Arteta - Underrated Rosicky is so clever

Mikel Arteta is pleased to see the "underrated" Tomas Rosicky back in the Arsenal first team.

The Czech midfielder scored on his first Premier League start of the season against Queens Park Rangers on Boxing Day, and also played 90 minutes against Southampton on New Year’s Day.

Arteta has played alongside Rosicky for three and a half years, and feels the 34-year-old’s intelligence on the pitch is one of his greatest strengths.

“Within a week of joining Arsenal, watching Tomas train and having him play alongside me, I knew he was one of the most underrated players,” Arteta told the official matchday programme. “It’s hard to find players like Tomas who can be that clever and do things so simply and lively on the pitch.

“I think everybody likes to play next to Tommy and I’m very happy for him because he was given the chance and again he hit the spot.

“He can carry the ball and he’s got that 10-yard spurt where he can change direction, his vision and his final ball.

“Something people sometimes don’t think about with Tomas is that he works really hard. He’s always very alert with very high concentration levels during the game and that’s why he’s so good.”