We need an agile-quick-strong defender who is good on the ball. Mert is not just slow in general, he is slow on the ball as well, needing 2-3 touches before releasing the ball, this slows our game down in general, making it easier for opposition to get in position to defend easier.
So anyway, I reckon part of the reason that our CBs have been exposed is the lack of proper defensive shielding from midfield
It's fine !! Next time somebody makes a good point on here I'm claiming it as my own I have the power to delete comments too, so no ****er will know I've done it either
Today pretty much highlighted what I've been saying. Gabriel and Kos is never going to work. Im 100% confident of that.
You've based this on one game. Koscielny and Mertesacker weren't exactly a formidable partnership to begin with. Also, Gabriel was the better of the two today. Koscielny was given the run around by Gray and struggled to clear his lines. Most of the chances they had came from his unforced errors.
No, not really. I have the same issue with this line up as I did with Kos and Vermaelen. If you look at the best defences in EPL history. 1. Terry and Carvalho 2. Campbell and Toure 3. Ferdinand and Vidic At least one of the CB's would sit back and cover whilst the 'ball playing' defender would get forward. Kos and Gabriel are both good players but I just can't see it working.
I'm not saying it's the best partnership in the league. What I am saying is that, when we play against teams who have nimble, pacy attacking players, it would be the best partnership that we have on paper out of the current options we have. Mertesacker would have been slaughtered today. But f course it can be improved and I hope it will over Summer. My own opinion is that we need another centre-half anyway, as Mertesacker isn't looking up for it and Koscieny is 31 this year I believe. As for the examples of the partnerships you gave, they were all formidable. But there are very few, if any, players like them anymore.
