Arsenal Talk/Gossip/Rumours Thread 12/13 MOD POST #232

Deleted User wrote: »

Oh its vital. Other then Koc and Verm we have no other centre half cut out for the premier league. Djourou is always struggling for match fitness and the other two i previously mentioned are just not up to it.

Wenger should let Steve Bould decide on the buying and selling of defenders in the future and we'll be ok

I think you are totally underselling and under estimating Mertesacker. I thought he had a very good game today and seems to have a calming and commanding effect on the defence. He may not be the fastest, but as long as Verm or Kos are next to him that really shouldn't be a problem.

Before Mertsacker joined us, we looked very disjointed at the back early last year and he helped immensely. Yes Steve Bould has done a very good job over the summer, but part of it also comes from the fact that all three centre backs are now used to playing with each other, something which was not true last year. I posted something about it before where over the first 12 games we had 7 different defences, which undoubtedly had a significant impact on out performance. Even then though, once Mert has settled a bit, the defence seemed to improve a lot over a short period of time. If we were to sign someone else in defence I would much prefer to see a player who could play both left and right back well.

wonderfullife wrote: »

I've said it on other parts of the forum, but one of Arsenals best signings was AVB going to Spurs. I don't know what that lad is playing at or where he got his reputation on Mourinhos Porto coat-tails, but he's taken a 4th place squad and dismantled it and replaced them with inferior talent. I can't even see them making the top 6 this season.

AVB won a treble (league, cup, UEFA cup) - quadrouple if you count the Portuguese super cup - with porto, unbeaten in the league, youngest manager to win a european trophy. He took over six years after Mourinho

He's on nobodys coat tails, was brought into oversee a longer term project at chelski but got shafted

but the most important thing your getting wrong is blaming him at tottenham, thats all levy work - the buying & selling etc. He's just there to manage the players nothing else

strange place to be defending him in here :pac: but i think he's a good manager & might even be a candidate to take over from wenger one day.

Galvasean wrote: »

I think Wenger's dream CB pairing is Vermaelen (a fast and mobile player who gladly throws himself into harm's way for the team) and the giant colossus and physical presence that is Mertesacker. Based on today's performance, he might be on to something.

I have a feeling he will just alternate the three assuming they are all fit. Vermaelen first choice with his partner being decided by the opposition's attackers. Playing Mertesacker against the likes of Torres and van Persie would be suicide. Koscielny is far better for that role. Mertesacker though is needed for the stronger players, the likes of Crouch and Carroll etc. Koscielny likely wouldn't be as effective against them. Even resting Vermaelen wouldn't weaken the back line now.

A great problem to have either way

Deleted User wrote: »

Wenger should let Steve Bould decide on the buying and selling of defenders in the future and we'll be ok

The defenders that Wenger has purchased over the years have not been the problem (with the obvious exceptions of Silvestre and Squillaci) more the system (or lack of system) they've been expected to play. Should we lose 2 of our main 3 CDs through injrury and/or suspension, I've no doubt that Djourou would do a sterling job with Bould's guidance.

greendom wrote: »

The bottom line is koscielny is our best central defender. He proved this time and time again over the course of the last season, sometimes doing the job of 3 defenders to keep the team in the game. People seem to be losing sight of this. i'll be surprised if he isn't restored to the team for the Southampton game and at Mertersacker's expense. Metersacker has done well but he's behind Kos and Verm in the pecking order and rightly so.

Interesting stat from Garth Crooks, that would say otherwise:

Did you know? Since the start of last season, Arsenal have conceded 0.6 goals per game when both Thomas Vermaelen and Mertesacker have started, compared to 1.5 per game when either has been absent.

Wilshere back in a month, apparently.

Things looking up.

AnCapaillMor wrote: »

I think we made them look dire, they were pretty good against city and were unlucky to lose that game.

They drew against City, but the point is valid. They also scored both their goals from set pieces. we defended them very well yesterday, apart from the one Agger make a balls of.

gnfnrhead wrote: »

I was watching the Stoke game on an American channel, the commentator said last season we had something like 25 different back four's. I havent checked but it would have been a fairly high number alright. It's a miracle we didnt concede more. Change that freak United result to a more common scoreline and we were right in line with the other sides pushing for Europe.

Found the post I was referring to ealier here.

farna_boy wrote:

Take the start of the season (after Mertesacker joined).Mertesacker joined on the 31st of August and hiss first match for Arsenal was the 10th of September, so basically he had a week to learn how his centre back partner worked so they could play well together. Looking at this match (Swansea) and the following 10 matches, our defensive line ups were:

Gibbs - Koscielny - Mertesacker - Sagna

Santos - Koscielny - Mertesacker - Sagna

Gibbs - Koscielny - Mertesacker - Sagna

Gibbs - Song - Mertesacker - Sagna

Gibbs - Koscielny - Mertesacker - Jenkinson

Santos - Koscielny - Mertesacker - Djourou

Santos - Koscielny - Mertesacker - Djourou

Santos - Koscielny - Vermalen - Jenkinson

Santos - Mertesacker - Vermalen - Koscielny

Santos - Djourou - Mertesacker - Vermalen

So in 10 matches, we had 8 different defensive line ups. Out of these 10 matches we won seven, lost two and drew one, but to be honest looking at this I'm surprised we didn't lose every match where we had a different line up. At this stage of the season, Mertesacker and those around him are more used to playing together and should know each others strengths and weaknesses better but the same amount of change is still happening between every match.

So over the first 10 matches, although the CB pairing was reasonably consistent, Mertesacker still had differnt full backs outside him on a regular basis. However, everyone in defence now knows each other very well and maybe that was why no new backs were bought during the window, so that we could focus on consistency. It wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if that was Boulds call.

I think consistency in the team choice is a big factor to how a team will play. If you look at the likes of Stoke. Theie only significant signing (who is now playing at a regular basis) is Kightly. The rest of their first team though is mostly unchanged and therefore it is a lot easier for them to hit the ground running. Sunderland have two new players Fletcher and Johnson so they were nearly in the same position as us so we should probably have done better against them.

Looking at all three of those players though, they have one major advantage over our new players: they all played in the Premier league last year which perhaps gives them a slight edge (even though our new player are technically better than theirs).