A pretty good read I thought you guys might be interested in:

http://www.whoscored.com/Blog/BfRjRf3dHEm4zLakpFn2dQ/Show/What-Gervinho%E2%80%99s-Game-Would-Bring-to-Arsenal

French champions Lille continued their summer of restructuring last night with the capture of Dimitri Payet from Saint Etienne in a four-year deal rumoured to be in the region of 10m Euros. The move means it’s more than likely Gervinho will be following Yohan Cabaye out of the club as Rudi Garcia plans for next season’s title defence and, similar to Cabaye, Gervinho seems set for a move to the Premier League, with Arsenal hotly tipped to snap up the Ivorian winger.

Gervinho is the typical Arsene Wenger type wide man; although he is predominantly right-footed, he’s adaptable and can play on either flank- last season saw him feature in five different attacking positions over the course of thirty-five league games for Lille.

With the likes of Andrei Arshavin and Tomas Rosicky failing to deliver last season, Wenger is looking to shake up his attacking midfield options and has admitted he’s likely to invest in new players this summer. The possible departure of skipper Cesc Fabregas hangs over the club yet again and in the event of his leaving, will Wenger look for a replacement for his skipper or will he give the central attacking role to Samir Nasri -providing the Frenchman stays- with Gervinho moving wide left and Walcott taking the opposite flank? His arrival would certainly present the Gunners with more options on the flanks, however Wenger decides to set the side up.

What Gervinho’s Game Would Bring to Arsenal

A haul of 15 goals and 10 assists saw Gervinho better the tally of Lille’s other wide man Eden Hazard, who managed 7 goals and 8 assists, suggesting that while Hazard picked up much of the headlines for his trickery, there is more of an end product to Gervinho’s game, and this could be key to his acquisition.


A look at Gervinho’s stats in comparison to the four main Arsenal wide men last term proves favourable and shows his acquisition would be a positive one for the Gunners, with their offensive threat set to be boosted by what he’ll bring to the side:



Passing and Dribbling
The stats show Nasri’s tendency to drop back and link play, with an average of 49 Passes per game far superior to the likes of Walcott (16) and Arshavin (27). Walcott’s lowly 16 is indicative of how he pushes higher up on the right and is therefore involved in less build-up play. A move to Arsenal’s left side would see an increase in Gervinho’s average 22 Passes per game for Lille last season and a chance to be more productive.

In spite of his fairly low number of Passes per game, Gervinho still impressed creatively. While his 1.31 Key Passes is not outstanding, the quality of his distribution was clearly shown by the 10 Assists. Though Arshavin fared well with 11 Assists and Walcott added 7, Nasri -astonishingly- picked up a mere 1 Assist all season, despite making a total of 58 Key Passes over the season (1.93 Key Passes/game over 30 games).

With Rosicky also managing just 1 Assist in his 21 appearances, it’s obvious an increase in creative play from out wide is essential for the Gunners, regardless of Fabregas’ future. Compare this to Man United, where Nani’s 11 Assists was more than Nasri, Rosicky and Walcott combined.

When it comes to Successful Dribbles, only one Arsenal wide man made more than one per game, as Nasri managed 2. Jack Wilshere was the only other regular first-team player who equalled Nasri, a surprising statistic, given Arsenal’s reputation for silky, skilful football. Gervinho’s per game suggests he’ll add some much-needed trickery to the starting XI.

Shooting
Going forward, specifically in the second half of the season, Arsenal’s main problem was too much of a reliance on Robin Van Persie on finding the net. Upon fully recovering from injury, the Dutchman was a sensation up front for the Gunners, scoring 18 goals in his last 17 games but he had little assistance from those around him as the club fell out of the tile race and finished fourth. Fellow forward Marouanne Chamakh failed to find the net in the league after the end of November, and captain Fabregas scored 3 Goals during the entire season, with just 1 from November onwards.

Arshavin played in all but one of Arsenal’s games last season, more than any other player but Wenger is clearly not satisfied with his level of performance; the Russian finished just 6 games last term and scored only 6 Goals. Despite a good start to the season, Nasri faded badly, scoring just 2 goals in his last 17 appearances from mid-December onwards. Walcott’s season went the same way, finding the net 3 times in his last 14 games. More firepower is desperately required and Gervinho could help provide it.

While Gervinho had more Shots per game than any of the Arsenal four, it’s perhaps fairer to measure how accurate and clinical his shooting turned out. With 2.2 Shots per game over 35 games, his 15 goals equate to 1 Goal per 5.1 Shots. This was on a level similar to Nasri, and while Walcott’s 1 goals per 6.2 Shots was a healthy average, Arshavin’s 1 every 9.2 Shots indicates the Russian’s wastefulness in front of goal.

Rosicky had 21 Shots in total all season but failed to find the net even once- Wenger must address this lack of goal threat and, weighing up the overall stats, a move for Gervinho looks a no-brainer as he looks to strengthen and build on these last few seasons that have promised so much but ultimately failed to deliver.

I have been waiting for him to join us before many people heard of him, I have said it many times that He is better the Hazard and plus he is EPL ready.

Good Article though, he is one of few new faces that will be coming to Arsenal.

Raptorgunner wrote:I have been waiting for him to join us before many people heard of him, I have said it many times that He is better the Hazard and plus he is EPL ready.

Good Article though, he is one of few new faces that will be coming to Arsenal.

except the part in red is not true.

Well, he had a better season overall

Don't know about better, but he's certainly more consistent

Lex wrote:Well, he had a better season overall

Don't know about better, but he's certainly more consistent

Hazard is definitly the most talented.

Gervinho was maybe the most consistent this season. but did he have a better season? debatable.
its clear that if you look only at stats then Gervinho looks like he had a better season.

but Hazard wasnt elected L1 Best Player of the year by mistake. (after having won Best Young Player the 2 previous years)

It's obvious we were never going to get Hazard, so the next best thing is just as good

If you can't get two weeks in Marbella, a weekend in Paris is better than nothing

nj wrote:

Raptorgunner wrote:I have been waiting for him to join us before many people heard of him, I have said it many times that He is better the Hazard and plus he is EPL ready.

Good Article though, he is one of few new faces that will be coming to Arsenal.

except the part in red is not true.

We will see how good he is at Arsenal, Hazard is coming next year.

Is he still going to sign?
There were a million reports (literally) that he was on the verge of signing and then not much after that (then again i don't follow Arsenal as much as i should be)

He is not better than Hazard. Very good... but no need to be delusional.

Thanks for the article Crimson

What the article fails to mention is that he brings directness to our team. In a team that keeps on passing the ball instead of shooting. Gervinho will add that little bit of directness that only so few of our players have.

I'm excited to see him playing for Arsenal

nj wrote:

Lex wrote:Well, he had a better season overall

Don't know about better, but he's certainly more consistent

Hazard is definitly the most talented.

Gervinho was maybe the most consistent this season. but did he have a better season? debatable.
its clear that if you look only at stats then Gervinho looks like he had a better season.

but Hazard wasnt elected L1 Best Player of the year by mistake. (after having won Best Young Player the 2 previous years)

lol Gervinho , Hazard, and Sow carried the team on their shoulders , but I don't remember Hazard doing anything worthwhile other than scoring a freekick to win the game ( although I watched Lille oddly )

sportsczy wrote:He is not better than Hazard. Very good... but no need to be delusional.

Obviously Wenger sees something in Gervinho that Hazard doesn't have, thats enough for me to say Gervinho is better.

ali8775 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:He is not better than Hazard. Very good... but no need to be delusional.

Obviously Wenger sees something in Gervinho that Hazard doesn't have, thats enough for me to say Gervinho is better.

Probably he sees 7-8mil being saved in buying Gervinho rather than Hazard

srigooner wrote:

ali8775 wrote:

sportsczy wrote:He is not better than Hazard. Very good... but no need to be delusional.

Obviously Wenger sees something in Gervinho that Hazard doesn't have, thats enough for me to say Gervinho is better.

Probably he sees 7-8mil being saved in buying Gervinho rather than Hazard

Took the words out of my mouth lol

ali8775 wrote:
Obviously Wenger sees something in Gervinho that Hazard doesn't have, thats enough for me to say Gervinho is better.

i would hazard a guess that the only reason Wenger didnt push more for Hazard its simply because he couldnt.

Lille wont allow him to move this season, and thats because they need him more (to try to retain their title and do smtg in CL), and they know hes worth 20-25mil now at 20yrs old, but after 1 season in CL he easily can be worth 30mil+.

Gervinho is "barely" worth 12-15mil at 24yrs old.


but dont make me say what i havent say, Gervinho is a very very good player (always rated him) and will do go job for Arsenal,
but Hazard is simply the most talented.

RedEyesWhiteBeard wrote:

but even fans from lille say he is better then hazard lol

btw i havent watched this guy play one bit, but the positive reviews he is getting is amazing.

i would very much like to know were did you find fans saying that Gervinho is better than Hazard.

i've watched most of Lille games here, and as said before, i understand that people could say Gervinho had a better season given his stats,(although he wasnt even nominated amoung the 4 best players of the season, Saw, Nene, Gemeiro & Hazard being prefered to him), but saying that he is the better player simply is false.

Hazard is already the best player in L1,
and he has the potential to become one of the best in the world in the near future.

Wenger said that Hazard isnt ready to move to Europe yet, and will try for him later on. We have the first refusal on him so it makes it a bit better.

Reason he went for gervinho right now is that he is much better suited to PL. He is quite strong n athletic. Hazard might take a bit longer to adjust in the PL imo, Gervinho can settle in quicker

Gervinho knows how to shoot and bang the goals in, and that's pretty much enough to make me like him.

i think he'll do good

I think Gervinho will play mostly on the right in our 4-2-3-1 formation.

Gervinho * *

Van Persie

If the two players in the ** positions are good then this would be a good 4

walcott on the left ? might work you know, cutting in and shooting from his right

RealGunner wrote:walcott on the left ? might work you know, cutting in and shooting from his right

Don't see Walcott playing on the left. I think Mata (if he signed) and Arshavin and Rosicky (looking like he will stay for final year) would play on left more than theo.

Even Gervinho played on left more than theo last season for lille.

Gervinho is going to become a star in EPL under Wenger just wait, he is the perfect player Arsenal have been missing for the past couple of years.

The person who said he is not worth 12 mill lol, even denilson is priced around 8 mill and he is shit, we are getting a very good player for a great price, and he loves Arsenal.

Not sure about gervinho yet, I watched him during his le man's day,he hasn't improved as well as I thought he would but he is still a good player.

Mata's staying at Valencia people.