Alex Song must support shaky Mertesacker more often
When it comes to players who played a defensive role in Arsenal’s midfield, Arsenal fans will remember the likes of Patrick Vieira and Emmanuel Petit for their excellent ability in controlling the Arsenal midfield. The Romford Pele is fondly remembered too for his ‘lungs of steel’.
… Alex Song, though, plays a rather different role in today’s Arsenal. With Mikel Arteta presently being the fulcrum of the midfield, and Aaron Ramsey being the so-called creative force in midfield, Alex Song has increasingly been allowed to play a more free role in recent games.
Giving this role to Song has undoubtedly reaped rich dividends in terms of results for Arsenal as a consequence. His outstanding role in assisting Andre Santos’ equaliser against Chelsea in the 5-3 win, as well as his part in van Persie’s sublime second goal against Norwich are both testament to it. His generally efficient use of the ball has allowed the midfield to retain possession better and link up to the forwards more quickly (and beautifully!).
However, there is a flaw in this tactical setup that is likely to be exposed sooner rather than later.
With Alex Song pushing up the midfield, especially in matches against top sides, the defence will be faced with the daunting task of dealing with opposition forwards – many of which are “pacey” and skilled – and this is most apparent when Arsenal are being hit on a counter-attack.
Ordinarily, teams would be able to deal with counter-attacking threats by setting a solid offside line or simply by effective coordination between centre-halves. The former is used frequently by Arsenal to great effect, while the latter solution requires a formidable centre-half pairing but has seen little success when used by the Arsenal. Many point the finger at Per Mertesacker for this lack of success rather than Thomas Vermaelen and I have to agree with them.
That is not to say Per Mertesacker has poor defending technique in any way. His height provides a fantastic foil against aerial threats, his tackling is more often than not spot-on and his defensive positioning reflects his wealth of experience on the pitch.
His pace, though, will be severely tested especially against the likes of Manchester City or Dortmund – teams which break at speed and at will – and as many Arsenal fans will tell truthfully, Mertesacker’s pace is quite simply his biggest weakness. His partner Thomas Vermaelen is hardly infallible either as dealing with a strike force singlehandedly is near impossible at the highest level of European football.
Alex Song’s defensive cover would suffice in such matches. While he excels currently without being “shackled” at the back of the field, the price Arsenal could pay from the tactical decision of allowing Song to wander forward on the field does not justify the benefits in attack that they could gain.
Furthermore, Song was in fact trained to undertake such a defensive role – one that he possessed in the last three seasons or so. As such, playing much deeper to support the defence should be a relatively easy transition to make.
Other solutions to this, such as changing formations by employing a third central defender for example, are viable tactical solutions but easier said than put into play. At such short notice and with crucial games coming up for the Gunners, conveniently putting Song in this defensive role will only boost Arsenal’s chances of staking their claim for a top-four finish and in the other two cup competitions.
Interestingly, even if the tactical change is not made, Song will be forced back into his defensive position when Jack Wilshere returns from injury. Till then, though, Monsieur Wenger will have to decide on Song’s exact role.
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so with the assumption that JW will immediately be correctly re-instated into midfield – it becomes a straight choice between Ramsey & Arteta as to who makes way for his return…
for me, and on present form Arteta offers more in both recovering the ball and in distribution
also he isn’t afraid to get airbourne and challenge for anything above head height….a definite failing before his introduction…
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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I think its not a case of choosing either role, I think its the intelligence of when to assist in attack.
Our greatest weakness (judging by the last few years) is our defence, followed by our lack of ruthlessness in front of goal. Song isn’t a striker so he should predominantly focus on defending.
Obviously all it all depends on the circumstances but I would like to see him sit back a protect the back line, if we’re in a comfortable position why not push forward a bit more, but when playing games (especially if a single player can rip through the heart of the defence), he must be there in our first line of defence. We already have an extra man in midfield due to our lone striker policy, let them do what they’re good at.
Ideally I would like to see Song play the Mascherano role, I was quite relieved when he left the BPL as he is so good at what he does.
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We must use our best players where we are weak. I’m convinced that Song could play a more attacking role if we had a DM in the mould of vieira, but we haven’t and our best option as a DM is Song… And he plays that role really well, doing his defensive duty AND creating offensive chances.
I’d love to see him play a deeper role but that means we have to splash the cash on a talented DM (Frimpong is not ready)… Yann M’Vila maybe… Or Javi Martinez or Verthongen… Why not? But I doubt it happens Wenger has already bought more players he ever did in one summer, and he might be affraid of the consequences on this freshly geling team. Still Verthongen would be welcome to me as he’s versatile, experienced, talented and young enough to get a new level playing for Arsenal.
About Mertesacker I think he starts to realize that english football is a real fight, not just a game, and it might be too harsh for him but he still has a chance to show us he has guts and wants to fight for his colours. If he does he will be legend.
My dream for january’s transfer window is Verthongen in, Reus in. About the outs it’s quiet obvious…
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Verthongen in, Reus in.
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I agree there Stan, Vertonghen is a leader although Ajax defence has been tested lately, they got 6 against them last week. Reuss looks really exciting and will be much cheaper than Gotze
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anyone badmouthing song is a fool.
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I agree with you on most things you had to say, especially as if you don’t defend from midfield then you will pay the price.
But I disagree in 2 things,One, Alex Song is still as much defensive minded as ever, as we meet Borussia Dortmund again, we have to remember that he protected the back four against the likes of Gotze last time out will all his heart and he may have his episodes going forward but he is always back to do his defensive duties in time. Two, Per Mertesacker is not a weak link, yes he made silly mistake against Norwich and probably against Chelsea, but he is a superb defender. His problem is that he has a weird looking body which communicates wrong body language to what he is actually doing, he lacks pace but, how many times have you seen him overtaken?. Every defender will always give away a silly chance, remember how Vidic and Ferdinand left Scott Sinclair all by himself in their game against Swansea, remember how John Terry indecisively covered Glen Johnson for a chance on goal he could have easily got a foot to, It is not just Mertesacker who gives away chances, Thomas Vermaelen gave a needless free kick on the edge of the are from which Norwich could have very easily scored as the free kick was very much on target and only a slight deflection allowed Szczesny to get to it.
I think Song is doing a wonderful job and so is Mertesacker, if believe so, ask yourself why, Arsenal defense suddenly become strong when he came into it. He must have be the perfect partner whose sound positioning provides solid platform for the likes of industriuous pair of Vermaelen and Koscielny to thrive on. He is their assurance as they venture all over thwarting chances, knowing that there is 99% chance that Mertesacker will catch whoever gets away from them, he is like a second goal keepers, the second line of assurance.
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Koncielny can play in front of the CB’s the only problem is that both our RB’s are injured so he is still needed there.
To begin with AW should drop PM to the bench just to make a point that regardless of the fact that he is a top international defender he can’t take it for granted that he will be first choice.
That will keep him on his toes and make him work for it and therefore improve his game..
TV and Koncielny are currently our biggest assets in defense because of the versatility they offer seeing TV can also play LB.
We are all entitled our opinion and this is a great post that we can all have a proper debate on.
I personally do not rate Arteta at all and consider him nothing more than a panic buy.
Give me Song Ramsey and Jack any day of the week.
I suggest gooners give Aaron a few more years before criticizing him because he has come back leaps and bounds considering the severity of his injury.
To summarise I would think that all us fans would love it if the day came when all our players were fit and AW could have a pleasant headache on who to pick.
Honestly when was the last time that happened.
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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Song is doing a gud job connecting wit d attack as wel as doing his defensive duties,he does extra job 4 d team,he shldnt b defensive minded only cos he contribute alot wit his passes in d attack.
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im not suprised barcelona want A song. He is a very rear piece. And he will be an arsenal legend like petit and viera. One thing i love about song is that he has stamina and he is hard working. He is always were the ball is. So i believe he will never leave the defence open no matter the role he is playing.
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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how can it be songs fault??? wenger is the one who actually buys the players? why buy the BFG if it creates another problem?
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Alex song is one of the best and strongest def mids in the world. He goes up and attacks when it is neccesarry or when we have clear possession of the ball. I don’t see why you see the need to buy a new player when we already have the perfect one. On another note, To user Alexs, cow will never be better than song that’s a joke. Frimpong is far better than coq. And to red. Koscielieny is also not neccesarry. Let him get his time at right bak right now and an occasional appearance at cb when Verm or mert are getting tired
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visualize; Song sprinting from backfield,beautifuly hops over an “injured” gunner,pick ball and gives accurate pass to R.V.P.to give us the winning goal.was pure genius,sensational,classic, sexy football frm ARSENAL
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I think Mikel Arteta has enabled alex song to get foward and play more offensively against other teams
Mikel is played deeper than what Wilshere was played last year its because he played as a deep lying playmaker in barcelona and paris
so he can fill the DMF while song goes forward and attacks the defenses
GUNNERS FOR LYF
GO BEAT DORTMUND GUNNERS
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i am telling you conquelin will be a future star didnt yall see him against tottenham ?
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Red DB 10, I agree that Arsene having to pick from a pool with depth rather than having to insert inexperienced youngsters (ca. Man u this year) into the starting XI. Depth in the squads required with the lengthy and strenuous schedule modern football follows. I still think we need to buy in January bc our current players want to see more names and competition for a starting role is good. I’m not saying wish we were man city or Madrid and just buy superstars and shit on the youth players but bringing in a striker, creative mid and vertonghen would be a positive all around the club.
As for Song’s role, Wenger is pushin song to become a more well rounded mid by rotating song with ram and arteta into the attacking role. Wenger now believes song is to the point of developing his attacking to give him a run at AM in SOME games. In the tougher matched and champions league, look for Song to fill his DM role the majority of the game. Wenger believes Song can be a world class Mid and so do I
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And as for DM, coquelin will break through to the starting XI. We don’t need to sign a player who’s primary role is DM. Vert would provide cover for song until coquelin is ready
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I beg to differ with this article regarding Mertesacker. First of all, he is slow.
Secondly, the goal he conceded against Norwich goes against what his so called strenghts are.
In a couple of the games before that we have been conceding goals from corners due to him being beaten.
Defensive threat in the air? I don’t think so.
To be honest, I just don’t think he is good enough for epl.
Either that or its a confidence factor!
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lets not get on mertasackers back too quikly,give the guy a break…..he is a quality player just needs to get used to epl….
song does need to sit infront ov the back 2 coz we have attacking full backs anyway…..
ramsey is a good player but he loses the ball too much,he needs to make way for JW wen he is back,,,and artetta will get better…..
lets all be backing our team and manager all ways… he will learn tho
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WE HAVE ONLY ONE SONG!! WE HAVE ONLY ONE SONG!!
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Who have to help. Merte to Song or Song to Merte?
http://i025.radikal.ru/1111/90/c52c0fd9ffd0.jpg
What did Song and Arteta in this scene.
If you look for example last game thoroughly. you will see that middle-field player should be more concentrate. we have trouble when middle-field player don’t support defense.
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What!?The best defender in Europe shaky!?Give me a break,please!Mert is fantastic,his only flaw is lack of dirty Premier league tricks!
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per has offered a lot of stability. Verm has just come back, arsenal defence stabilized a lot since per signed.
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That idea is right but it can only work when jack is back.the fact is that when per is fully into the game everybody will like him
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Maybe my comments about Per were a bit harsh.
I just hope that he gets used to EPL quickly, because we need to have a solid centre-back. Lets hope he can can show us his worth against Dortmund tonight!
Gunners for life!!!
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i think everyones just too critical of mertesacker give him time maybe untill january hes still adapting to english football he is amazing in champions league
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