ptrcopp
Well-Known Member
Y'all either have very selective memories or your standards have been lowered significantly by the mess the defense has been the past two seasons. What I remember is that Gabriel played almost as much as Mertesacker that season and was the target of constant abuse by people who wondered just why the hell Arsenal bought him and why he couldn't learn to speak English. Mertesacker, of course, didn't fare much better because when he played he was criticized for being too slow and past it. Bellerin was known far more for his attacking abilities than his defense. And let us not forget how much Arsenal desperately needed someone in the mold of Vieira in front of them instead of Flamini, Coquelin and then Elneny.
Cech was 4th in total saves that season (after years of being toward the bottom of that category with Chelsea, which had a defense that didn't allow so many shots on goal), led the league in save percentage and in saves per goal conceded. (3.2 in comparison to Szczesny's 2.0 the previous season).
I realize that there are some Arsenal fans who have never been able to accept Petr Cech because he played for Chelsea for so long, but nobody else could possibly think that Cech wasn't an upgrade over the goalkeepers Arsenal had been running out there for years. Y'all are letting your own biases cloud reality.
If that’s what you think of our defenders then I think it is you whose biases are clouding reality
My point was that overall the defence was statistically similar that season as it was the previous seasons.
I repeat, in his second season our defensive record was worse than it had been the previous 4 seasons.
Edit: and Vieira was never a defensive midfielder.