Vermaelen strikes again but is defensive frailty still an issue?
When Thomas Vermaelen joined Arsenal in the summer, nobody expected him to make this sort of impact. It’s not that people didn’t rate the centre back, merely that he is just that – a centre back. The Belgian was signed to add stability to a shaky defence and yet eight games into his Arsenal career, all the talk is about his prowess in the opposition box and what he can do for Arsenals betting odds.
Vermaelen’s brace on Saturday takes his goal tally to four, making him the top scorer in a team full of attacking quality. His performances have drawn praise from all and sundry, with Arsene Wenger claiming that even he did not expect the 23 year old to adapt to the Premier League game so quickly. Unfortunately, question marks remains over the defence as a whole and it may be that goals at the other end are papering over cracks at the back.
The Gunners attacking performances have reaped 17 goals and plenty of praise from the critics and yet they find themselves in seventh position, having lost two out of five games. The most frustrating aspect for Wenger will be that both defeats were very avoidable.
The first came at Old Trafford, when Manchester United were outclassed but came away with all three points after two awful mistakes. The second was at the City Of Manchester stadium when the concession of four goals left the attack with too much to do.
What both games have highlighted is a need for improvement at the back, particularly when the pressure is on. Three goals were conceded in the space of just 10 minutes against Manchester City, as the defence (Vermaelen included) appeared to lose their grasp on the game and just four days later there was another worrying collapse as Standard Liege scored twice inside the opening five minutes.
Fortunately on that occasion Arsenal were able to bounce back, with their new centre back again amongst the goalscorers. The problem is that against the very best opposition, that sort of comeback is rarely possible. With this in mind it seems likely that Wenger will be looking for a marked improvement in his defence over the coming weeks. While goals from Vermaelen and co will always help the side, it may just be performances at the back that define the Gunners quest for honours this season.
By Josh Allen
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ACURATE ANALYSIS. i think it has to do with our full back, who at the moment are having a shaky start to the season, and we play a very high line, which could be dangerous- as we saw against city. once these are sorted, then were good.
thank you,i think the problem is that arsenal plays as a team especially when attacking but the same cannot be said when defending. they play attacking passing football that at times they forget to defend as a team.they need a powerful holding midfielder someone in the mould of patrick viera,makalele,essien,someone who does not stop running to compliment attacks and defending as well.some player who is not afraid to go in with strong tackles to help defending and also to compliment fabregas.cecs is a wonderful player who can spread the ball from midfield to the fantastic arshavin or the brilliant rosiscky then follows his pass and on the edge of the opposition box has the intelligent final pass for the strikers to finish.he needs someone who does the dirty work for him and give him the ball and he will definetely do the rest.no doubt about it arsenal is a world class club who has a great defence but if they can strike the right balance between defending and attacking,i promise you it will be the team to beat in the primiership
look at chelsea they have been average in all of their games so far but still they have 18 from 6. cuz they have world class players in the defensive midfield area essien mikel . this is the area which will win u games even if u play average. this is the area which will win u big games against big teams like utd chelsea etc manu have fletcher scholes anderson. now arsenal have plenty of experience in the attacking part of the game with arshavin rosicky eduardo rvp etc but we lack the holding/defensive midfielder who can win us games,who can be dirty enough to fight someone like fletcher this is the reason why we lost against the physical teams last season like fulham and stoke city etc denilson is definitly not the answer song will be world class but at the moment he is not at his prime diaby is not a defensive player.gallas and vermaelen are world class CB but they also need some help from the midfield area.
Arsenal achilles heel show in the way they defend.The midfield lacks a strong and physical player who is not shy to tackle.Alex Song is showing promise but is still not up to the task;Diaby is too soft and doesn’t possess the speed needed in desperate situations such as in counter-attacks;Denilson isn’t up to the task either.Someone to complement Fabregas in midfield,a player with the qualities of Patrick Vieira or Michael Essien.We will continue to score many goals but we will soak in more still.
how people keep saying denilson is not up to the task? is really beyond me.