Written by Tony Merakli
Samir Nasri proving to be a world-class act this season, is it safe to say that Arsenal have finally found the new Robert Pires?
The 23-year-old has been without question Arsenal’s most consistent and valuable player so far this season. The Frenchman has been grabbing all the headlines in the past couple of weeks, and did so again after netting two wonderful goals against Fulham last Saturday to put the Gunners on top of the Premier League table.
Samir Nasri has made just 13 league appearances for Arsenal so far this season, in which he has managed to notch up 8 goals for the North London outfit, and we’re only just entering the Christmas period. The cultured midfielder is arguably the club’s finest dribbler, who possesses great creativity and is also a potent goal threat coming in from the left or direct from the centre. In the past, the Frenchman has been likened to former Gunner Legend Robert Pires by Wenger and fans a like, and it’s clear to see why the comparison has been made.
Robert Pires was an intricate part of Wenger’s side from the years of 2000-2006 and was also a left winger who bagged some goals in his time. Just like Samir Nasri, Robert Pires was a constant goal threat for the Gunners who demonstrated the same traits as the current Arsenal number 8 is showing these days. The 37-year-old (who currently plays for Aston Villa these days) was a wonderful distributor of the ball and a fine dribbler, as well as a contributor to a heap of Arsenal goals in his 6 year spell at the North London club.
Sky Sports pundit Jamie Redknapp believes that Arsenal have finally replaced Robert Pires. The former Liverpool midfielder told the Daily Mail today of Nasri’s progress:
‘Nasri is coming on strong. Look at his two goals on Saturday and the balance it took for him to score them. Arsenal have finally replaced the 15 goals a season of Robert Pires in their team.’
Taking everything into account, it seems to me that Wenger has in fact found the successor to Robert Pires in Samir Nasri. However, I wouldn’t say the 23-year-old is in the same class as the former Gunner…not just yet. The creative midfielder is in fine form lately and is an exceptional talent. The way I see it, Nasri or ‘Nizu’ (as I like to call him) can only get better as the years go by. If he continues to improve and mature in the correct way, then without a doubt we could be looking at the next Robert Pires of Arsenal.
This article was first published on Gunnersphere.com
HES BETTER THAN PIRES TBH
Guys, nasri is nasri while pires is pires..
nasri is great but is no there yet…pires is just pires and thats it..
nasri will be a very very different player from pires..more of a ljungberg type..but who cares..he’ll be great(he is already)
proud to be a gunner!!!
If he even gets near the level of Pires between 2001-2004, we’ll have one of the World’s greatest players on our hands.
I said & i repeat again, Nasri has no comparison whatsoever with any player i’ve seen so far. Nasri is very unique self styled player who is hard to predict,he can dazzle btwn defenders & spoil the party. I love him so much.
Nasri is a really good player based on Saturday’s performance, Pls fit!
his runs into the box have been vital lately. last three or four games he’s done it. like ljungberg used to but with more skill and technique.
Amazing post, honest!