Rosicky is back & Midfield Options

I didn't watch the 2-2 draw with Barnet on Saturday, mainly because there was plenty of meaningful sport being provided at Turnberry and Lords, so I will not comment on the game. I am also not going to dwell further on Adebayor.

However, the news that Rosicky has taken part in a competitive game is excellent, as for long parts of last season it looked a distinct possibility that Rosicky's knee problems were a terminal issue for his career.

Rosicky is a top drawer player and I was genuinely delighted when we signed him before the action got underway in the 2006 World Cup. He brings back a level of experience to the midfield that we simply do not otherwise have in those positions. He is also a player who, when fit, would be pushing as an automatic first choice in the starting XI, probably either wide right or left in midfield.

So, how would a first choice 4 across the middle of the park look if I was picking the team (imagine that)? Probably something like Arshavin left, Cesc and Song in the middle and Rosicky right. That formation gives Wenger his trio of small ball players in Cesc, Arshavin and Rosicky, which is apparently what he wants to achieve with his team. Plus I would stick Song into the mix to add some bite.

Nasri, Denilson and Theo are the ones from last season's starting XI who would miss out on the above basis, but I suspect Wenger will continue his policy of regular rotation so that they are playing a lot of game to keep everyone relatively fresh on their toes and to give a air of healthy competition for places.

Denilson started 49 games for Arsenal last year, more than any other player (Sagna and Nasri being the other two to start more than 40) and although he had a dip in form in the second half of the season, overall last year his contribution was quite good. His game is still developing, but he has a good engine, likes to pass, can sometimes tackle and generally maintains a quiet efficiency.

Yes, he sometimes gets his positioning wrong and can get turned too easily in midfield, finding himself chasing the opposing midfielder rather than taking the ball in the first place, but when you consider that he only turned 20 in February of this year, I think we have to recognise that this is a player who could, in fact should, develop over the next couple of seasons into an absolutely top drawer player. Yet most Arsenal fans don't rate Denilson and want Wenger to go out and sign a name midfielder - Alonso would be a popular bet, as would Melo.

Cesc, in contrast to Denilson, had an explosive start to his career and was an instant hit. At 22 years old has done more than many other 'good pros' will do in their entire careers. But a healthy debate can be had on how much more their is to come from Cesc. The contributors on this blog were almost unanimous in their verdicts last season that Cesc consistently underperformed, to the extent that Denilson and Song outshone him for large parts of the season. I also have little doubt that it was Cesc's indifferent form that persuaded Wenger to push Cesc forwards in the crunch games towards the end of last season, rather than any tactical re-formulation of our strategy. And by and large, Cesc in the Gerrard role behind a striker was a disaster. He is simply too slow. Yet most Arsenal fans put Cesc on a pedestal.

In my opinion, Wenger's main job at the moment is not to find someone new, big and strong to play alongside Cesc. Instead, he needs to get Cesc really ticking as a footballer again. He needs to rediscover that yard of pace, that desire to win the ball, to beat a man and to score the goals. I suspect that having Nasri, Arshavin and Rosicky breathing down his neck and saying "I could play centre midfield better than you" will have the desired result, but it might not. And if Wenger is not convinced that Cesc is playing well enough, then he should be rested from automatic selection.

The signing of Vermaelen should release Song into midfield, but the fact that the only physical midfield player we have is Song looks a weakness on paper, but is it really? I mean, if Song is good enough, which I think he is, then why do we need to go and sign someone else?

Plus, if the lessons of the last 11 Wenger summers are to be remembered again, then he will not go out and buy the player that everyone else thinks he should. The evidence of last season shows Wenger's faith in Denilson and Nasri. The amount of midfielders at the club suggests that we are not short of numbers (and I have not mentioned Abou Diaby yet).

So I would be amazed if Wenger went out and bought someone else during August.