Every Arsenal fan at the moment is talking about how we are going to improve our attacking options once Alexis Sanchez moves to Man United. (Has he signed yet???). But in my opinion the most serious problem we have at the moment is our incredible leaking defence.
Wenger wasn’t very happy with our young backups Chambers and Holding in last week’s defeat to Bournemouth, so he was quite relieved I think to see Monreal and Koscielny return to the side against Palace. Monreal was the star of the show with the first goal and the next two assists as well (and Koscielny was one of the beneficiaries with a goal) but are they even supposed to be running our strike force?
To be honest, they may be great when they are going forward (like Bellerin and Kolasinac as well) but to be honest it is our defence that needs sorting out this season. We have conceded 31 goals in our first 24 games (and only Leicester have conceded one more out of the Top Eight in the EPL) and this is one of the main reasons we are in 6th place right now. But Wenger was very happy with Monreal’s attacking abilities after the game, but also said he was ‘vital’ in defence as well. “He is an important player for us and we could see that again today,” Wenger said. “When he was out, we missed him because he has experience, he is serious, he is reliable. Of course, it is important that he is with us.”
“He is absolutely vital for us because he can play centre back in the three, he can play full-back in the four. It gives me many options to choose the tactics of the way we play, before the game.
“He is confident, he has good timing and he is an intelligent player and a very professional player.”
The only problem is that the Spaniard is going to be 32 next month, and Koscielny already passed that a few months ago. Both of them have missed many games through injury this season, and in fact Monreal only managed half an hour against Palace on his comeback after a month out, and Koscielny also has a very fragile Achilles. And if we are totally honest even when we had Koscielny, Mustafi and Monreal all fit we STILL let in lots of stupid goals. Things are looking very dodgy for this season, never mind about the future!
Perhaps the inexperienced Mavropanos will be our secret weapon? Yeah right!
Darren N
Our defending has been shocking for years, but at least Wenger’s FINALLY rectifying it, bringing in the likes of Aubameyang, and Mkhitaryan…no wait…that doesn’t sound right.
Elneny.
We need to sign a couple of or at least one quality, reliable CB. We should not be playing a Full back as a CB. Also our young CBs are not of high enough quality or have enough experience to start every match to take us to the top. We need another CB regardless if we play 3cb or 2CB at the back but especially 3
I hope we go back to 4 at the back. Im nit against 3 at the back. My favourite CB line up of all time was Nesta, Cannavaro and Maldini. But its not for us. We play 5 defenders and still let in lots of goals. I would rather we play 4 at the back and add another attacker and replace Xhaka with a quality defensive midfielder
Thats really what we need defensively. 1-2 CB and Defensive Midfielder. Other than that we need a creative CM like Cazorla/Rosicky
But Wenger doesn’t believe in top defensive midfielders or at least spending on them innit
Terry, Carragher and ashley cole and many others are coverts…
Koscienly, Mustafi, Mertesacker , Holding, Chambers. <~ our official CB based on quality thats 2/5 which is very poor. Monreal isnt a natural cb
Wish we signed Van Dijk.
I hope we get Aubameyang this January before we lose him to china$$,
van dirk was set for liverfool….he never wanted to join us…
even City who has a weak defence as well…couldnt sign him
To be fair to our defenders, Wenger refuses to use a DM and we haven’t had a CM who can drive the team forward since Cazorla until Wilshere.
Wilshere is being hampered by not having a DM next to him but Xhaka, when comparing it to how Cazorla and Coquelin done.
Please, just consider how well our def was as a team when Cazorla was fit and playing alongside Coquelin. Remember how well Mustafi start to life at AFC while having Cazorla infront of him to drive the game forward.
Maybe Mkhitaryan is coming to replace Carzola-Arteta Axis, It’s what we missed most during the Alexis-Ozil era…He certainly has the close ball control and the passes…
We’ve let in so many goals…. worst out of the top 6 ☹
Cech could be waiting a long time for his 200th clean sheet
By the begining of 2018-19 season I hope to see an arsenal team parading these players
Fwd:auba,lacazette, mkhi,moura,iwobi,giroud
MDF:ozil,wilshere, Ramsey,xhaka, Niles,gueye(Everton),nzonzi
Df:kolasinac, Monreal,kos,mustafi,mavropanos, koulibaly, bellerin,new rb
Chech,ospina new g.k
Biggest wish……NEW MANAGER
“Perhaps the inexperienced Mavropanos will be our secret weapon? Yeah right!”
Harsh on the new lad.
He doesn’t look to have been signed for the now but he has done well enough to change Wengers mind and that in itself is worth of praise, how often does the old man change his mind so openly, so quickly?
I do think that playing 3 in the middle helped our back 4.
Playing players in the right position + a middle that could help transition from Def to Attack.
Really want to see AMN instead of ElNeny in that middle 3, ElNeny isn’t a DM and it shown with Zaha ripping him a new one a few times. This for me was our weakest part until we put a DM at LB.
I do not believe the defenders we have are that bad, I do think we have missed a CM who can do that transition with the loss of Cazorla and then that exposed Coquelin one dimensional game. Xhaka was the wrong one to get the best out of Coquelin and this kind of forced him out as Xhaka is never dropped.
Xhaka is not a DM but Wenger has tried to force this square through a round hole, more so since our only experienced DM was poor at going forward, either creativity with passing or flair with dribbles.
No def is perfect against everything, that is why the team needs to defend better as a unit while also recognising the flaws that players do have to use others to cover each other better.
Wilshere has shown the right attitude in the middle for a transitional player, best since Cazorla. Puts himself about and while not a DM, he does his def duties… good to watch. It really helps the def IMO.
“Really want to see AMN instead of ElNeny in that middle 3, ElNeny isn’t a DM and it shown with Zaha ripping him a new one a few times. This for me was our weakest part until we put a DM at LB.”
Couldn’t disagree more. Elneny saved the back three several times from the middle. The wing was under less pressure because of the work Elneny was doing in the middle. Elneny being there mean others could forward.
Wilshere is easily replaceable.
O.T. I’ve seen a leaked picture of AS7 in Manchester Jersey’s for his photoshoot.
he’s wearing 7.
I for one used to support him, but after today seeing how Shalke 04 reacted in their match.. In the words of their fans, I’m saying this to Sanchez too
“No Trophy or amount of money is bigger than our club, If any player wants to leave us. FUUUCK OFF!!!”
Too right!!
Of course no one person is bigger than the club, but that doesn’t mean you have to hate every player that leaves.
Sanchez was about the only player that gave everything on the pitch, and he has been our best player since Henry. He played a crucial role in us winning two FA Cups, and has given us fantastic entertainment. Why the hate? I guess you must hate Henry even more, because he was a genuine Arsenal legend, and he jumped ship when we badly needed him!
I don’t dislike every player that leaves, just some!!
thirdmanW never compare Sanchez with Henry. First of all, Henry led the Invincibles n we know how much he loves Arsenal.
Do you think it’s a coincidence that all his years with us Sanchez never came out openly to us how much he loves Arsenal??
Ozil on the other hand makes it clear any day anytime that he loves the club and everyone in it.
Sanchez to me, jumped shipped yes.. But doing that in middle of the season to a direct rival despite all the love we fans showed him??
unacceptable
?
First of all, what do expect him to do? Waste another 3/4 years at Arsenal not even challenging for a title?
Secondly, I cannot believe you’re blaming Sanchez for leaving mid-season! Who was to blame for not selling Sanchez in 2016…not Sanchez! Who was to blame for not selling him last summer when we had £60 million on the table…not Sanchez! Who decided to accept offers from Utd/City this January…not Sanchez! I’ll will agree with you, selling him mid-season is shocking, but that decision was not down to Sanchez.
I wasn’t comparing Sanchez to Henry in terms of what they’ve done for Arsenal (although both were fantastic), I just pointing out that Henry also left us for a better offer, at a time when we really needed him.
If Ozil loves Arsenal so much then why hasn’t he signed a new contract? Foreign clubs can sign him up now!
his emphasis on attack is due to the prof ‘s beautiful soccer.He had at one time
said if possible,he would have fielded aside of all/11 attacking players.
That’s why opposition coaches defend deep and hit him on the break and still he
doesn’t learn his lesson.
I think finishing 4th is out of the question and shd it happen,
he must bite the bullet,no ifs and buts. Enough i s enough of his pretty soccer.
I had been telling my friend many ago ,defence is abig problem since fab 5 left.It
had been proven time and again.The collapse at every spring starting from Eduardos
deliberate ,and cruel injury bears witness to this.That means a good 11/12 years and
still thfm has loaded his team defenders with offense minded ones who don’t know how to defend
That’s why they lost to Forest and heavy losses to the top teams.Watford have just sacked their manager.No manager is indispensable especially if he aint winning and playing football weaving
intricate patterns.
Wow, you can see why no one likes sanchez. Good riddance bud ?
There is nothing wrong with our best defenders quality, its the system we play and wenger derided opinion on defending that makes us to vulnerable at the back. Mustafi had a strong start to his arsenal career so had chambers and holding. They looked composed and confident.
If they were bad they would have looked bad from the start like squillaci, senderos( uhh nightmare).
If average defenders like stones, otamendi can improve under pep and looked good why can’t wenger if he is soo good lol. Assuming auba and mkhi come our attack will be sorted with fab 4 we need a kante or alonso style player to partner either wilshere or Ramsey in central mid and a great Cb to compensate for kos achilles hampering his playing time.