THE CENTRE-BACK QUESTION. by JA
Hey guys, it must be a great week after that destruction of Stoke City huh?
So I have been looking through the comments a while and guess what the main topic is….. no you don’t have to. It’s the centre-back question.
First off, I’m heavily amused by those saying Per has lost it. Personally,I don’t think Kos would have done much better with the available partnerships. If memory serves me right, when Kos had a non-complementary partner in Vermaelen and squidward (lol), he stunk the place out as well. I believe they will recover and make a strong partnership again.
Where I find the real problem is the season after next. You could say, in midfield, give Coquelin a chance, sign a back up to him next season and in two seasons, you have two top class defensive midfielders.Room for such bedding is narrow at the back though. After next season, Mert probably won’t have any more to offer in the premier league. Kos with his style could also be done as his style is very physically demanding. So who to replace them with and do it well in the shortest period of time while keeping age curbed.
Now I’ll admit there’s a lot of people here with knowledge of potential candidates that I wouldn’t have,but I did write an article stating that a defense is more than just the sum of its individuals. That means we’d have to go out and find like for like replacements to these two guys.
Fact is, you just can’t have two agile and fast hard tacklers at center back because every combination of an average striker with a slightly average playmaker is gonna cut you open like a can of beef.
We need a guy like Mert, then another like Kos. It’s amusing when one suggests Hummels to replace Mert or Howedes for that matter, and the reason they give is Mert is slow. Now Hummels and Howedes are as slow if not slower than Mert. I do believe they would be perfect replacements due to their age advantage.
Based on suggestions, I think we should go for Matts Hummels and Winston Reid to replace Mert and Kos in two seasons, but Calum Chambers also offers a decent depiction of Mert so, depending on if Wenger is serious about Chambers moving to defensive mid, he too could fill them boots.
Fact is regardless of how we do it, we’re gonna have to get a slow and fast combination that will stick for a while.
Alright enjoy the rest of the week….and yes I believe if Coquelin lays a firm claim to his spot, then he should be number one.
Joe