Nacho Monreal
In terms of ‘surprise packages’ this season, Monreal would probably rank as number 1 or at least number 2, behind Coquelin. At least we knew how talented Bellerin was from his youth career, but Monreal?
It’s no secret that since the Spaniard’s arrival in January 2013, his credibility as a defender at the club took some time to manifest, until now.
After taking a year and a half to fully adapt to the challenges of English football, and a difficult start to the current campaign, when he asked to work as a make-shift centre-back in Laurent Koscielny’s absence, the 29 year-old has managed to keep Kieran Gibbs at arms length, to hold down a regular place in the team.
He may not be as offensively gifted as his English counterpart, but he does offer better defensive security, which might of been hard to believe during his days playing in the middle, alongside the also under performing Per Mertesacker at the time.
Monreal has become more tactically aware and reads the game a lot better, by positioning himself in better areas in the face of danger. The game away to Burnley an example. However, no ones perfect, as he’s shown in his hand in Bafetimbi Gomis’ and Ander Herrera’s goals in recent matches, making crucial tactical mistakes leading up to both respectively.
Yeah, out of the three I’ve just mentioned, I think everyone associated with Arsenal and in the footballing world, would be mostly astounded by the improvement of Monreal throughout the season.