and having laid out the functions of Xhaka's game on the left, it would only be logical to balance that with a player with similar qualities on the right.
So no, he's not a name as glamorous as Vieira or Gilberto, but he could still prove useful in Arteta's setup.
