qs! wrote:
Sagna doesn't pick out runners anyway. His crosses are hit and miss generally. I think he's hit quite a few good looking crosses recently that people remember and are overrating how good his delivery usually is. I think Sagna is good enough in the final 3rd though and he's very good defensively (though he has declined a little this year IMO). His main problem for me comes in the middle 3rd when we're trying to play out. Far too often he just plays it back to Szczesny or Mertesacker and it often causes situations where we have to hoof it. Now its not all Sagnas fault, a lot of it is tactical but he never does that bit extra to create an unexpected attacking situation the way some one like Coleman does, even Gibbs takes people on from time to time or cuts in with pace.
Pretty much agree. Crossing should be any top full back's bread and butter quality, but Sagna's crosses over the years are inconsistently poor which is why once he delivered some great balls this season, it is hailed by most. To put things into perspective, people like Lahm and Dani Alves put in as many inviting balls in one match compared to Sagna's entire season. Gibbs and Monreal's attacking input in comparison is way higher, they plays 1-2, take on their man and generally do much more to help out the attacking play. I have no complains about their attacking input and also feel Monreal's defensive ability is too harshly criticised here.
Also agree with what you say about Everton and there is where Wenger is lacking tactically. Like what Tactics said in the past, there isn't a clear direction as to where we are going. If you wanna exploit the fullbacks and push them high up, your midfielders have gotta cover for them and play deeper. Some of our plays this season is absolutely suicidal, especially against Liverpool and Chelsea where the fullbacks pushes too high up yet nobody is covering for our central defenders.
otfgoon wrote:
They're certainly not the worlds best, but some of you have ridiculous expectations of what full backs should contribute. Going around Europe and you'll probably come up with a maximum of one or two full backs who genuinely contribute a lot going forward. Hell you guys seem to view Liverpool as the shining light these days, why don't you take a look and Johnson and fucking Flanagen.
Funny you say that because Johnson is normally superb in attack but poor in defence, while Flanagan has been a revelation this season. He has been very integral in their attacking patterns and overlapping runs. Just last week he won a penalty for Liverpool. When was the last time our fullbacks actually won a penalty? Not that them winning pens shows the whole picture but you see my point. You don't need to contribute a lot going forward, but to be completely effective and helpful to our game you have to be technically sound and overlap intelligently.
