They've formed such a great partnership over the last three seasons that their current slump is all the more baffling. Was bound to happen once, I guess.
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Per Mertesacker: The BFG
- Thread starter Aevi
- Start date
- Replies 884
- Views 92,549
Coq offers protection and Santi does the transition from defence to attack. Now they're exposed and have to pass further forward themselves. Having both injured along with the most suited back ups is a nightmare for the CB's.
say yes
forum master baiter
Very easy to watch a few freeze frames and start dishing out a defensive masterclass.
Both our CBs are ****ed the moment we play a high line and let Willian pick his pass. This isn't Giroud ffs, they're not catching him. Costa has pulled onto Merte's shoulder for a reason and if you watch it in full time you'd realise that Koscielny is not going to get anywhere close which is why the ref gives a red straight away. Only thing Merte can do there is put pressure on Costa/hope Cech earns his keep/try not to make it worse.
Safe to say he ballsed that up.
Playing a high line with Mertesacker is difficult enough. Playing a high line with Mertesacker, with no pressure on the ball, against Chelsea? Madness. This happens too often to blame individual error.
Coolin
Doesn't appreciate the mighty Nacho
He's definitely not ****. I'd say he's solid and reliable. Definitely good enough to win the league with.
But he's so limited on the ball. He only has three passes and that's to Cech, Kos or Bellerin. Top centre backs these days can launch attacks from deep. I don't think I've ever seen Mertesacker ping a ball.
I dunno if it's time for Gabriel yet though. With him I think we'd concede more, but we'd probably score more from set pieces.
But he's so limited on the ball. He only has three passes and that's to Cech, Kos or Bellerin. Top centre backs these days can launch attacks from deep. I don't think I've ever seen Mertesacker ping a ball.
I dunno if it's time for Gabriel yet though. With him I think we'd concede more, but we'd probably score more from set pieces.
He should be in an experienced backup role. He's a good character and a very intelligent man. He still has the odd good game but he can't be relied upon to perform consistently.
Gabriel has yet to get a sustained run in the team, putting him in and out and expecting him to keep performing is unfair on him. He's shown in patches what he can do, why not see if he can form a partnership with Gabriel?
We like playing a high line, we like to squeeze, Gab and Kos are perfect for that. Mert.. not so much, though he doesn't get exposed as often as some pundits would have you think. But the fact remains Mert is rendered powerless against a pacey striker, Costa isn't even the paciest and he left him for dead.
For me we have to put our trust in Gabriel for a sustained period, let's see what he can do. The same goes for Elneny really, Flamini is one of the worst footballers to ever play for us.
Gabriel has yet to get a sustained run in the team, putting him in and out and expecting him to keep performing is unfair on him. He's shown in patches what he can do, why not see if he can form a partnership with Gabriel?
We like playing a high line, we like to squeeze, Gab and Kos are perfect for that. Mert.. not so much, though he doesn't get exposed as often as some pundits would have you think. But the fact remains Mert is rendered powerless against a pacey striker, Costa isn't even the paciest and he left him for dead.
For me we have to put our trust in Gabriel for a sustained period, let's see what he can do. The same goes for Elneny really, Flamini is one of the worst footballers to ever play for us.
Country: Kosova
Player:Saka
skip spence
Well-Known Member
But had not Kos vainly tried to push up and catch Costa offside and instead turned to track back sensing the danger he would've caught Costa most likely and Per wouldn't have been in the situation where he made that desperate tackle. But yeah, Per made a crucial mistake obviously.
Flamini must be a massive factor in the fall of Mertesacker and Kos, just look at him for Costa's goal he has no idea what's his doing.
Should be tested for drugs because there's no way a sane experienced player goes berserk like that.
Should be tested for drugs because there's no way a sane experienced player goes berserk like that.
Country: Canada
I think we should be thankful to Flamini. He's the one unifying factor of this board, the one thing everyone agrees about.
Bould14
Well-Known Member
Per is great when are playing teams that like to hoof the ball. We defend corners a lot better with him. Problem is that teams can play off our high line and per has no chance to save his ass.
say yes
forum master baiter
Kos is ****ed any which way there for me. Don't think he's catching Costa at all. Agree it would have made more sense to drop but even then best case scenario is closing down Costa's angle for the shot.
Don't think either of them could have done much. Chelsea caught our defence on the break, Costa pulled onto Merte's shoulder intelligently, Willian played a good ball at the right time etc. Can overanalyse what each of them could have done differently to death but the key is not getting into those situations in the first place. And once you're in a **** situation, keep your head and trust in your world class goalkeeper rather than making it worse. 1-0 to Chelsea with 11 men on the field wouldn't have been the end of the world at all, and that's assuming Costa beats Cech. We made it so easy for them.
Country: Canada
Yeah that's the worst part, there was a good chance Cech stops the shot I think. Kos may not have caught Costa, but he'd have pressured him and could have put him off a bit. Costa had a lot to do to score, and Merte should have just let his two team mates try to stop the goal.
eye4goal
Established Member
Koscielny needs to put himself in a position where at least he can put a challenge on Costa if he goes past Mertesacker and its not a 1-on-1. It wasn't perfect build-up and Willian almost delayed too much. I saw Flamini take a glance to see where everyone is, Per too but Koscielny seemed ball-watching throughout.
BBF
Real name: Ragip Xh...
Country: England
I don't understand why Koscielny needs to be covering Mertesacker if a ball's lofted over him. Obviously Koscielny played the offside poorly, and he's simply not in world class form. However, any centreback in the same position as Mertesacker with a bit of pace is knocking the ball into the stands. Koscielny covers him a lot more than you lot think, and obviously Mertesacker returns the favour. But his flaws are too obvious, and one long ball shouldn't take any defender out of the game.
Coolin
Doesn't appreciate the mighty Nacho
Against another team and another player, I don't think he makes that challenge. But it's Chelsea, and I think he sees Diego Costa bearing in on goal and panics.
But it must be said, this is the exception not the norm. 1 yellow all season. 2 yellows last season. He's normally very solid in the middle.
But it must be said, this is the exception not the norm. 1 yellow all season. 2 yellows last season. He's normally very solid in the middle.
Country: Scotland
It's not the first time Costa has scored /made an effort/ caused havoc with a long pass over or between our CBs. You'd think by now they'll have realised this and decide let's go with him always.
The fact is Mertesacker once again made a costly mistake. Let him go through one on one that early in the game. Different matter if its very late on in the game.
The fact is Mertesacker once again made a costly mistake. Let him go through one on one that early in the game. Different matter if its very late on in the game.
TheArsenalis
Well-Known Member
I doubt there was much of a mistake in the saga. Unless we gonna blame frontline and midfield for not putting pressure on the ball.
Other than that we were undone by perfect CF play, perfect pass.
I gotta say though i think teams that beats us emplot almost the same tactics for years now.
Other than that we were undone by perfect CF play, perfect pass.
I gotta say though i think teams that beats us emplot almost the same tactics for years now.
Country: Canada
And Keiran Gibbs.
General
Established Member
His job was to stop Willian or make it difficult for him to make the pass. There is no question that any defender watching on would be placing trust in his DM to offer protection and at least commit a tactical foul. One minute we looked like scoring, next minute we are down to ten men. We have a remarkable habit of suddenly losing momentum for a team that's supposed to be challenging for the championship. The funny thing about Flamini is that his best work is actually going forward, this was true even in his first stint here. When you look at the work he does as a so called DM it's non existent beyond the shouting and arm gestures. His success rate with tackles and interceptions is no where near good enough to offer credible protection to a midtable team let alone a championship chasing one. His only saving grace is his non stop running but if that's what Wenger wants he might as well deploy Paula Radcliffe there. It's a position Wenger has devalued for a long time and the root cause of some damaging results and harsh refereeing decisions we've suffered in recent years.
Country: England
In risk management you assess a risk by evaluating the impact of the risk as well as the chance of it happening.
The chance of Mertesacker being caught out may be low but when it does happen it's usually disastrous.
We have the resources to bench him and eliminate this risk but we never do. When Wenger retires we're going to find out that the guy is a massive gambler, he's the only manager I've seen who consistently takes risks he doesn't have to.
The chance of Mertesacker being caught out may be low but when it does happen it's usually disastrous.
We have the resources to bench him and eliminate this risk but we never do. When Wenger retires we're going to find out that the guy is a massive gambler, he's the only manager I've seen who consistently takes risks he doesn't have to.
