Song

Are individuals really to blame for Arsenal’s defensive frailties?

|

That brings me to another reason why fans who slate Wenger for buying technical rather than physical defenders need to learn a few aspects about Arsenal. Arsenal’s play requires technical defenders such as tv5 and Koscielny who can bring the ball out of the defence and chase back to prevent goals from counters. You can’t have Vidic and Samba as your centrebacks then expect to maintain a high line. That will be suicide! And talking about counters, why do you think last season, Arsenal conceded fewer goals from counters than the previous seasons? Apart from other reasons, look no further than Alex Song’s tackling rate.

So before you yell for a DM who will commit less fouls, ask yourself why his increase in tackling has coincided with a decrease in the goals conceded from counters? The fact that Arsenal players don’t defend as a unit means that when teams strike, it is only Alex providing cover for the back four. The fans wail over the number of goals conceded but they forget that Arsenal defends by attacking: score 1, we will score 2! And the painful truth is that the answer to Arsenal’s perenial defensive problems lie at London Colney and not the transfer market. The only way the gunners are going to stop shipping in goals is not by buying a commanding centre back, but by learning how to defend as a unit!

Keep the faith ye gunners!

Share this article

0 comments

  • mick says:

    I agree with your conclusion but your analysis is not correct. Arsenal do in fact defend in open play very well, the proof is we conceded fewer goals from open play than any other team. Our big, big problem is defending set pieces from corners and free kicks in our half of the pitch, we conceded more from these situations than nearly every other team. Find the solution to this problem and our goals against will improve tremendously. In this regard our tendency to concede silly free kicks in our half last season was a huge problem and needs to be addressesd as that was like inviting the opposition to have a free go at goal, an invitation they all too readily accepted. So yes the answer is not so much personel more a question of defensive organisation.

  • venky says:

    you completely forget about set pieces, thats our Achille’s heel and thats why we neeed a Samba

  • juris tanko isa says:

    wenger can decide to pursue his targets without noise has is his tradition. however he should be fast before the good ones are gone. gooners 4 life

  • Arsenal1 says:

    We actually have a pretty good defense now because we concede less goals from open play than almost any other team. Yet teams make us look like school boys during set pieces. Imagine if we had samba or Cahill to defend Ariel threats and Enrique to cover for the inevitable leaving of clichy

  • TrueWisdom says:

    Wtf. Vidic to Arsenal ???

  • subatomicman says:

    Arsenal NEEDS to practice defending corners and set pieces MUCH more than they do.
    Former EPL player and current Fox Soccer Channel analyst Warren Barton said, on TV, that he knows for a fact that Arsenal do not practice defending set pieces and corners during their training sessions. I don’t know if it’s true, but it sure looks like it!

  • 037 says:

    Spot on! Vidic would be worse than Squillacci in an Arsenal defence.

    I agree with the analysis.. The problem is about “the way” we defend set pieces, not necessarily the players.

    Samba is around the same height as Djorou. Koscielny is 6 foot (not much different from Cahill).

    If Koscielny has grown to adapt the EPL, he’d be good for first choice next year.
    Squillacci doesn’t look the part, so another CB would be good for cover, while we nurture Bartley for first team material.

  • drugJankie says:

    Arsenal suck horseballs mixed with pig dick.

  • drugJankie says:

    The reason for arsenals defensive frailties is that they suck cow balls

  • chris says:

    > Wenger has backed good technical players before he has backed good defenders …. which for example, Clichy is certainly NOT. Nor was Senderos, nor is Djouru.

    > Wenger has never organised them, drilled them into a tight defensive unit. There seems no leader who calls them up or drops them off – in a disciplined offside line.

    > Wenger has never protected the defence via the rest of the team. Never (since Vieira) the right holding midfielder (eg. Denilson !) Seldom wide players who track back knowing what they are doing (eg. Arshavin, Walcott ??)

    But hey let’s look on the bright side – Wenger will ” never sacrifice his attacking principles !!”

Comments are closed.