He got forward a lot and wasn't afraid to have pops at goal. He got shrugged off quite easily in some midfield duels in the first half, but looked a lot more settled in the second half. Comfortable passer of the ball, not afraid to put in a tackle, or have a shot and covers ground well. I do worry about his lack of physicality and power, so I hope that he can develop this as he gets accustomed to the league.
As I said, I didn't see the game today, but I suspect that Burnley were quite physical. They would have been told to try and play in that way as it would have been one of the ways to try and unsettle Arsenal. In a way, this was a perfect game for Elneny to start in, because he would have got a flavour of the physical nature of English football, especially from a Championship team battling for every tackle and ball, without it being too technically difficult for him ..... I suspect ?
Mertesacker's been dropped for the last two games now. Interesting. For all of the critique that Gabriel gets and I know statistics don't paint the entire picture, our defensive record with him in the team is actually very, very impressive. The issue I have with Mertesacker starting again is more from a tactical point of view. Wenger prefers us to play the defensive bloc higher up the pitch. This is fine if you have a centre-back that is agile and comfortable playing the ball out from the back, but when you have someone as slow as Mertesacker and you have someone like Giroud who is very immobile, it means the core of the team is very slow. Playing high up the pitch with a slow spine is suicidal in football terms. When/if we are going to play Mertesacker again, we have to drop deeper and play counter-attacking football. It would mean that, as poor as he's been, Walcott should start in the centre-forward position because we need his speed and running to get in behind and create space to attack. Playing Mertesacker and Giroud at the same time hinders us a lot, in my opinion.
Walcotts best form this season has been as a CF anyway and when Giroud and Walcott have been fighting for the spot both of them have upped there game. I'm hoping we go back to this and use other options on the wing now that we have players returning to fitness. I'm still not sure on Gabriel/Mertesacker I think your correct in that it depends on our opposition. I also think Gabriel will look far more steady given a few games in a row.
Just wait til Kos and Gabby have to play against someone like Lukaku. They are going to get murdered. Merts is actually having statistically his worst Season at Arsenal so I can understand Wenger dropping him. Even soo in terms of duels(aerial & on the ground -Sqwuaka). Mertesacker 89% Gabriel 63% Koscielney 52% A big reason for Gabby and Kos being soo much lower than Merts is down to size. Physically they are not going to dominate the leagues more athletic players. Kos is 6'0 and 74 kg Gabriel is 6'1 and 72 kg compare that to.. Lukaku 6'3 and 90kg Diego Costa 6'2 and 82kg Graziano Pellè 6'4 and 83kg Benteke 6'3 and 84kg Anautovic 6'4 and 83kgs Andy Carroll 6'3 and 75kgs Lewandoski 6'2 and 79kg Yaya Toure 6'2 and 90kgs Christiano Ronaldo 6'1 and 76 kgs Zlatan Ibrahimovic 6'5 and 93kgs ...I could just keep going... Per Mertesacker - 6'6 and 89kg. As long as contact remains in the sport Defenders will need to be physically capable of matching their opposition. Just wait and see Gabby and Kos will struggle against the physically bigger sides. Just as Vermalen and Koscielney did. Saying all that, I could see the sense in playing these two against certain sides( such as Barcelona).
Is it me but isn't Gabrielle underweight at 72kgs for 6ft 1? Should be around 76-78kgs? You do make a good point about the physicality and them two struggling. But naturally being more mobile, they would make a better partnership against Barca who play the majority on the floor and quickly.
Has it been mentioned yet that Per isn't alone having a moo of a season? Personally I think Kos is well below par this term. I really think both are top players but Kos has it in him to perform at a much higher level. Frankly, it's our fullbacks holding our defence together at the moment!
Yeah he's underweight for sure. Hopefully he will hit the weights and bulk up a little. He'll certainly need the upper body strength in this league. He should be between 75-80kg realistically. Needs to be hitting the compound lifts in the gym.
