Denilson for midfield anchor role

An interview with Denilson in the current issue of Arsenal magazine has been reported reasonably widely elsewhere over the last week. In it he expresses his belief that this is a big season for him and one in which he expects to establish himself as a regular in the team.

The same edition also includes a feature on the midfield anchor role with Wenger giving his views on it`s importance and players that have filled the role before. Arsene refers to the duos of Vieira and Petit along with Edu and Gilberto as top exponents of the art and notably expresses the hope that "...Denilson will develop in that way too"

It`s a role that he thinks is very underrated "Because it`s the guy who saves the cross when the central defenders are beaten and it`s the guy who wins you the ball when you don`t expect to win it. He can smell danger…..is always there to deal with problems." Though taller than Flamini Denilson doesn`t have the height of any of the four previous incumbents of the role Wenger refers to but shows just as much tenacity.

Wenger believes Brazil are particularly adept at producing players with that type of responsibility because of the attacking style of their play. A position he claims becomes more important with the wider adoption of 4-5-1 formats.

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