Oh btw he is Werder's captain. Another captain in our team woots!

bbcsport_david David Ornstein
Can confirm Arsenal are in advanced talks to sign Werder Bremen and Germany centre-back Per Mertesacker. Story to follow on BBC site #afc

Fee is reportedly €9M. Didn't want to pay what Bolton were after for Cahill, I guess. We're a big bloody mess.

you really THAT against him Rick?

To be fair, Mertesacker is a very good, experienced 'real' defender. He is an organiser and a ball winner. The problem is that he is slow as hell and turns like the titanic.

I suppose you could call him the player that Senderos should have become.

him and vermaelen could form a good 'big lump' + 'quick shorten' combo.

agreed! we always talk about this high line, but its dont nothing for us over the last few years. we all talk about needing change at the back, so maybe this is it.

Kraig wrote:

you really THAT against him Rick?

Pretty much. He'd probably be a great defender if he were 6'2", but he isn't. I think he's a big wuss as well.

Also goes to further show the club had literally no plan or idea going into this summer, or at least didn't follow it. Why didn't we sign this guy 3 months ago, if he's who we want?

Still, he's much better than Djourou I suppose (so am I!).

From a tactical perspective, lowerin our line would be a natural consequnece of the change in attacking focus. It does look like we're going for pace and directness now, more than creative 50 passes or death sort of stuff.

A high line is essential for tippy-tappy, as I've read people call it, possession football. But it can work against you if you focus on directness. By compacting the other team, there's no room to run in behind, and by meeting the opposition high up the pitch, you don't get the chance to catch them on the counter as much.

I don't mind getting Mertesacker, I think he'll be a good option to have. Still think Vermielny is our first choice pairing.

Ricky1985 wrote:

Kraig wrote:

you really THAT against him Rick?

Pretty much. He'd probably be a great defender if he were 6'2", but he isn't.

Why would that make him a great defender?

Guessing he thinks it would have made him more mobile?

Hopefully this is more of a fallback option and we're still after one or two more suitible defenders, don't think he'd be that bad though.

he's an organiser too and a great dancer! we need a great dancer now eboue has gone

6 ft 6, omg

Tallest defender we have ever had?

Captain wrote:

Ricky1985 wrote:

Pretty much. He'd probably be a great defender if he were 6'2", but he isn't.

Why would that make him a great defender?

He's the slowest defender over 5₁₀ yards I have ever seen, and he turns like he has no legs. He's just generally very clumsy and very awkward.

I can't quite believe Wenger wants him.

He has 75 caps for Germany though Ricky, surely he can't be as bad as you're making out?

think you're exagerrating his slowness ricky - you dont play for germany at a world cup if you're that bad

Silvestre has 40 caps for France, Otf. (I'm not saying he's as bad Silvestre btw, obviously)

I'm going to stop bashing him now because it looks like we're signing him, and I will give him every chance as I always do.

But I'm really not happy.

silvestre was once a good player, you cant compare mannure silvestre to arsenal silvestre.