Nacho Monreal is the very definition of what it means to be ‘solid if not spectacular’. But, as was brutally demonstrated during Sunday’s 3-0 home defeat to Aston Villa, Arsenal could do with a bit of ‘solidity’ right now.
And there is a certain irony in the fact that, as Mikel Arteta’s misfiring Gunners dropped into the bottom half of the Premier League table, Monreal’s Real Sociedad moved top of theirs.
A 2-0 victory over an always-awkward Granada side means Sociedad are sitting pretty in first place right now, three points clear of Atletico Madrid and four ahead of reigning La Liga champions Real.
On just his fourth start of the season, 34-year-old Monreal rolled back the years with a performance that had many Arsenal fans pining for this diminutive and, in truth, criminally underrated full-back.
Not only did Monreal open the scoring with the kind of instinctive swivel and shot Alexandre Lacazette seems incapable of these days. It was his trademark, lung-bursting drive down the left-hand side which led to a penalty slotted home by Mikel Oyarzabal to complete a hard-fought 2-0 win.
A man who failed to win a single league crown in six years at Arsenal before being sold for just £250,000 is now dreaming of an historic, Leicester-esque title triumph in San Sebastian.
“(The team) is doing well, we played very well today,” Monreal told El Diario Vasco. “We are very happy with today’s game and with the victory. .
“The team is fighting and competing, that’s why now things are working out.”
‘Fighting’ and ‘competing’; two attributes synonymous with Monreal. And two things Arsenal could and should have done more of during that abomination on Sunday.
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