Just Arsenal News

A Case for the Arsenal defence by Dan S

When Per Mertesacker twice inexplicably played Spurs onside to score against Arsenal at the beginning of March, few thought he would end up one of our heroes in the race for 4th. Nor Laurent Koscielny, who was on the bench at White Hart Lane having spent much of the season as our third choice centre back.

That result in the North London Derby left many writing off our Champions League hopes, coming so soon after domestic cup defeats and a first leg drubbing at the hands of Bayern Munich, few thought we had the spirit or character to put the run together we would now need to close the seven point gap between ourselves and Tottenham. .......Read the full article here

A Defence To Rely On? That Doesn’t Sound Like Arsenal… by DG

In recent years, Arsenal’s defence has become somewhat of a stereotype to beat us with. Since the glory days of Adams, Dixon and co have passed, we have struggled to put together a truly dependable and cohesive back line that could be depended on week in week out. In recent years, scoring goals has simply not been an issue, but keeping the opposition out certainly has been. Gone were the days that our back line would strike fear in to the heart of opposition strikers. In were the days of Eboue, Sylvestre, Squillaci and Djourou. .......Read the full article here

About the only good thing that can be said about Arsenal after the game against Fulham, apart from the three points, was that we defended well again and showed once again that this Gunners side has much more resilience than previous incarnations. Both Arsene Wenger and Aaron Ramsey have praised this fighting quality, but will it be enough to see us over the line and into next season’s Champions League.

Only Manchester City have conceded less goals than Arsenal in the Premier League this season, with an average of just less than one a game. That has been even better recently, with just six goals against us in the last 10 games. Ramsey believes that the whole team can take credit for this, not just the back four. .......Read the full article here

There is no doubt that Gervinho possesses some wonderful football skills. Arsenal have seen the benefit of them in the last three Premier League games, and they have come at a really important time for the Gunners as the pressure is firmly on as we race Chelsea and Tottenham for a top four finish.

The problem for Arsene Wenger, and I do not envy him one bit, is how to get the best out of the mercurial Ivorian international. One day he can be producing dazzling displays of footwork and scaring the life out of the opposition, while the next day he looks like an alien who has just landed in the middle of a match and has never seen a football before. .......Read the full article here

Steve Bould has been taking charge of the press duties for Arsenal this week, apparently Arsene Wenger has not been very well. The assistant is understandably happy about the improved defensive performance in the last three games, because he was a part of the famous Gunners back four that reveled in 1-0 victories.

Bould, however, believes that the most important thing that Arsenal have been doing recently, as opposed to earlier in the season, is starting games well on the front foot and getting an early lead. That allows the team to relax a little and not press forward too much, while bring the opposition out in search of a goal and freeing up space for Arsenal to enjoy possession and create chances. .......Read the full article here

There was a lot of talk in the build up to Arsenal’s trip to White Hart Lane a month ago that the derby could be a turning point. A win for the Gunners would have halted Spurs’ run of form and lifted Arsenal spirits after two poor games against Blackburn and Bayern effectively ended the trophy dreams for another season. It didn’t quite work out as planned, obviously, but that game has been a turning point because Arsenal have won three in a row. .......Read the full article here

Bould but Necessary Risks This is a Guest Post by Nilo from A Gentlemen’s Arsenal

Having watched the Munich and Swansea matches I realised that the Arsenal team was playing a very conservative game, keeping a compact formation throughout both matches. These performance reminded me of our first 3 draws this season, in the first 3 matches.

I’ve always said that our holding midfielder or defensive midfielder should maintain a close distance to the defence and not leave them exposed like Song did many times last season. That error was only compounded by the fact that our defence always played a high line which basically invited counter-attacks (Blackburn FA Cup this year anyone?). To top that off, our full-backs always seemed to bomb forward at the same time, leaving our centre-backs at the mercy of the inexplicably efficient hordes of strikers in the Premier League and Champions League. .......Read the full article here

Per Mertesacker probably gets an unfair share of the criticism directed at Arsenal for the poor defending. His size and general demeanour make him look slow and ponderous, but his statistics are right up there with the best centre backs in the Premier League. The 28-year old is the subject of jokey comments by pundits and a lot of Arsenal fans have been calling for him to be sold in the summer, and it seems that Arsene Wenger would have no problem finding a buyer. .......Read the full article here

Take the positives and move on by Ogbee11

The much talked about 2nd Leg Champions league game between Arsenal and Bayern Munich has come and gone, it’s no longer news that we lost gallantly on the pitch at the Allianz Arena in Munich yesterday against the over hyped Germans. The Germans thought the match was already won due to the mouth watering 3-1 score that they got at the Emirates three weeks ago. The pre match talk was about “resting” some of the more established players and with Jack Wilshere, Lukas Podolski and Bacary Sagna being out through injury. The end result proved book makers wrong as it was not anticipated. Two goals, from Giroud and Laurent Koscielny, made the team leave the Allianz Arena with their heads high . .......Read the full article here

Olivier Giroud says that Arsenal will use the positive performance against Bayern Munich last night to help in the last 10 Premier League games and ensure that the match in the Allianz Arena was not the last one in the Champions League for a while.

Giroud had called for an early goal to get the Gunners up and running, and it was the big Frenchman who provided it, smashing in Walcott’s driven cross after three minutes. The striker is understandably disappointed that Arsenal could not quite complete the comeback, but he reckons that the team will now have the belief to show their true class for the rest of the season. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal have suffered over the last three games by conceding unnecessary goals, and the English media is full of stories about a defensive crisis and rumours that Wenger does not do enough coaching with the defenders and will not allow Steve Bould to work with them either. The statistics, however, show that the Arsenal defence is better this season than it was last season, so what is the real situation?

Considering that there have been problems with injuries all over the back four this season, and that Nacho Monreal is the only new player to come in just a few weeks ago, the statistics compiled by EPLindex.com are surprising. Arsenal have conceded 30 league goals so far this season, which equates to just 1.12 goals per game. This is the third best in the league, behind Man City and Chelsea on 0.92 and 1.07. .......Read the full article here

With Nacho Monreal being cup-tied for tonight’s Champions League match against Bayern Munich, there was a big worry that Arsenal’s defence would be even weaker than usual.

But Arsene Wenger has given us an update on the injury situation and although Laurent Koscielny is still doubtful to make the starting XI, we have Per Mertesacker, Thomas Vermaelen, Bacary Sagna and Carl Jenkinson all available to be spread around the back four.

As Kieran Gibbs is still out for a while it seems likely that Vermaelen can move over to replace Monreal in the left-back position, while Sagna can stay as a centre-back after his brilliant performance against Sunderland, leaving Per Mertesacker to partner him in the centre, and Jenkinson out on the right. .......Read the full article here