STOP, it's Eboue!

Some players just pull on their jocks, ride on the pitch, do their bit & happily recline once the final whistle blows. While the other few prefer divide opinions while they are at it. Be it their on-field demeanour or off-field persona, the media just can’t have enough of them. Emmanuel Eboué is one such kind.

Conor Valentine explains.. (Follow him on Twitter @Gunnerman911)

Emmanuel Eboué. Full-back/Right Midfielder. He has come in leaps and bound since the infamous game against Wigan, last season where, having come on as a first half sub, Eboué played so poorly that Wenger was forced to take him off. The fans were not afraid to show the Ivory Coast man how they felt, a loud chorus of booing while he exited the pitch.

Since then, Eboué has come along massively, every single aspect of his play has improved, and that includes him tripping over the grass less often, looking for free-kicks. Eboué is the kind of player, who fans do love to see, the footballer who will literally run his socks off, giving every ounce of strength and energy for the team. Eboué is a player who simply loves to have a ball at his feet, and run at defenders, or on the overlap when played as a full-back.

As fans of Arsenal, we have all seen players who will give everything for their club, and I don’t recall one who the fans did not admire for it. Eboué may not be the best passer, but, taking a game like the one against Sunderland, on Saturday, Eboué showed how well he can play when given the ball to run with, his passing game was up to the mark, and, of course played the ball into Bendtner waiting at the back post for the first goal.

On the defensive side, Eboué may not be the best tackler, but that does not mean he will give up, in fact, most of the time, if he has been beaten, he has the pace to get back and possibly prevent a cross. And to the offensive side of things, it is commonly acknowledged that Bacary Sagna lacks the ability to deliver a pin point cross. Eboué, while not pin point, can deliver a good ball for a striker, to nod home.

We were all shocked when Wenger decided to place Eboué as a natural replacement to Hleb once he bid adieu. Eboué did struggle to settle as an attacking player, because he was used to getting up, then back to defend; now he wasn’t required to defend as much. This clearly affected his performances, but he grew into his new position, posing an attacking threat. Soon after Theo Walcott made the Right Wing spot his own, demoting Eboué to the bench a lot of the time, but amazingly, he never let his head drop, he kept at it, every appearance giving his all.

Now the focus goes to this season, an important one, since we have not had a regular Right Wing player. Theo has made few appearances due to injuries; Rosicky has been placed out there when fit. Nasri too, has played as the right winger.  Eboué has generally been the late substitute, on with 20 minutes to go, not enough time for a major impact. He ha been subjected to minimal starts, but I don’t feel that he has played a horrible game this season, a few odd stray passes, dives etc.

Last Wednesday’s loss to Porto signaled a major change in the supporter’s attitude. I heard a lot of ‘Eboué has to start, Sagna cannot cross’. And these supporters were perfectly correct, Eboué has had little chance to impress, and I believe Right Back is his best position. Wenger made his mind up, Eboué started, and was instrumental in Arsenal winning the game, 2-0. An all action performance, played with a huge grin on his face, is why Eboué is a fan favourite, and hopefully, he will be subject to more starts after his recent, and quite obvious improvements in his game play. Only this time, the Arsenal faithful would prefer crooning:

‘We Only Came To See Eboue..’

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