Anyone else a little concerned about the pool of talent (or lack of it) in the central defensive positions at Arsenal?
Of course Mertesacker and Koscielny are bastions for this current Arsenal team. Stately pillars of stability. But a lengthy injury to either and you're looking down the perilous barrel of uncertainty.
Thomas Vermaelen's future at the club remains uncertain. Depending on who you believe, the player was on the brink of a switch to Old Trafford this week. Wenger was insistent that any deal would see Utd centreback Chris Smalling come the other way as a part of the deal. New Utd supremo van Gaal vetoed the deal under that specific proviso, he sees the England hopeful as an integral part of the Man Utd defence.
Regardless, I have serious reservations as to Vermaelen's durability, in terms of him staying fit, he's struggled and (often) when called upon, his performances haven't been what you'd expect of a player who was initially synonymous with solid, dependable attributes that led to him being made club captain.
Johan Danon Djourou-Gbadjere, 'Djourou' to me & you has returned from an up & down season in the Bundesliga. His loan club (SV Hamburg) decided not to take up the option to buy the player, that in itself tells its own story. Looking past the 'hit & miss' Swiss defender, you're faced with young Spanish defensive prospect Ignasi Miquel, who spent last season on-loan in the Championship with the eventual Champions and Premier League new kids on the block, Leicester City. Miquel is still fairly young (21) but has an obvious lack of pace. Players not blessed with the advantageous natural pace can often compensate for that with good positional-sense and an ability to read the game that bit quicker than their opponents, sadly this 'sixth sense' is something that young Ignasi lacks (right now).
Regardless of any out-goings in the defensive positions, some new blood, with hunger and quality is very much needed at Arsenal, in both the short and long-term.
Moist
Arsenal defenders
posted on 18/7/14
No it means the roster has not been finalised. Wenger will do that in pre-season.
-----------------
This. Monreal was in limbo for the last week or so. He's now officially number 18. Campbell will be given a number during pre-season. Djourou will be given one if we choose to keep him.
posted on 18/7/14
JC hasn't got a squad number because he hasn't returned to Arsenal yet.
posted on 18/7/14
No it means the roster has not been finalised. Wenger will do that in pre-season.
-=-=-=-=-
That makes sense, I guess. I'd like Campbell to stay, I think he could prove useful this season as a squad player. But I've a feeling he'll be loaned out to another Prem team.
posted on 18/7/14
JC is expected to wear the number 23, btw.
posted on 18/7/14
To be honest, I always felt as though Djourou was underrated.
People forget how good he looked during the 2010/2011 season when Vermaelen was injured.
Other than that spell, he was rarely given a run in the first-team, so it's no wonder he looked a little rusty when he was called in for the odd-game here and there.
He really had/has all the attributes to be a fantastic defender, but I always wondered why the small flaws in his game never really got ironed out.
I mean, he always had a tedency to get a little too tight to his man and get turned down the channel. This wasn't an inherent flaw like a lack of pace or strength, so it's strange it never seemed to get coached out of him.
posted on 18/7/14
comment by 8bit (U2653)
posted 1 hour, 50 minutes ago
We need to be careful about bringing in too many players at once so for that reason we should just refuse to sell Verm, keep Miquel or Djourou (sure he has been sold though..) as 4th choice and get a CB in Jan if we need to. Verm did ok when he played last season.
----------------------------------
I completely agree.
posted on 18/7/14
I mean, he always had a tedency to get a little too tight to his man and get turned down the channel. This wasn't an inherent flaw like a lack of pace or strength, so it's strange it never seemed to get coached out of him.
-=-=-=-
Yes, I see your point. The thing is, sometimes you can only work with what you're given.
A good coach can and will improve players, but at the risk of being crude, the old adage: 'You can't polish a t*rd' rings true.
Not that I'm directly comparing Djourou (more so his abilities as a footballer) to fecal matter, but he does have (imo) certain flaws in his game that have stopped him from becoming a top player. Coaching goes a long way, but naturally, a player has to overcome certain obstacles themselves.
posted on 18/7/14
Djourou is on the Hamburg website for the upcoming season?
http://www.hsv.de/teams/bundesliga/spieler/
Also his tweets appear on their website and not Arsenals.
Confused...
posted on 18/7/14
On wiki Djourou is listed as a Hamburg player.
Thank FOOook for that!!!
posted on 18/7/14
DaStuDogg (U9291) posted 3 hours ago
To be honest, I always felt as though Djourou was underrated.
People forget how good he looked during the 2010/2011 season when Vermaelen was injured.
Other than that spell, he was rarely given a run in the first-team, so it's no wonder he looked a little rusty when he was called in for the odd-game here and there.
He really had/has all the attributes to be a fantastic defender, but I always wondered why the small flaws in his game never really got ironed out.
I mean, he always had a tedency to get a little too tight to his man and get turned down the channel. This wasn't an inherent flaw like a lack of pace or strength, so it's strange it never seemed to get coached out of him.
------------------------
Agree with this. Think with an extended run at CB, he always did OK and I can remember him being thought of as a very important player for us at one time.
Had a mare at RB afew times though and like most players needs a few games to get up to speed, so in and out of the team didn't really suit him.