Center Back

[AKBapologist]

As the news swirls around as to who and when our transfer targets will come through, I, as long as I'm sure, many of you will wonder, why the fuck has it taken so long. In any case, I believe at least one, and perhaps two Center Backs will be coming through by August 31st.

Who do you think we should get? To aid in your decision making, here are some stats and youtube clips:


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TBhl_LhnfXg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rLm9Qh5bruY

Aerial Duels Won% last 3 seasons:
Gallas 55%,
Toure 49%,
Dann 60%,
Hangeland 71%,
Terry 68%,
Upson 63%,
Skrtel 71%,
Smalling 67%,
P Jones 52%
Djourou 61%,
Koscielny 53%,
Squillaci 53%,
Vermaelen 60%,
Cahill 66%,
Jagielka 58%,
Samba 70%,
Vidic 73%


Mertesacker v Dann
Aerial Duels 202-249
Aerial won% 72%-60%
Tackles 117-125
Clearances 385-490
Blocks 47-46
Interceptions 227-81
Fouls 70-43
Mins 7700-4500
Goals 9-2
Shots 48-26
Assists 4-3
Chances created 21-10
Pass% opp half 72%-52%
Duels won 69%-63%


Samba vs Cahill
Goals 3-4
Shots 41-32
Pass% 64%-72%
Tackles/90 1.56-1.92
Interceptions/90 2.1-1.8
Clearances/90 11.2-10.8
Aerial Duels 68%-63%


Cahill vs Jagielka
Age 25 (born December)-28 (born August)
England Caps 3-9
Contract expires 1 year-4 years
Reported value 17m?-18m?
Aerial Duels 563-215
Aerial won% 66%-58%
Tackles 158-173
Clearances 1169-736
Blocks 107-79
Interceptions 160-158
Fouls 78-33
Mins 8794-6715
Goals 11-1
Shots 80-29
Assists 5-0
Chances created 22-20
Pass% opp half 52%-59%
Duels won 69%-71%

With courtesy of orbinho.

[Marc Overmars]

I think Samba would be the most effective but for Wengerball purposes Cahill might be the most suitable.

[Flavs]

Metersacker vs Dann? From completely different leagues, with different styles in different countries and are a differnt kind of defender.

I appreciate the stats mate but its comparing apples and oranges without the complementary info around styles and roles and defensive jobs. You cant even compare centre backs in the same side mate as they perform different jobs.

[AKBapologist]

Should have mentioned, but those stats where from Orbinho in response to fan requests. Feel free to compare with Samba, Dann or Jagelka.

[Dog Toffee]

Only really Gary Cahill from that list, even he might be too expensive and English for Wengers tastes.

[Flavs]

Besides it dosnt matter who we buy, they will look shit. Said it before and will say it again, we could have the best back 4 in the world and would still look casual, uniterested, bambi-like and still concede stupid goals.

You know why? We have no organisation, no team defence, no help from the midfield, a huge gulf between the defence and midfield, we play too high a line, are physically weak, are different nationalities and have no concept of what "winning" a duel is.

IMO we have one actual defender in the whole squad and thats Sagna, he is so much better than the rest its almost embarassing for him at times. (I( cant judge vermaelen as i cant even remember what he looks like) Our team will continue to concede goals while we are coached and set up this way.

Also the DM's we have with are a bit shit which doesnt help either.

[LDG]

Cahill. Defo.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Just get Mertersacker and Cahill, it only come to about 24-26 Mill for the 2. Plus Mertersacker will be good for Euro games while Cahill will be good for EPL games.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Besides it dosnt matter who we buy, they will look shit. Said it before and will say it again, we could have the best back 4 in the world and would still look casual, uniterested, bambi-like and still concede stupid goals.

You know why? We have no organisation, no team defence, no help from the midfield, a huge gulf between the defence and midfield, we play too high a line, are physically weak, are different nationalities and have no concept of what "winning" a duel is.

IMO we have one actual defender in the whole squad and thats Sagna, he is so much better than the rest its almost embarassing for him at times. (I( cant judge vermaelen as i cant even remember what he looks like) Our team will continue to concede goals while we are coached and set up this way.

Also the DM's we have with are a bit shit which doesnt help either.

Flava flave(smacks the gong) :gp:, plus the which ever cunt we get will be injured for a few months by the time he has played 3 games for us.

[Flavs]

Just on anotehr point as well, Metersacker is a bit shit as is Hangeland tbf.

[AKBapologist]

Sorry mate but that's outdated bollocks. May have been true a few years ago but not of last season. We pressed harder and more successfully in more games than any other team in the league. We may have lacked leadership or *character*, but the problems you talk about just aren't backed up by any facts.

Set pieces, Denilson, Eboue, Squillaci, balls over the top and freekicks/Penalties are we shipped the most number of goals in the league last season. Yes, defensive organisation and drilling will help things, but the gulf between even Squillaci and Vermellaen is huge and more than ever I actually believe it has more to do with the individuals (physical attributes, temperament) than anything Wenger is or isn't doing.

[LDG]

Just on anotehr point as well, Metersacker is a bit shit as is Hangeland tbf.

As is squilacci. So we don't want to get him.

Oh.

:crying:

[Niall_Quinn]

I voted Cahill but it will probably be Mertersacker (if anyone) because I hear he's cheap and past it - Wenger bait. Cahill is young and expensive (another of Wenger's favourite combos) but he's not young enough. Whoever (if anyone) arrives, they'll have a hell of a job fitting into our shambles. That's why we need two, not just the one. Plus we need a LB and Sagna needs to be dropped in favour of Jenkinson. Then we need a keeper and a new defensive coach, a new manager and a brand new defensive philosophy. And we need it by Saturday.

[Flavs]

Sorry mate but that's outdated bollocks. May have been true a few years ago but not of last season. We pressed harder and more successfully in more games than any other team in the league. We may have lacked leadership or *character*, but the problems you talk about just aren't backed up by any facts. other than the complete and utter collapse at the end of the season you mean? The 43% of goals from set pieces and the ever present "defensive howler"?


Set pieces, Denilson, Eboue, Squillaci, balls over the top and freekicks/Penalties are we shipped the most number of goals in the league last season. Yes, defensive organisation and drilling will help things, but the gulf between even Squillaci and Vermellaen is huge and more than ever I actually believe it has more to do with the individuals (physical attributes, temperament) than anything Wenger is or isn't doing. dont understand this at all? Are you saying that its due to us having shit defenders rather than a shit defence? If so i completely, 100%, without any shadow of a doubt, disagree. You bought a manager with a more defensive mind in here and they would have this lot looking like the fuckin roman empire's front phalanx. They would heading jumbo jets away if they came near our goal.

Look at Fulhams defence under Roy Hodgson? Anyone who can make Paul Konchesky and Aaron Hughes look good could piss it with our team.

[Kano]

Besides it dosnt matter who we buy, they will look shit. Said it before and will say it again, we could have the best back 4 in the world and would still look casual, uniterested, bambi-like and still concede stupid goals.

You know why? We have no organisation, no team defence, no help from the midfield, a huge gulf between the defence and midfield, we play too high a line, are physically weak, are different nationalities and have no concept of what "winning" a duel is.

IMO we have one actual defender in the whole squad and thats Sagna, he is so much better than the rest its almost embarassing for him at times. (I( cant judge vermaelen as i cant even remember what he looks like) Our team will continue to concede goals while we are coached and set up this way.

Also the DM's we have with are a bit shit which doesnt help either.

partly true but also relying on some outdated cliches about the team. if all of those problems were true we'd be bottom half of the table.

[Flavs]

partly true but also relying on some outdated cliches about the team. if all of those problems were true we'd be bottom half of the table.

Not really, we score more than we concede. Go figure.

I'm not saying its horrific in a zim like fashion, but it could be so much better

[AKBapologist]

Hang about. You said that the team failed to collectively defend (which is false, as they wouldn't be the team with the least goals conceded from open play in the league), then you dredge up the set pieces stat (of which, we conceded double the number from penalties as we did from corners for instance) whilst ignoring the clear and desperate difference between how socking some individual performances where last season, Almunia, Squllaci, Eboue and Denilson in particular.

I can forgive other supporters of other clubs parroting some of the talking head nonsense, but arsenal fans? http://failheap-challenge.com/images/smilies/facepalm.gif

Even in preseason, Eboue, Squllaci and a general lack of quality in depth has shown just how important actual individuals are in terms of getting a result.

[Joker]

Getting rid of garbage like Squillaci and replacing them with good quality defenders will help things, but I don't think that by itself will make a big difference. The whole defensive organisation is a shambles, and we seem to be completely unsure about our whole defensive philosophy. Sometimes half the defenders push up, wanting to play an aggressive game, trying to catch the opposition offside, while the other half are more cautious and stay back. We've seen that in pre-season already, especially in the Emirates Cup when we were cut open quite a few times with through balls, because our offside trap failed miserably due to poor organisation. The same thing was seen against Benfica. And I'm not talking about individual errors from shit defenders like Squillaci (which was evident in all those matches) but our first choice defenders who apparently don't know how to coordinate their actions and create a unified defensive unit, instead behaving as individual defenders doing their own thing.

Wenger must take a lot of blame for this. His whole attitude suggests he doesn't really worry about defensive organisation, and it's likely he doesn't work on specialised defensive drills involving the whole team. This can explain why our midfielders are so laissez faire when it comes to tracking back. The worst example was Denilson ambling back when Man Utd scored at the Emirates in 2010.

Unless Wenger realises the importance of defending as a unit, we will continue to concede avoidable goals by the bucketload.

[Flavs]

Hang about. You said that the team failed to collectively defend (which is false, as they wouldn't be the team with the least goals conceded from open play in the league), then you dredge up the set pieces stat (of which, we conceded double the number from penalties as we did from corners for instance) whilst ignoring the clear and desperate difference between how socking some individual performances where last season, Almunia, Squllaci, Eboue and Denilson in particular.

I can forgive other supporters of other clubs parroting some of the talking head nonsense, but arsenal fans? http://failheap-challenge.com/images/smilies/facepalm.gif

Even in preseason, Eboue, Squllaci and a general lack of quality in depth has shown just how important actual individuals are in terms of getting a result.

So you beleive the majorioty of our conceded goals are down to individual errors rather than the way we play as a team and the way the defence or organised or set up?

You think that with better players than the squad ones we have we wouldnt concede in such a comical fashion at times?

[Joker]

The whole mentality of the team is weak. I was watching LFC TV a week ago (it comes with the ESPN subscription package) and they said the same thing. How often do you see us go into a state of panic when defending a slender lead at the end of games? You can be sure that the opposition will create at least one decent chance in the last 5 minutes in a game we're leading by a single goal. And this is not only the fault of the defence. In this situation, the midfield also lose the plot, can't keep possession and put us on the backfoot, even in games that we had dominated for the previous 85 minutes.

[Darth Vela]

Samba would still be my first choice, he'd complement most of our current CBs and he's a mean-looking man-mountain, everything we need against the bombardiers.

In reference to Flavs cutting a swathe through this thread, our organisation and concentration on set-pieces was bloody awful but okay from open-play without the stupid errors and general lack of cover from midfield, which is why I feel that with a bit of added height and non-Squillaciness in our defence combined with the added work in training we should be more solid on set-pieces and in general; there's things to work on but if we stop giving it away as much in midfield and work together, we'll be alright.

[AKBapologist]

To be fucking honest, we could have won the league by scoring a few more goals and there are many ways to slice this cat.

However, the comical nature of some of the goals we conceded or games lost are ABSOLUTELY individual errors... Aluminia vs west brom, eboue penalty vs liverpool, squallici own goals or squallci vs Newcastle.

You've also got to understand that a lot of this has to do with the way we play. We where an attacking side, we were set up to score goals which was important because we actually didn't score enough, too many games in which we failed to score, too many games in which our attack was one dimensional and stuck on first gear. We were figured out last season in both areas of the pitch but for a team set up to attack, not scoring enough was the most worrying.

[Niall_Quinn]

but if we stop giving it away as much in midfield and work together

Yep, no point playing the ball retention game when you keep giving it away at the vital moment. We have some seriously careless (and unjustifiably cocky) players in this team. Somebody needs to kick them in the knackers and tell them to lose the swagger and gain the sweat.

[AKBapologist]

So players giving away the ball at the wrong point is down to training?

(hint, it isn't - down to nerves, composure/experience, especially playing under pressure and some donkeys who from time to time play hospital balls. In general though, given we have the best pass completion rate in the league this its a retarded thing to blame our collapse on.)

And even if it was 100% down to training, buying experienced, better trained players will help. As it did with Sol Campbell and a bunch of others.

[Niall_Quinn]

So players giving away the ball at the wrong point is down to training?

(hint, it isn't - down to nerves, composure/experience, especially playing under pressure and some donkeys who from time to time play hospital balls. In general though, given we have the best pass completion rate in the league this its a retarded thing to blame our collapse on.)

And even if it was 100% down to training, buying experienced, better trained players will help. As it did with Sol Campbell and a bunch of others.

Wha.....? No, I didn't say anything about training. Are you talking to me?

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Samba would still be my first choice, he'd complement most of our current CBs and he's a mean-looking man-mountain, everything we need against the bombardiers.

In reference to Flavs cutting a swathe through this thread, our organisation and concentration on set-pieces was bloody awful but okay from open-play without the stupid errors and general lack of cover from midfield, which is why I feel that with a bit of added height and non-Squillaciness in our defence combined with the added work in training we should be more solid on set-pieces and in general; there's things to work on but if we stop giving it away as much in midfield and work together, we'll be alright.

This the same Samba who was in the defence that got beat 7-1 by UTD last season, no thanks rather get Cahill tbh if i had to choose between the 2

[Darth Vela]

Yep, Bolton have been on the end of a few poundings as have Everton, Blackburn might have rolled over for Man U but that doesn't change the abilities of the defenders involved, what Samba could give us against the shitty teams is worth a fair bit imo.

[Japan Shaking All Over]

my first choice is Cahill, have said before next would be Samba.......although I dont think Jags is shit just overpriced

Darth is saying Samba for reasons being his presence which I agree with......yes he got beaten 7 times by Utd and almost went down but even we should be able to keep the ball away from the goal area longer than than Blackburn.......Samba has been in a few battles and I think this could work to his/our advantage however the sticking point are the price tags

If we nab Cahill then I cant see us spending another 10mil+ on another CB and I really think we need 2 brought in, Verms possibly moved over. With the pace we have added we wobt really need Verm to bomb down the left ala headless/couldnt cross a voting ballot Clichy. With that in mind Dann might be one for our purse pinching leader.

Zee German by all accounts is too slow to catch 40 winks

[Aaron Wilshere]

Jagielka for me.

Vastly experinced in the Premier League, consistently a top performer for Everton. Their fans love him and view him as a real leader.

He isn't the 8 ft beast some people want, but he would offer some much needed organisation and leadership to the back 4, more so than the others I feel.

He is also the best footballer out of that lot.

Not sure on Cahill - he's 26 now and hasn't seemed to improve since he was a youngster.

Jagielka can also cover Song in CM.

[Niall_Quinn]

Both, Cahill and Samba, Jagielka and Cahill, Samba and Jagielka, makes no odds. All three are vastly superior to anything we have now. It's way, way past time to put some decent players in our backline. I'm impressed with Jenkinson too and the purchase of an experienced GK and LB would completely transform our fortunes on the pitch, I believe. Decent PL defenders could sort their own training out and just ignore Wenger and his shite. Honestly, when you look at how incompetent Wenger is with anything to do with the defence you have to think this is how Tony and Co ran things back then.

[hymppi]

how tall are cahill and jagielka?
i remember AW commenting on lack of height in our defense...

[AKBapologist]

Dann, Cahill are 6ft 2, Jag, 5ft 11 I think.


Also:
Goal reporting #Arsenal have verbal agreement to sign Scott Dann for £6m.

[Fats]

Besides it dosnt matter who we buy, they will look shit. Said it before and will say it again, we could have the best back 4 in the world and would still look casual, uniterested, bambi-like and still concede stupid goals.

You know why? We have no organisation, no team defence, no help from the midfield, a huge gulf between the defence and midfield, we play too high a line, are physically weak, are different nationalities and have no concept of what "winning" a duel is.

IMO we have one actual defender in the whole squad and thats Sagna, he is so much better than the rest its almost embarassing for him at times. (I( cant judge vermaelen as i cant even remember what he looks like) Our team will continue to concede goals while we are coached and set up this way.

Also the DM's we have with are a bit shit which doesnt help either.

Agree with most of that. Team is set up for no holds barred football of which defending is a filthy word so as said makes no difference who is in the back 4. We have fundamental issues there with Arsene.

Cahill's distribution is very very poor, so will go for Jags.

[Niall_Quinn]

Wenger will go for the cheapest option. The absolute bare minimum.

[hymppi]

"...Dann, who has regained fitness after missing the second half of last season through injury but was an unused substitute in the club’s Championship opener against Derby County last weekend."
http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2011/08/10/2613400/arsenal-in-advanced-talks-to-sign-scott-dann-as-arsene?

yay.

[selassie]

Wenger will go for the cheapest option. The absolute bare minimum.

Yup, sad but true. I don't even think we'll buy from PL/England, I think Wenger has been working on the Jagielka & Cahill deals but because the selling clubs won't sell on the cheap Wenger will move for someone else.

I wouldn't put it past him to buy cheap from Ligue One on deadline day.

[AKBapologist]

On a positive note, given birmingham collapsed and got relegated, maybe Dann was kinda important?

Danns distribution is also much better than Cahills.

[selassie]

Out of the list Cahill would be my first choice, strong, very good in the air, mobile and not a bad passer. He has high potential too...I think he definitely has more in his locker to improve, not sure we're the right club for his development though. He's an upgrade on all our defenders bar Tommy V and has the potential to be our best defender IMHO.

Jags would be a close 2nd, good all rounder, good organiser, not too sure about his aerial abilities. At present Jags IMHO is better than all of our Defenders including Tommy V, he's getting on a bit though so I'm not sure how much use he would be long term.

Samba for me is a no, he's big but is slow...don't want him, he'd get found out in CL.

Dann...don't rate him...a club like Stoke is his level IMHO.

Mertesacker...as slow as a slug, don't want him.

[selassie]

On a positive note, given birmingham collapsed and got relegated, maybe Dann was kinda important?

Danns distribution is also much better than Cahills.

I can't comment on Dann's distribution but from what I've seen of Cahill his distribution is actually not that bad. Admittedly I've only seen him on Sky and a few You Tube clips but his distribution seems pretty good to me.

[Fats]

Why are so many people worried about how fast a defender is, especially at CB.

Two names for you Adams, Bould!!!!.

Bould couldnt catch a bloody cold let alone Joey Deacon so I am not so sure as a CB speed is a major factor.

[selassie]

Why are so many people worried about how fast a defender is, especially at CB.

Two names for you Adams, Bould!!!!.

Bould couldnt catch a bloody cold let alone Joey Deacon so I am not so sure as a CB speed is a major factor.

To be fair when Adams & Bould were in our defence we actually use to train defence and they both had the knowledge & know how to compensate for their lack of speed. We also didn't play such a high line.

We don't necessarily need a really speedy CB, but we certainly need one who can hold his own speed wise. Because we play a high line, the only way we'll get away with a slow-ish defender is if either the said defender is tactically brilliant, Samba & Mertesacker aren't. Alternatively we'd have to change our defensive tactics to accomodate a slow-ish defender. The likes of Samba & Mertesacker aren't good enough for us to change our defensive system.

[Fats]

To be fair when Adams & Bould were in our defence we actually use to train defence and they both had the knowledge & know how to compensate for their lack of speed. We also didn't play such a high line.

We don't necessarily need a really speedy CB, but we certainly need one who can hold his own speed wise. Because we play a high line, the only way we'll get away with a slow-ish defender is if either the said defender is tactically brilliant, Samba & Mertesacker aren't. Alternatively we'd have to change our defensive tactics to accomodate a slow-ish defender. The likes of Samba & Mertesacker aren't good enough for us to change our defensive system.

Understood however maybe we need to address the problem with the strategy not the players?

As said previously, even if we had the best defenders in the world it would make no difference then?

[selassie]

Understood however maybe we need to address the problem with the strategy not the players?

As said previously, even if we had the best defenders in the world it would make no difference then?

For sure the strategy is flawed, Arsene either has to find someone who can coach defence or at a push go out and buy the 'finished product' who will come in and do the coaching/organising bit for him. This is where a Jagielka comes into it, obviously he's not the finished product in a Vidic/Terry/Rio sense but he's the closest thing we can afford to a World Class CB who is based in PL. Buying in experience without fixing the strategy isn't ideal and is a very short term bodge fix...but it's better than doing nothing.

I personally don't think anything will change, we won't buy a player that can really improve our defence and Arsene won't bring in somebody to coach defence.

[Niall_Quinn]

Why are so many people worried about how fast a defender is, especially at CB.

Two names for you Adams, Bould!!!!.

Bould couldnt catch a bloody cold let alone Joey Deacon so I am not so sure as a CB speed is a major factor.

Joey Deacon? How much is he going for? I didn't know he was a CB, I thought he was a celeb spaz. But if he's cheap and useless, get him in!

[selassie]

Jagielka for me.

Vastly experinced in the Premier League, consistently a top performer for Everton. Their fans love him and view him as a real leader.

He isn't the 8 ft beast some people want, but he would offer some much needed organisation and leadership to the back 4, more so than the others I feel.

He is also the best footballer out of that lot.

Not sure on Cahill - he's 26 now and hasn't seemed to improve since he was a youngster.

Jagielka can also cover Song in CM.

I don't think Jagielka even wants to come to us. I've read in various places that he doesn't see us as a big enough step up to up roots and leave Everton.

[Fats]

Joey Deacon? How much is he going for? I didn't know he was a CB, I thought he was a celeb spaz. But if he's cheap and useless, get him in!

I think Spurs have him NQ

Showbiz name of Harry Redknapp I believe!

[Niall_Quinn]

I think Spurs have him NQ

Showbiz name of Harry Redknapp I believe!

There must be some other cheap, incredibly awful, piece of shit defender out there! We can't have bought them all yet!

[Fats]

There must be some other cheap, incredibly awful, piece of shit defender out there! We can't have bought them all yet!

Yup but are we out of the "waiting period"?

[Darth Vela]

I don't think Jagielka even wants to come to us. I've read in various places that he doesn't see us as a big enough step up to up roots and leave Everton.

That's balls in all honesty, wave a fat contract and CL football under his nose and he'll happily sign.

[Master Splinter]

Mertesacker :(

Other :(

[Niall_Quinn]

Mertesacker :(

Other :(

Probably, although we might not get Other.

[Niall_Quinn]

Sounds like we're going for Scott Nonentity at £6mill, it's on a few sites now. Cheap and cheerful, seen Brum play a few times and this guy never raised a glance. Cheapskate Wenger at his finest if this goes through. He won't spend a few more quid on a known entity but he'll bend over for Barca.

[Kano]

That's balls in all honesty, wave a fat contract and CL football under his nose and he'll happily sign.

says more about him than anything else if he was offered something tangible but refused. 29, trying to break into the England team and last real chance to get into a big club.

[Özim]

Please God not Merersacker the guy is shite!

[Özim]

Understood however maybe we need to address the problem with the strategy not the players?

As said previously, even if we had the best defenders in the world it would make no difference then?
Mertersacker would be a big mistake IMO, not only is he as slow as a snail but he's also an average defender.

Adams and Bould were fantastic defenders who made up for their lack of pace, with instinct, great use of their physical strength and 100% commitment!

I agree that pace isn't crucial (although it's handy), what you do need to have though is natural ability to defend.

[fari]

Mertersacker would be a big mistake IMO, not only is he as slow as a snail but he's also an average defender.

Adams and Bould were fantastic defenders who made up for their lack of pace, with instinct, great use of their physical strength and 100% commitment!

I agree that pace isn't crucial (although it's handy), what you do need to have though is natural ability to defend.

yeah i can see mertesacker conceding loads of penalties. i like the look of cahill or dann

[Xhaka Can’t]

Please God not Merersacker the guy is shite!

I hear Wengersacker is good.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Mertersacker would be a big mistake IMO, not only is he as slow as a snail but he's also an average defender.

Adams and Bould were fantastic defenders who made up for their lack of pace, with instinct, great use of their physical strength and 100% commitment!

I agree that pace isn't crucial (although it's handy), what you do need to have though is natural ability to defend.



Makes no diffrence who we sign the way we play will make sure we conceed goals anyway. Looks like it will be Dann's anyway maybe he is even worse then Mertserker.

[Özim]

I hear Wengersacker is good.
He's not doing a good job at the moment though, he has one task and he's not managed it yet.

What's his credentials?

[Özim]

Makes no diffrence who we sign the way we play will make sure we conceed goals anyway. Looks like it will be Dann's anyway maybe he is even worse then Mertserker.
I don't totally agree, a good leader/organiser at the back will make a difference too.

If we can get some defenders who don't regularly make errors, are good positionally and good in the air that would be a good start.

Could use some cover in midfield as well though.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

I don't totally agree, a good leader/organiser at the back will make a difference too.

If we can get some defenders who don't regularly make errors, are good positionally and good in the air that would be a good start.

Could use some cover in midfield as well though.

So who is a leader in your Opinion that could fix our problems and is worth his fee?

[Power n Glory]

other than the complete and utter collapse at the end of the season you mean? The 43% of goals from set pieces and the ever present "defensive howler"?

dont understand this at all? Are you saying that its due to us having shit defenders rather than a shit defence? If so i completely, 100%, without any shadow of a doubt, disagree. You bought a manager with a more defensive mind in here and they would have this lot looking like the fuckin roman empire's front phalanx. They would heading jumbo jets away if they came near our goal.

Look at Fulhams defence under Roy Hodgson? Anyone who can make Paul Konchesky and Aaron Hughes look good could piss it with our team.

I agree with this. This is a brand new back four. Way different to what we had during Henry's captaincy but we have the same problems.

Wenger has no defensive philosophy and it's a neglected area. All the defenders we have or have had would be better under a different coach. They'd learn discipline. Gallas, Toure, Senderos, Clichy had talent. But we left it up to them to organise themselves and learn from their own mistakes.

[Niall_Quinn]

He's not doing a good job at the moment though, he has one task and he's not managed it yet.

What's his credentials?

He's cheap. What more do you need?

[Gubby Allen]

Samba by about a million miles to the other lot.

[Bergkampwonderland10]

Cahill is the player to sort our defence imo. True leader, technically at ease, pacey, driven and a good communicator. Buy Samba as a partner and stick Vermaelen on the left with Sagna right and bob's your uncle - there's a decent defence. Get squillacci off the sqaud list along with eboue and you've got Djourou and Kos as back-up providing some good competition.

[KSE Comedy Club]

I see Scott Dann is doing well in the polls.

But then again, we're all led by the media arent we :coffee:

[Ralpheroo72]

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/105346.html

I hope he was high on drugs when he gave this interview...

[KSE Comedy Club]

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/105346.html

I hope he was high on drugs when he gave this interview...

Even for Wenger this report is completely baffling.

[Seaman's Ponytail]

http://www.espn.co.uk/football/sport/story/105346.html

I hope he was high on drugs when he gave this interview...

I note that quote was sourced from a German newsagency so i sincerely hope something was lost in the translation. Otherwise Wenger needs to seriously GTFO now!
It does look from other reports though that he will be signing Dann. From what i've seen he looks a notch below Kos and that's saying something. I note the guy was only on the bench for Brum last week, that's gotta tell ya something :(

[AKBapologist]

Recycling year old quotes... good one. :coffee:

[KSE Comedy Club]

Recycling year old quotes... good one. :coffee:

Is it a year old though?

Wenger pretty much says the same things every year so, tbh, its getting hard to tell.

[Flavs]

I note the guy was only on the bench for Brum last week, that's gotta tell ya something :(

yeah he has been injured

[AKBapologist]

To be fucking honest, we could have won the league by scoring a few more goals and there are many ways to slice this cat.

However, the comical nature of some of the goals we conceded or games lost are ABSOLUTELY individual errors... Aluminia vs west brom, eboue penalty vs liverpool, squallici own goals or squallci vs Newcastle.

You've also got to understand that a lot of this has to do with the way we play. We where an attacking side, we were set up to score goals which was important because we actually didn't score enough, too many games in which we failed to score, too many games in which our attack was one dimensional and stuck on first gear. We were figured out last season in both areas of the pitch but for a team set up to attack, not scoring enough was the most worrying.
:gp: