I was so happy when we signed Rosicky back in the summer of 2006, so much so that last season i was considering getting "little mozart" on the back of my shirt with his number on. After signing for us, he went on to have a great World Cup and scored some stunning goals from outside the box. We all were eager to see what he could do in the famous Red and White shirt and he did not disappoint, firing in a rocket of a shot in the Champions League. It looked like we had found a perfect man to some what replace Pires and for such a cheap transfer fee. He went on to score a number of great goals for the club and became great friends with Fabregas, Hleb and Flamini.
Then started the hamstring injury problems that kept him out of the team for over a year, nobody could quite understand what was causing the problems and thus nobody knew how to fix them. The cause of his injuries was finally found and after missing a lot of first team football, he finally made his comeback in 2009/10 season. More small injuries occurred, but nothing keeping him out the team for a whole season. He has become a bit part player for the team, never being trusted to start a run of games but always seen as a useful player to have on the bench.
As the title of the article suggests, i once did love Rosicky and part of me still does. I think he is one of the best players at using the outside of his foot to pass the ball. You only need to look as recently as the Wolves game to see a perfect example of this, where he was out on the left wing and curled the ball beautiful on to Mertesacker's head. He has the ability to change the game when coming off the bench, with his quick pirouettes and close control. He is willing to run with the ball slightly more than our other midfield options in Ramsey, Arteta and Song which is a welcome change. However, my mind then sinks back into remembering his lack of effort.
He has annoyed me three times this season already through his lack of effort. The first was against Sunderland when he was seen walking away from Larsson's free kick and not even looking back to see if it was going in the goal; unfortunately it did. He says, that he knew it was going in, i do not care if he knew it was going in, it might not have. Who knows what could have happened, it could hit the bar and rebound back out, Szczesny could pull off a spectacular save.....a bird could fly down and block the ball. Either way, Rosicky was not ready to help the team if any of those scenarios happened. From an experienced international who Captains his country, i expect better and to show the younger players...that you ought to fight to the last possible second for your team...not to just walk away. He did this in another game as well, but for the life of me i can't remember, might of been the Man Utd game.
His latest performance against Fulham showed the same level of ineptitude. Brought on as an experienced head to help us hold onto the ball in midfield and as we tried to hold onto a 1-0. Fulham get a corner, its crossed in.....Rosicky just stands there, he doesn't follow the runner, makes no attempt to do anything. Once again the experienced head is doing absolutely nothing to potentially help Arsenal prevent a goal, there is absolutely no excuse for it. It is not like, he played the previous two games and could perhaps be tired in the final 10 minutes of the game. He had come on 10 minutes earlier and from memory played about 60/70 minutes in total from the previous two games. He should be busting a gut to help the team, that is why he was brought on.
This obvious lack of commitment and desire to help the team annoys me so much more than Squillaci heading the ball back across goal. There is a difference between rubbish and showing commitment, to being rubbish and showing no commitment and desire. I think other players should be promoted above him, especially Benayoun who will always run his heart out for the team. I think January might be the wrong time for him to go, but in the summer i think it is time for Arsenal and Rosicky to part ways.
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