Sign up to FREE email alerts from Football London - Arsenal Subscribe Thank you for subscribing See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Mohamed Elneny has seen his opportunities at Arsenal limited this season, but with the start of the new year he has been given a chance to get some game time at the Africa Cup of Nations.

Many Arsenal fans found themselves in the uncomfortable position of cheering against their own player tonight in the hopes that Egypt would be knocked out so that Elneny could return to action for the Gunners, who find themselves short on central midfielders with Granit Xhaka suspended and Santi Cazorla injured.

But it was not to be, as Egypt advanced to the quarter-finals with an unimpressive 1-0 win over Ghana in their final group game.

Although he is not returning to north London just yet, Arsenal supporters are still interested to see how Elneny is getting on this winter since he may be pushed into action immediately upon his return.

So how did he do? Here's how we saw it.

0-15 minutes

Elneny did not impress in his side's first game of the tournament against Mali, but he looked sharp in the first half hour or so of that game. It was a similar case here.

The Arsenal midfielder almost gave his team the lead after just two and a half minutes when he struck the ball from just outside the box, only to see it drift high and wide.

In truth, Ghanaian keeper Brimah Razak likely had it covered but it was good to lay down an early marker. Minutes later, Mohamed Salah fired in the only goal of the game from a splendid free kick.

16-30 minutes

Outside of the goal - which came from a free kick - most of the attacking of the first 30 minutes came from the men in white. This meant Elneny had few chances to get on the ball, but it allowed him to show his defensive capabilities.

As Ghana pushed for an equaliser around the 20 minute mark, Elneny contributed two key defensive plays. First, he cleared his lines and relieved the pressure on the defence with a powerful header from his own box.

The next passage of play was somewhat riskier, as he double-teamed Andre Ayew as the West Ham United striker threatened the Egypt goal. The three tangled together and Ayew fell to the floor, but the referee waved play on and Egypt cleared their lines once more.

The pressure kept coming, however, and Elneny did not cover himself in glory as he lost track of Christian Atsu who came storming into the box and could have equalised had he been given a good delivery.

31 minutes - half time

One of Elneny's biggest problems at the Africa Cup of Nations so far has been knowing when to track strikers and when to hand them off to a covering defender. He needs to be more vocal in this regard and has almost been punished for it several times this month.

In the 31st minute of the game, Asamoah Gyan overpowered the very disappointing Ahmed Hegazy and set Ayew off behind the Egyptian defence in acres of space.

Ayew had anticipated his strike partner winning the exchange and was able to cause problems from deep. Elneny, however, is nowhere to be seen and but for a heavy touch from Ayew before his cross, Ghana could be level.

As the half comes to an end, things start to look better for Egypt and Elneny. First, Gyan leaves the field with an apparent groin injury and then Elneny once against gets a shot off from the edge of the box after kick-starting a move from deep in his own half.

The shot fails to trouble the keeper as Elneny's decision to go for placement over power is foiled when a defender blocks the ball's path.

45-60 minutes

Perhaps it is harsh to judge Elneny too strongly on his performances at the Africa Cup of Nations as the situation in Gabon could not be more different to what he would expect back in north London at the Emirates.

At a basic level, the quality of the pitches is very poor. Elneny was not the only one who struggled to come to terms with the unpredictable nature of the bouncing ball on a bumpy field but it seemed to especially affect his game, since he relies on quick, low passes.

Likewise, his role within the Egyptian team is quite different than what it would be at Arsenal. Egypt are a far more defensive, negative team than the Gunners. Although Elneny fills in as a defensive midfielder for The Pharoahs, responsibilities are probably closer to one of the Gunners' centre backs than their centre midfielders.

The Egyptian centre back rarely - if ever - leave their own half and Elneny will only do so once the play has advanced to the opposition box.

In defence, Elneny hangs deeper than the rest of his midfield colleagues but he is not quite deep enough to be with the Egyptian back four. The idea is for him to be a sweeper, but Elneny rarely looks comfortable in this position and often finds himself isolated from the play.

61-75 minutes

Another issue Elneny has shown this January has been a reluctance to press opposing players when they are on the ball. Whether this is his choice or an instruction from the coaches is unclear, but it ends up inviting pressure onto a sub par Egyptian defence.

The seven-time champions have somehow not conceded a single goal in their opening three games, but they almost lost that record in the 66th minute when Elneny stood off Harrison Afful, who used the space to play a lovely through ball to Atsu.

But the Newcastle striker could not beat Egyptian keeper Essam El-Hadary, not that it mattered as he was offside.

76 minutes - full time

Egypt did not offer much attacking threat, and Elneny, to his credit, did what he could to contribute in that regard.

Late in the game, he could be seen standing once more at the edge of the box calling for the ball to once more strike a shot from the outside of the D.

This time, however, he was ignored and Egypt saw out the win to top their group and book a quarter-final against Morocco on Sunday.

The verdict

The win means that Elneny will not be returning to Arsenal just yet. While this was an improvement from how he began the tournament, you can't image Arsene Wenger begging Elneny to return sooner after sitting down to watch it.

What is worrying, from an Arsenal perspective, is that so many of the same issues keep cropping up for the 24-year-old.

If he is to be a full-time defensive midfielder for a team like Arsenal, he badly needs to work on his concentration levels and not allow himself to become so anonymous for long periods of games.

It does not help that, bar one or two players, this is an Egyptian team lacking class but Elneny needs to anticipate play better and not be so reactionary all the time.

He still has a few years to work on these aspects, but if there is no improvement soon then it's hard to see him sticking around the Emirates for too long.