Last night, in his post-match interview as seen on Match of the Day, Mick McCarthy confirmed that Emmanuel Frimpong was joining Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan until the end of the season, in a deal that the Wolves boss described as, “fantastic” adding that he was, “delighted because he’s a terrific young player.” For Emmanuel Frimpong it will provide the much-needed Premier League experience that has so far been limited to 3 starts, most recently in the 2-1 away victory over Aston Villa, and two sub appearances.
Sent off on his full home debut, in a 2-0 loss to Liverpool, Emmanuel Frimpong immediately grabbed the attention of the viewing public with a “spirited and tenacious” performance, as Arsene Wenger’s interviewer put it, with the Frenchman choosing to put his sending off for a wild challenge on Liverpool midfielder Lucas, down to “a lack of experience” and a “big heart.” His performance up until the sending off was “impressive” according to Phil McNulty, but his sending off marked a change in momentum, with Liverpool breaking down a resilient Arsenal midfield, now a man short, and scoring twice to record a 2-0 win at The Emirates.
However, the combative midfielder is only 19-years old and much like Alex Chamberlain and Francis Coquelin, Frimpong’s contemporaries, the Ghanaian England youth international was chucked in at the deep end, blooded in the harshest of ways against the best the Premier League has to offer. It did the youngster no harm, however, and since his red-blooded debut, he has gone on to start in two games that led to victory against Swansea and Aston Villa. An abundance of midfield players, a luxury that couldn’t have been further from the truth when the midfielder made his debut, has seen Arsene Wenger use 11 midfielders so far in the Premier League this season, and with Jack Wilshere and Abou Diaby close to returning, the Frenchman has chosen to send out Frimpong in a team where weekly “spirited and tenacious” performances will be needed.
Much like previous loans of Arsenal’s, such as Wilshere’s to Bolton and Alex Song’s to Charlton, The Professor has sent a central midfielder to a club that will be battling week-in-week-out for points, and it’ll be here where Frimpong’s style, “he is a fighter and he is a winner” (Arsene Wenger told Arsenal.com) will be honed and channeled into the performances regularly churned out by Arsenal’s current #1 holding midfielder, Alex Song.
Song is held in high regard by Arsenal fans and coaches at the club alike, “He is one of the players who surprised everybody. You wouldn’t expect what he delivers at the moment,” said Wenger, “He had periods when he had doubts in his mind, when people would say he was a bad buy or things like that. When you are a young boy that is difficult to take, but he’s got over that.
He went through some difficult periods.” Arsenal fans are no longer criticising the purchase of Alex Song, who having broken through at the age of 21 making 48 appearances in Arsenal’s midfield, is now attracting interest from some of Europe’s finest with a £15m fee circulating around his bleach blond head.