Per Mertesacker : Page 9 - The Arsenal discussion forum and community: One More in the Tolly

Per Mertesacker

Ray

We conceded from two set pieces today, guaranteed mertesacker would have made the difference who since his arrival has immensely improved our defending against set pieces.

Sirius

mags wrote:
He organizes, he has a calming presence, he makes tackles on passes before they become dangerous plays...He's clumsy, so what....He's slow, so what...He compensates with his vision....We missed him today, as a defender, as a leader on the pitch...

That last part stands out. Where the fuck was Vermaelen today?

sabret00the

Captain wrote:
Per and koscielny, by long..

Agree with that. Vermaelen should've never started this match, but he's the captain... Wenger fucked himself.

asajoseph

Vermaelen wasn't the problem today.

ludovicvanzis

Yup, strange how Vermaelen's getting most of the blame...

sabret00the

He wasn't the problem, he just wasn't very good either. That doesn't excuse Koscielny, but I surmise, had the partnership of not changed, we'd have been more secure at the back and less prone to mistakes.

kamikaze

flobaba wrote:
That must be obvious to even Wenger by now. You don't chop and change the defense on a 'whim' or to adapt to the opposition.

agree. for me, it applies to the attack as well. you want to develop an understanding inside the team, and that's not as easy when people are in and out of the lineup or being played in different positions.

Clrnc

Both central defenders were poor, but it stems down to our lack of precise passing. Puts alot of pressure on everyone to try and tackle the ball back and subsequently made alot of mistakes

Klaus

asajoseph wrote:
Vermaelen wasn't the problem today.

The partnership between Vermaelen and Koscielny wasn't the problem either. Kos just had a stinker.

Also, we've been poor on setpieces all season - with or without Mertesacker in the side - so it's not really surprising that we conceded in the fashion we did.

spacemanspiff

Also, I don't really see a big difference between Kos and Verm, but I agree with Per + 1.

asajoseph

Klaus wrote:
asajoseph wrote:
Vermaelen wasn't the problem today.

The partnership between Vermaelen and Koscielny wasn't the problem either. Kos just had a stinker.

Also, we've been poor on setpieces all season - with or without Mertesacker in the side - so it's not really surprising that we conceded in the fashion we did.

I tend to agree on both counts, though the chances we've given away on set pieces up until now have had more to do with the goalkeeping, than the defending. Today it was very much a bit of both.

Tactics

Vermaelen has always been rash, a lot of heart and bravery, but not always a smart defender - reminds me a bit of Skrtel at Liverpool. Naming him captain complicates things a little bit as I don't think he should be an automatic pick, he has to fight it out with both Merte and Kos.

Wasn't the reason we lost today, but we'll keep giving away cheap goals if we keep playing a lot of midgets in the big games. You can get away with it in the small games or if you are Barca(who average 70% possession), but not in the big games where the margins between winning and losing are very small. Ideally we should be playing 1 CM and 1 CF who are both at least 6 foot, but a 6 foot player from one of those positions should be the absolute minimum.

Gunner89

Koscielny made the mistakes but vermaelen should be dropped?

It is 100 percent clear that koscielny was to blame for both goals today.

Vermaelens not perfect but koscielny made 2 goal conceding mistakes today and against city it was him and the other player (diaby?) who were at fault for lescotts header. He also put the ball on a plate for aguero.

Conor

Koscielny is out of form and should never of started today, regardless of his supposed ability to handle technical players like Hazard and Torres. I still can't comprehend why Wenger dropped our best center back and defender.

JazzG

I didn't watch the game only seen highlights so can't talk too much about what happened today but in no world does it make sense to drop him after a man of the match performance against City. It is like the footballing gods striking Wenger down for doing so. Yes while there might be those who are quicker and more agile but he has something that neither Koscienly or Vermaelen have which his reading of the game is on a far higher level than either.

Defending is about getting a settled back five and sticking with them, I've never seen a successful defence where the CBs are rotated. Defending is about building up an understanding around you and while Koscienly did score against Man City he also looked poor at times so should of gone back on the bench.

Biggus

@ Vantastic, isn't it about time you did something about that name?

kamikaze

lets keep in mind that mertesacker isnt far and away our best CB, either. no matter how we rate his reading of the game, his lack of quickness/agility is a weakness, and we've been lucky a couple times this season already where he's been beaten.

we have three good CB's, but for me, none of them are excellent or undroppable. sol campbell shits on all three from quite a height.

AAStyle

True, but our defense is solid with Per playing, i think that's undeniable

Doc

kamikaze wrote:
lets keep in mind that mertesacker isnt far and away our best CB, either. no matter how we rate his reading of the game, his lack of quickness/agility is a weakness, and we've been lucky a couple times this season already where he's been beaten.

we have three good CB's, but for me, none of them are excellent or undroppable. sol campbell shits on all three from quite a height.

It's more about the defenders complimenting each other though.. TV & Kos are both a bit too rash & aggressive which can gave its positives but they will abandon too shape easily, you need a calm reader next to them so we don't get exposed. We also seem to be better at dealing with crosses, long balls with Mert in the side which is our main weakness defensively.

Mert has his flaws but the qualities that he brings has been a big weakness in our defense for a while, he's an organiser so its not just his strengths he bring to the team, he improves the overall level of the defense by making us more of a unit.

sabret00the

kamikaze wrote:
lets keep in mind that mertesacker isnt far and away our best CB, either. no matter how we rate his reading of the game, his lack of quickness/agility is a weakness, and we've been lucky a couple times this season already where he's been beaten.

we have three good CB's, but for me, none of them are excellent or undroppable. sol campbell shits on all three from quite a height.

Sol Campbell isn't what you're trying to make him out to be. The fact is, a great defence doesn't require two perfect (subjective) defenders. It requires a great partnership whereby they negate the weaknesses of each other. Mertesacker is the best defender at the club because he relies first and foremost on his game-reading abilities. He's an intelligent defender in every sense of the word. Yes he can be beaten, as was The Former Hero Officially Known As Sol Campbell but that happens to most people, just like there's no striker in the world with a 100% shots:goals strike-rate. His job is to defend our goal and as a great defender, he knows part of that is knowing his own limitations and allowing his partner to cover the rest. That's why it's called a team game.

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