Alexandre Song came on trial with Arsenal during our regular pre-season training camp in Austria in the summer of 2005, playing at first at centre back and then in midfield, his impressive performances during the 04-05 season for French minnows Bastia, led to Lyon, Man Utd and Middlesbrough on his trail, but the Gunners moved first, and a deal was quickly agreed to bring him in on a season long loan.
Despite making no appearances, Arsenal agreed a £1 million fee and he joined the club permanently, Song made his Premiership debut during Arsenal’s 2-0 win against Everton in September as a substitute, he would go on to feature lots towards the end of the season, looking a little nervous at times, but the low point came when he was subbed at half time during the defeat to Fulham, leaving many fans doubting his ability.
But Le boss kept faith in him, and he scored his first goal for Arsenal against Liverpool in Arsenal’s 6-3 win at Anfield in the League Cup on January 9th, clipping the ball into the net via a deflection from a corner, in a game in which he impressed marking the pacy Craig Bellamy, the early signs were there, that he could become an important player, another manager who had spotted his potential, was Charlton boss Alan Pardew, who on transfer deadline day agreed to take him on loan to help ease their relegation fears, At the season’s conclusion, in which Charlton were relegated, Song returned to Arsenal, after earning rave reviews, for his superb passing and movement, he became a regular for the Addicks, with many of the fans calling him an “animal” for his ability to get stuck in and fight for the ball, but he often showed he can be much more, coming forward and acting as the sides play-maker.
2007-2008 season saw a fresh start, having the experience from his loan, it quickly become clear he would be used as a centre back, featuring throughout during the pre season, and then getting chances in the Carling Cup, firstly against Newcastle, and then Sheffield United, but his most impressive performance came against Blackburn, with the match going into extra time, he kept his concentration, something he has been accused of lacking, to keep Arsenal in the game at 2-2, even with 10 men, and his vision going forward would prove decisive, as he chipped the ball through the defence for Eduardo to fire home the winner.
Alex’s cousin Rigobert, was watching the talented protégé, emerge, and was sending reports to the Cameroon coaching staffs, and he got a reward for his hard work.
January 2008 saw him called up to represent the Cameroon national team at the African Nations Cup, despite previously being uncapped, and playing for the French Under 16 side, this would prove to be an important time for Alex as coach Otto Pfister was looking to develop his side, and if he could make an impact, he could become the lynch-pin of future teams.
After an injury to Stephane Mbia, he was thrown into action at half time of the opening group game, and instantly impressed, his classy passing, as well as ability to get stuck into tackles meant the fans quickly warmed to the debutant, mainly playing in central midfield, but also at centre half.
For the duration of the tournament he was a revelation, and became a regular, wearing bright yellow boots, he had all the class and style of Ronaldinho but the rugged energetic hard work which we have all grown to appreciate.
Earning a Man of the Match award in Cameroon’s semi final, he was now operating as a left sided central midfielder in a 4-3-3 formation, and getting forward well, even creating a goal for Samuel Eto’o as they booked their places in the grand final against hosts Egypt, however heat break occurred for young Song, during training ahead of the match, he stretched, and pulled his knee out of line, an injury which looked set to end hi tournament before the showcase of the final.
But Pfister gave him the time to recover, and he started the final, with heavy strapping to protect the knee, but on 15 minutes the injury became unplayable and the 20 year old was replaced with Benfica midfielder Biniya, a dejected Song walked off with his head down, but coach Otto Pfister shared an embrace with him im sure telling him he is one of the biggest prospects in the future for the African outfit.
Abo Terika scored the the only goal for Egypt as they retained the African Cup of Nations Title, but the journey was not over yet, he was then named in the “Team Of The Tournament” and also won the FIFA African young player of the tournament award, this showed, the complete transformation of Alex’s season, having previously featured for the Reserves, he was now starting in a Cup final for his country, further adding to the fact, whenever he has played on a regular basis, and the manager has shown faith in him, he has come good.
Although i accept that the ANC helped develop Song, to say he is a reinvented player is a little wide of the mark, whenever he has been given a run of games, for example on loan at Charlton, or in the Carling Cup, or even more recently during the African Nations cup, he has come good and shown his obvious talents, and with Gilberto set to leave in the summer, Wenger’s belief and support in him will stand him in good stead, when/if he makes the transition into the first team.
Article By – J.Sanderson
I think Song will be a a regular member of the team next year, and I prefer him at LM rather than Diably, he should always be on the bench as cover for CB and CM, hes definetly Gilbertos replacement.
The problem with Song was that he was lazy and gave the ball away a lot. I would say he has been reinvented, as it’s not just down to a run of games. It seems to be a change in attitude. That said i would like to see more of him this season before making final judgement.
He doesnt have the legs to play wide left. he’s a defensive midfielders who passes the ball. I dont see him as a centre back either, he’s too short apart from anything else. I was out in Ghana and saw him play twice – he was superb. Confident, tough and rarely gave the ball away. I think he took step up during the ACN
Am segujja from Uganda, let me just correct you he never played at centre half at the african cup of nations..he played as a holding midfielder and he didnt come one coz mbia was injured…he was a tactical sub…coz there was no balance in the midfield and boy did he steady that pack…he impressed tremendously he was retained in that role thru out the tonurment only for essien to stump on his foot in a challenge…he played on and at the end of that victory he could barely walk he was just carried off while other players celebrated. i thought he wasnt goin to play in the final but becoz he was that impressive they couldnt go without him…he has the best competition and he won me over..thats why i have written all this…..nice blog…and i made sure i watched all the matches he played in…
Excellent article – really good.
I’ve got to say that if he makes it at Arsenal this guy is (in some ways) Wenger’s greatest achievement. In his first season at Arsenal he was abysmal. In fact he was worse than that. There was absolutely nothing in his appearances at any level to suggest that he’d ever be a top footballer – only Wenger had faith in him and despite Wenger’s acumen for spotting talent more than a few jaws dropped that he wasn’t shipped out after his loan, let alone actually bought at the end of it.
But now…
ditto -agree poster above 100%. I felt guilty the other day when I smiled on reading Diaby was injured. He has not looked the same since the Terry injury.
Good points guys, his confidence has just grown, the more we have seen of him, and now looks a real prospect.
anybody like to see him instead of Gilberto against Boro?
Alex Song should play instead of Gilberto OR Diaby but I doubt Gilberto will be playing if Theo’s back this weekend.
The boy needs game time and I say we give it to him but is it the right time to experiment when we have 9 games to go which are mainly “must win” games?
It’s nice of you to come out and give him credit though. He deserves it.
‘I dont see him as a centre back either, he’s too short apart from anything else.’
He’s a 6ft er, same height as Toure and Gallas.
Look at Cannavaro, he isnt the biggest, and is one of the best centre backs in the world, as long as you have a decent physique.
I don’t like to gloat but I always liked Song. He’s had some poor games in CM but I always saw the potential in him — he reminds me a bit of Edgar Davids. However, I did wonder if he could make it as a CM at Arsenal because we had too many other good players in that position. However, with Diarra gone and Gilberto a shadow of his former self and likely to leave, Song’s time may have come. He’s looked good at CB, but again, we may have too many players in that positon for him to establish himself.
What is good about Song is that he is versatile. I saw him play CB against Newcastle in the CC and he was excellent solid in the tackle and winning most of the defensive headers. He was also outstanding for Cameroon in a DM role as well as helping out the defence and also has an eye for a pass. I’m glad to see people willing to give him a chance when last season there were many who wanted him shipped out
Don’t make it sound like it was unreasonable that at the time people should have questioned whether he was good enough. He was extrememly ordinary (sometimes worse) and there were players behind him in the pecking order like Muamba who seemed better. I’ll personally be delighted if he makes the grade here. But it was perfectly reasonable to get frustrated with his displays and attitude at times.
Utter crap being posted here regarding Alex Song, thse boy always had talent but as usual Arsenal fans were looking for a scape goat for the poor team performance against Fulham, so you turned on the 18 year old kid, you never wanted to give him a chance, lodas of you wanted him out, some of the comments were so bad it was a complete shame, good to see that Arsene always had faith in him and sent him off to Charlton to develop, and the rest as they say is his story, of how he became a much respected international player for Cameroon and Arsenal.
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I have to agree with Jimmy. His performance against Fulham was one of the worst I have ever seen. He was really bad but fortunately, Wenger is in control but not me.
We should not get too excited though. Song still has a long way to go to become a regular at Arsenal. But this teaches us that WENGER KNOWS. How many would have shipped Flamini out? How many were satisfied with Eboue in RB and found it strange to buy Sagna? How many times have we seen fans spit bad words over Senderos, Walcott, Adebayor and even Hleb? And on and on
I hope Song makes it here and that would be one of Wenger’s biggest achievement.
“all the class and style of Ronaldinho”. Er, let’s keep our feet on the ground eh?
have u seen Ronaldinho recently ;)
More often than not, young players comes in and impress in one game or two and then perform badly the next. This is due to youth; they are unable to sustain the same pace week after week. Fans have got to understand this simple principle. Only very few, like Fabergas, Rooney, can do ths consistently. Patience is the key both on the part of the fans and more sothe players themselves. We have a number of examples of players thinking ahead of themselves and very quikly fall by the wayside. Walcott and the rest of our youth brigade will face this situation and it will be up to us to raise our support for them.
I think he can break up play and hold the ball.
The problem he had earlier on at Arsenal was that he could not pick a pass.
If he can do that, and I am sure he can, he has a chance at Arsenal.
there is no point in comments…we all dont know what arsene is up to…lets not bother commenting about young or old players..i still think gilberto is a great player..because arsene still has him in the team…lets just watch the boro game quietly
I have always liked Song even when a host of Arsenal fans were berating him for a few nervous outings and have been vocal in my support for him on many blogs. Many fans are in the “INSTANT GRATIFICATION” and forget he is still young, was just adapting to English football and required much needed match experience.
Because of his versatility I expect to see him in our rotation for a good many years to come. He can provide cover at all four back spots and the two CM positions with his natural position being that of defensive central mid fielder. While he would make an extremely good CB, Arsenal does need more height back there due to Gallas and Toure not being commanding in the air, especially on set pieces.
song wont make it at cm for arsenal. . the fact is hes passing isnt terrible bt compared to the rest of the arse midfield it isnt good enough. they make him look worse than he is. he is suited to a mid table team like WHU, blackburn etc then he will shine. plus denilson is better than him
always liked song good player everyone got on his back after that fulham game but dm is where he should play.After watching him in the african nations i see why wenger got him
denilson couldn’t control a midfield like song and i remember when song was at charlton and they played man u he bullied scholes nd co
song owned both man utd and liverpool when he was at charlton!