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"I love Tomas Rosicky's game because he is a guy who speeds things up. When the ball gets to him, he has good acceleration power because he has quick short passes and combinations with other players."
There was a time when Arsene Wenger could have said those same words about several players at Arsenal, where 'acceleration power' and the ability to play 'quick short passes' were pre-requisites rather than luxuries.
It was apparent in just 45 minutes against Olympiakos - with Rosicky cast alongside Aaron Ramsey, Gervinho and Marouane Chamakh - how rare those qualities have become at Arsenal, where wastefulness and ponderousness have become all-too-familiar traits. Little Mozart had wandered on stage with Steps. And that's 2012 fat Steps.
While his teammates hesitated just about long enough to get dispossessed or made one of those decisions that leaves you screaming 'why...just why?', Rosicky was intelligent, neat (he misplaced just one pass in 45 minutes) and effective. When the ball fell to Aaron Ramsey in front of goal, he kicked his standing leg. When the ball was pulled back to Rosicky just inside the area, he swept the ball home with ease to make it 1-0.
It's easy to laugh when Wenger talks about his injured players as 'new signings' but you can imagine how frustrating it must be to see a gifted player like Rosicky continually sidelined. And then how exciting it must be to watch him play with freedom as he did for the latter months of last season and for 45 minutes in Greece. His absence from the following 45 minutes must have made the heart grow fonder still.
And no, ITV commentators, the fact that Ramsey "kept going" will be no great comfort to Arsenal fans watching with shaking heads.
There will be no shortage of people pointing out the negatives from Tuesday night's defeat to Olympiakos but there were positives - Rosicky's return, the slowly improving form of Thomas Vermaelen, the entertainment offered by Chamakh's hair and the encouraging debut of Jernade Meade. But chief amongst those was the return of a player who looks suspiciously good enough to play for a better Arsenal.
Sarah Winterburn
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