Just out of interest, can anyone name those five games without TV. I can only think of Swansea and Manchester City away at the moment..
Swansea 0-2 Arsenal Arsenal 1-0 Stoke Aston Villa 0-0 Arsenal Manchester City 1-1 Arsenal All of those games featured Koscielny with Mertesacker as his partner and no Vermaelen. Sunderland 0-1 Arsenal This was the game where Sagna played CB with Mertesacker.
A sample size of 5 is a bit small to consider relevant really. But by the end of the season the picture may be a little clearer.
Watched the game against Reading, and Kos was impressive again. He has amazing recovery pace, it's outstanding. So when he does make mistakes, he can still get out of jail. This is why he is superior to Vermaelen, Wenger would be insane to break up the Mert-Kos partnership.
Lies, damn lies and statistics. To get a real comparison we need to see the stats for all of the cb partnerships we've had this season. For example, what are the stats for TV and Per and for TV and Kos and would also need to take into account of any subs made. Then you have to look at how the goals were conceded and if the CB's were at fault, how the rest of the team played defensively, who were the full backs and cm's who should be providing cover. A lot of the goals we have conceded this year have been when TV and Kos have played together and Kos has been at fault, in fact if I had to say why I think we've conceded more goals than any other single reason it would be where TV was the nearest to the ball and attacked it as he should and Kos has tried to attack the ball as well meaning both cb's are attacking the ball leaving space behind. If its the other way TV at least tries to provide cover, although hes not great at positioning. Per on the other hand usually plays the covering defender which is why he works better with Kos (i.e. one always attacks the ball and the other always covers). So in my mind the most common error I see by our defence is Kos rushing like a headless chicken trying to beat TV to what should be TV's ball. Its happened time and time again. I came across this which I think sums it up quite well. http://arsenalarsenal.wordpress.com/2013/03/29/lies-damned-lies-and-arsenal-statistics/
Or, we could just pay attention to how they play and come to a conclusion through visual analysis. I've all ready been doing that, and Koscielny is the best CB we have, followed by Mertesacker, and they both make the best partnership.
I thought he was excellent tonight and totally bossed Anichebe. I said before the season, that this season could be the one where he could really make a mark and become one of the best CB's in Europe. But after Wenger made Vermaelen his captain, Kos did not get much of a look in at the start, and never really had a proper run in the first team. But now he is finding his form and he is again showing his best form. Also as I said many times, his recovery pace really is outstanding.
It's his partnership with Mertesacker that seems to work. Mert had a decent game as well. If we can keep them both fit and free from suspension, we'll be alright at the back.
And I think even Wenger understands that now. TV was put back on the bench as soon as Mert was available again.
