He started career off so well but Vermaelen isn't the necessary quality. He'd a very good defender but the difference with that and great one is someone who can be virtually faultless for the full game. Keown and Cambpell in the day were monsters, dominating the opposition and not giving them a sniff at goal Try to remember how many games over the past 12 months TV was M.O.M or you felt he played a big part in us getting the points ?!?!?! I can only really remember Everton Away in which he was a rock Right now Metersaker is overshadowing him and who'd have thought that last season. He's not a great left back but far better than Santos...I'd put him there and try to get Kos back to playing how he was last year? Kos was IMO our best defender last year and unsure why he's had a shaky start but maybe a run of games is needed to get his confidence and sharpness back
The problem is its hard to judge our centre backs because our left back position is soo weak. We also don't have an orthodox DM so they get badly exposed. But I would agree, only problem is Koscielney has been even worse.(and Djourou is a donkey) We lack cutting edge up front and solidity at the back. Llorente and Hummels for Xmas please Santa.
Vermaelen used to be great, but even I'm starting to agree that he's not good enough now. When bad form goes on this long, you start to question their ability. I gave Ramsey the benefit of the doubt for a while, then I started slating him. Vermaelen is getting close to that level now. Like TheBear says, Kosc is even worse at the moment. I would be tempted to give Djourou a shot against some easy opposition, just to see if he's gotten better or is at least in decent form. Merte has been our best defender all season, and Sagna has been excellent since getting back too. We need to buy Hummels, Subotic, or at least someone who is bigger and stronger than Vermaelen. I think Verm needs to be converted into a defensive midfielder.
Have any of you thought, that maybe the reason that Koscielny is arguably 'worse', is because he was one of the best performing CB's in Europe last season, and then got dropped to accommodate an inferior player just because he wears the captains armband, thus, destroying his confidence and form. I might just add that Vermaelen shouldn't even be captain, it should have been Arteta or Sagna.
I'm so tired of the backstabbing going on on this board whenever a player has a bad game. And then the cheek to have a go at Van Persie for being a "Judas". Hypocritical.
This I agree with. He's too indecisive and cumbersome to be seen as a top defender for Arsenal. Cracking in the odd 30-yarder at the other end that gets Arsenal out of jail doesn't make him a top defender. Unfashionable as it seemingly is to say, Mertesacker is Arsenal's best defender, but he's also not blessed with much pace and that weakness was exposed quite a bit in his first Premier League season. What I've seen of Arsenal's games this season, he has played a lot better.
He made some mistakes today, but he's still a quality CB. Seems to me that people need a scapegoat for today, when in fact the whole team were below par.
Mannone was good. I thought Sagna was good as well, Merte was good, Arteta was good, the rest were below par.
