I don't think Arsene fouled Santos but I will agree I'd not have played him in a meaningless game. 4 Cbs it is then. Yay.
Thats really irritating - i enjoy watchign Santos play and think he will form part of a solid back-line who are very capable of going forward for us. I think he is the type of player who works with our defensive tactics. Very disappointed with this
How did we end up in the position that if somebody like Djourou now gets injured we are completely and utterly ****ed? Bring back Eboué that's what I say.
Just when our Defence was looking solid, the injury god decides to smack us again. The only comfort is gibbsy is back soon ..
Yay 'boue! Not sure I understand your other point. Was that a serious question? We have two fullbacks on either side so it's not like we lacked cover. Yet again we have appalling luck with injuries.
Ah Bollocks - why do we have such bad luck with injuries ? Gutted for Santos - just as he was cementing his place in the team too. Looks like we have Miquel and Vermaelen now who will rotate at LB. Which leaves us a bit thin at CB, an injury to Kos or Mert and we're in trouble. Personally I think Vermaelen should be playing CB, with Kos on the right and we should be looking for another left sided player in Jan.
JJSB, Jenkinson is only a kid and Gibbs is another kid that we have known for over a year was made out of glass, whereas Santos is fat and unfit and the fact he has actually lasted this long without a break is pretty remarkable. Selling Eboue was a massive blunder, whether you think he is **** or not is irrelvent, he is surely more reliable than playing JD or Miquel at RB/LB. If any more of our back 4 get injured we have to take Song out of midfield
Hopefully Gibbs is back soon he was playing well before he picked up his injury, it's just a case of keeping him fit which sadly doesn't look possible at the moment.
I think Santos was a porker when we signed him, but he's trimmed down loads and his fitness has improved. The ankle injury was just bad luck, nothing more, nothing less. I do agree that we should have kept Eboue though, but he wanted to leave - so not much we could do really.
I LOVE Eboue! Admittedly not really for footballing reasons but because he makes me chuckle! I'd have kept him at the club until he died. Whether or not you think the players are up to it is another discussion, the fact is we've 2 players for each side with CBs who can cover if neccessary. Any more and you run the risk of alienating people and spiralling wage budgets, not to mention it being nigh on impossible to get quality back up players. FWIW I've made my feelings known on Gibbs before and the jury is still out with me on Jenks and Santos. What I do know, however, is that Santos was getting slowly better with each game so this is ****tard timing.
So what do we do? Buy a LB a CB or nobody at all? Our CBs are filling in at RB and LB - which is okay at the moment. But if we get an injury to Kos or Mert, we will struggle. Gibbs should be back soon, but imo he's not as good as Santos. Sanga will be a boost, but he may need time to get back to his best. Personally, I think we should replace Squillaci in Jan with someone who can play CB and LB - a la Vermaelen.
I really want a chance to see our actual first team all playing at once: ------Szczezney----- Sagna---Kosc---TV---Santos ------------Song------------ ------Wilshere----???-------- Walcott------RVP-------Gervinho ??? = one of our many midfielders who will all be fighting for that last spot -Areta, Ramsey, Diaby, Rosicky? In particular that back-line would be very strong imo. It is irritating that actualy we now have very good players at the back - 3 Very Good CB's, 1 World Class RB, 1 Top Quality LB and 2 good young back-up FB's - as well as Miquel pushing for a place and Djourou/Squillaci as well (lol). And we are now playing a slightly deeper line, much tighter deense adn they all look like they trust the kepper and each other and are playing very well together. If we could just keep our injury list down i'm very happy with what we have at the back and it is soooo annoying that injuries always seem to cause us problems!
The ultimate solution to the problem of cover due to injuries: Sign VERTONGHEN! Have wanted him for ages, he knows Vermaelen, can cover CB, LB and DM and has said before he'd like to play at Arsenal. If we sold Squillaci and signed him he would get game time ahead of Djourou without a doubt and would give us ultimate strength in depth along the back. Sagna, TV, Kosc, Mert, Santos, Vertonghen - are all very good quality players, with Jenkinson, Gibbs and Miquel as very good back-ups. And Djourou for good messure
I've said for a while that I think we need four top quality CBs. For me Djourou Squillaci Miquel (as promising as he looks) are not of the standard we need. I think Djourou does a decent enough job as a CB/RB cover, but I'd love to see us sign another top CB so that we have: A first choice pairing of : Mertesaker / Vermealen and a second choice pairing of Koscielny / Vertonghen There are plenty of games in a season, and with injuries (as we're seeing now) all four would get plenty of matches.
I wanted Vertonghen in the Summer but he is the captain of Ajax, he will not join Arsenal just to be a utility player. We need an experienced player who can play across the back 4, I'm just struggling to think who the **** he could be!
If we can keep our current form and also improve the squad in key areas in january,i think we will have a realistic chance of challenging Man City. We are just 9 points away from them and its a long season where fatigue will catch up on players.. A couple of draws and losses is all it will take.
