There were 20 minutes in the first half when our defense was genuinely worse than your average Sunday League side.
If the Spurs players had better vision (or got their heads up at all) they could have slotted simple balls in behind our CBs and scored at least 5 more goals in that 20 minute spell - it was lunacy?
We actually played ok apart from that, missing a bit of spark upfront and Spurs closed down very well for at least 70 of the 90 minutes.
It was only during their 20 minute wobble at the beginning of the second half that we had our chance to win the game and sadly we just couldn't quite do it.
Fourth spot is still very much gettable but we must defend better than we did today. You could have Messi and Ronaldo in your side and you'd still get beaten most weekends with the static defending we showed in the first half today!
Worst top-flight defending I've ever seen.
posted on 3/3/13
comment by AHB - Better Call Sol (U13431)
posted 21 minutes ago
What happened for both goals was that a midfielder of their's broke through our midfield defensive line and our defenders backtracked instead of closing down the guy on the ball, Sigurdsson and Parker.
Up until that point I thought our midfielders had done a good job of holding that line.
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Agreed, we should not have allowed to play them these through balls in the first place.
posted on 3/3/13
I don't hyperflate the "class status" of Arsenal players. I agree that Wilshere is wc and Cazorla next best thing.
There's one player I'd put beside Cazorla though and that's Koscielny. I don't know why Wenger insists on playing Merteasacker and Vermaelen ahead of him, who are both worse defenders imo, but this is the same man who'll play Ramsey ahead of Rosicky and Gervinho ahead of just going with ten players.
Koscielny is seriously talented, and if we actually had a genuine leader beside him in defence, you'd realise just how good a foil he is. His intelligence in reading the play is incredible. Such a smart defender.
posted on 3/3/13
Kos is a good marker and has made some class interceptions no doubt. But we need a foil for him, and somebody protecting the defence adequately, too.
posted on 3/3/13
I think Vermaelen is your best defender and it takes some balls to say that after today. Perhaps the Mertesacker-Vermaelen partnership isn't the right one. Both players need somebody with pace next to them, in my opinion.
posted on 3/3/13
Something seriously wrong with arsenals and Wengers approach to defending and scouting them. Arsenals best defence had old fashioned rocks like Adams. Campbell, Bould, Keown ect, but wenger has his heart set on technically good defenders who are good on the ball but can't defend, no instinct just pace and agility that bails them out. For some reason he refuses to back to his basics that he was so successful with, skill mixed with steel and grit! Too many fancy players who disappear when the going gets tough!
Arsenal dont need a change if manager, they need a change in the manager.
posted on 3/3/13
Some of arsenals defending over the last 4 years has been pitiful
At times today it was like a carry on film.....
posted on 3/3/13
He may not be "world class", but Koscielny was excellent last season and I don't know what's happening with him this. I think Wenger is convinced that he and Vermaelen can't play together (and to be fair, they have on occasion demonstrated that pretty well), and he won't drop Verm because he's captain.
Personally I have never rated Vermaelen and I think a lot of his flaws were overlooked in his first season because he scored a lot of goals, and because he was passionate and a bit of a "hard man", which the fans were desperate for when he signed. He has always been rash and prone to getting caught out of position by charging up the pitch to close down at the wrong times, and committing to challenges when he should just stand a player up. And this season with the captaincy he seems to have regressed.
posted on 3/3/13
Vermaelen's become a walking disaster, a shadow of his former self Toor. His confidence is shattered.
PeerlessPirlo, good post.
It's not just in defence though, it's in the middle of the park too where Wenger has replaced warriors with flair players. It's been getting steadily worse for 8 years now and he hasn't remedied the problem. If he doesn't buy strong physical players in defence and midfield this summer, and he probably won't, then our agonising decline will most likely just continue.
With the greatest of respect, he needs a complete slap across the face. Maybe even two.
posted on 4/3/13
The CBs are not the problem. Even the best CBs look bad if they are not protected from midfield. Sigurdson and Parker had all the time in the world to pick a pass. Arteta, Wilshere, Ramsey and Co are too offense orientated and lightweight.
Another problem is lack of coordination. The defenders are out of sync. If the other defender (Vermaelen) had followed Mertesacker's lead and stepped out, Bale would have been a yard offside. What is Bould doing? Isn't he supposed to teach these things?
posted on 4/3/13
Agreed Thomas T.
I was just about to write another article using the back four that broke the clean sheets record in the 2004/05 Champions League to show that exact point (on paper they were very average).
I still think we have very poor defending from our defenders but do agree that no doubt, they are being hung out to dry by the rest of the team.