I was thinking about the team we should pick on Sunday against Liverpool and I just could not decided between these two. According to Wenger, Kos should be back for this game. With Vermaelen being made captain, he is not going to be dropped and with Gibbs displaying some good form and being a natural LB, he is not likely to get dropped in order for us to fit in all three of our quality CB's. Mertesacker has impressed in these the two games this season and him and Vermaelen seem to have an understanding. We all know about the amount of goals we let in last season. Would Koscielny and Vermaelen look much better under Bould's coaching? For the game on Sunday, I am inclined to go with Per for now because the game is too big to bring in someone that does not have much game time under his belt. But then again, Liverpool have small tricky players like Suarez and Borini. And if the game against City was anything to go by, Liverpool are going to go for it, so the game should be a lot quicker then the ones against Sunderland and Stoke. Just can't make up my mind on this one. Need help. Who would you pick for the Liverpool game, Laurent Koscielny or Per Mertesacker?
I would go with Per, simply on the basis that he's forming an understanding with Verm, and the big man little man approach has worked so far, plus Per's intelligence is an asset. Would it be wise for me to ask for a poll?
Just let Verm and Arteta deal with Suarez. Mertesacker can deal with any loose passes, and as Liverpool are still adjusting to the Rodgers system, there's bound to be a few sloppy balls that need mopping up. Actually, with how bad Suarez's finishing has been, we can just let him run riot, not bother marking him. They'll be fishing the ball out of the Kop a lot on Sunday.
He scored on the weekend, that was his goal for this next 3 months. If my maths are correct, he will next score in December.
Not exactly the best game to be thrown straight back into action. Considering Liverpool have attacking talent, and some idiot has jinxed Suarez into scoring a hatrick, we need 2 match fit CB's, who've already got significant game time this season. Kos is our best CB, but he's not part of our best CB partnership, if that makes sense.
Kos against teams with trickier forwards like Suarez, Auguero, etc... (though I wouldn't thrust him back in vs Liverpool) Mert against long ball teams with bigger forwards like Crouch, etc...
mertesacker could be destroyed by suarez. especially on counter-attacks after vermaelen has decided to become a striker. sure koscielny hasn't had much game time, but he'd still be a better choice for this game.
how about having per and kos play together with TV in the dm position im sure i heard that tv has played dm before(just until a proper dm is signed)
I'm not a fan of Per. He is a slow CB but when we need to score he decides he is the man and defending isn't important anymore. He camps in the opposition half for the last 15minutes and genuinely looks lost. I don't mind Verm going forward as he has the pace to get back. I think kos and verm is our long term best pair Also I know he's only had half a season but he has had quite a few 15minute spells of looking lost and hasn't scored for us...
For me Kosc is our best CB option for this game. He is very good at staying tight to skillfull players and not letting them get anywhere. He's done it against Messi so Suarez shouldn't be too bad for him! Mert or even Verm may get turned. If he is fit and looking good in training i'd play him.
Simple, play Kosc at right back, I wouldn't want to start Jenkinson at right back against Liverpool, and Kosc can play at RB and has done a good job when played there.
Would Ideally say Kos and Verm as Liverpool don't have height upfront but they do have pace but just coming back to fitness and how solid our defence has been so far I would stick to what we know. More interested to see how our attack looks seeing as the game will be post DD.
As I've stated a few times I think Bould will try and keep the Vermalen and Mertesacker partnership going. Defensively it makes more sense. Its a balanced pairing. Koscielney is extremely poor when it comes to dealing with the leagues bigger centrebacks and Carroll is just the kind of player that would cause us problems(as was the case last Season in fact). I'm predicting that injuries permitting we'll stick with Verm and Merts for the rest of the Season.
