The current back 5 of... ...................Chesney Sagna Vermaelen Koscielny Gibbs Haven't lost in the Premiership all season when they've played together. Prior to this unbeaten run, Arsenal had fielded 26 different starting back four combinations in 41 matches, involving 14 players and nine different central defensive pairings. To be 3rd after such a defensive shambles this season is nothing short of incredible!!
I would say Gibbs is the weak link in that back line, most of the trouble and danger we often get into is from his side.
Nope but they have still conceeding plenty of goals. Sagna has improved the team massively, he really was a huge loss when he was injured. Its our ability to score gaosl that's really got us out of trouble.
Gibbs has been solid since his return However Jenkinson isn't ready and a backup RB who can play for 2 years should be brought in till Jenkers is ready
I just hope that they are gradually getting stronger with every match. It would be good to create another impregnable back four or indeed five Just think how many points that would net us in the course of a year. It really could be the difference between 1st and 3rd assuming RvP stays.
I worry about Kos and TV playing together - neither have good positional sense (often out of line and playing attackers onside) and they leave far too much room between them allowing attackers to find space through the middle. Both are also prone to error. I prefer Merts + 1. We look more organised, as opposed to frantic. Kos and TV have great attributes too - namely pace and in TV's case heading ability. They get themselves out of a lot of trouble of their own making.
I'd plum for the back 4 at present but maybe switch Gibbs for Santos if he keeps not performing so well. Merts is out for the season, so that can't be changed, Sagna is indispensible. Gota hope Kos & Vermaelen stay fit & can guide the team through the run-in. It's good they're forming something of a partnership, bodes well for the final games.
Yeah I agree. Ko's and Vermaelen are far too simular to play together. Vermaelen is the better of the two not just technically but also because he's more aggressive, more commanding and a natural leader. Mertesacker is the better option to play alongside in terms of 'balance'. The big German reads the game well, is very good in the air.(but he's somewhat limited technically and he lacks pace.) So neither are perfect. What we need is Matt Hummels or Vertonghen. Tall, good in the air but also technically skilled enough to play our brand of football.
LAURENT KOSCIELNY 36 THOMAS VERMAELEN 31 PER MERTESACKER 27 JOHAN DJOUROU 24 BACARY SAGNA 21 KIERAN GIBBS 15 ANDRE SANTOS 14 CARL JENKINSON 12 IGNASI MIQUEL 9 SEBASTIEN SQUILLACI 6 Anyone else worried that the Squilster has made 6 appearances tis season!?
Have to say I disagree with you on this one. He has marked the opposition CF out of the game on many, many occasions this season and we have no one else in the side good at it right now. Vermaelen is a far better man in the sweeper role and Metersaker isnt fast enough to do anything other than sweeper. If we do sign Vertoghen (IMO) it will be as a man marking CB, because we only have Vermaelen as cover for that and he is much better as a sweeper. As a man marking CB, Kos is, for my money, the best in the PL at the moment. Why move him?
Another for Djourou at the weekend, but he kept a clean sheet and didn't even concede a shot on target Maybe he's not as bad as people think? Or Villa are truly awful!
Gibbs IS solid and he is certainly a better bet than Santos, save for a few unfortunate slips he rarely puts a foot wrong. I feel somewhat cheerier but, as Lee Dixon put it on MoTD, we need to become a solid defence which we are not, we gift opponents far too many opportunities to score.
A big problem is keeping the back 5 together. All defences improve with practise and understanding. That is what we are now seeing. Finally of course they need coaching, and dare I say it - strategy. We have to learn to cover the sometimes mad forays forward leaving us wide open to fast counter-attacks.
