Who are Arsenal’s best centre-back pairing? Vermaelen and………?
The 26 year old Laurent Koscielny was signed by Arsenal in the summer transfer window of 2010. The centre half had a rather rocky start to his Arsenal career where he needed time to adapt to the fast paced and physical Premier League. His blunder with Szczesny in the dying minutes of the Carling Cup against Birmingham City gave Obafemi Martins the winning goal in the final.
Even then, Laurent has come a long way since 2010. He has evolved into one of the most solid centre backs in the premier league. His pace and aerial ability accompanying his brilliant mind to read the game has made him one of the most sought after players in the league.
The signing of Per Mertesacker as an alternative centre back at Arsene Wenger’s disposal has now threatened Koscielny’s regular first team spot. The 6 ft 6 German is an experienced international and his signing was seen as a sign of relief for many Arsenal fans as he brings stability and solidity to the backline. With Vermaelen playing as a regular, will the manager pick Koscielny over Mertesacker?
The reasons why both are playing at the moment is due to shortages at the full backs positions where either Laurent would cover at right back or Thomas at left back. However when all are fit and the full backs return, will Laurent be picked over Per?
I believe many of us have seen that Koscielny is a significantly quicker and more physical defender while Per relies on his partner to be aggressive while he sits back and does his thing.
I believe many matches must be played to rotate the 3 centre backs before Arsenal can find the right blend. Hopefully this stiff competition can push all three defenders to put in their utmost effort to win the first team spot.
Though I feel the final pairing would be Vermaelen and Mertesacker, Koscielny is still a talented defender and maybe he could prove me wrong.
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I think Wenger should keep rotating the defense, give both Koscielny and Mertesacker equal chance to show their talent….
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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CB is one position where we have talent and can afford to rotate to afford fatigue. So far I am happy with all the pairing options so far but TV5 and Per are my favourite.
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i personally like tv and kos together. per still need a little adapting to do.. but i am satisfied with the CB position for now.. hope squid would leave in jan and wenger would get another in.. maybe a LB, which is also named LB..
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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well laurent has really up his game and everything is working for him to be picked ahead of per
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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how about miquel and kyle bartly?? they do deserved same chances like koscielny does..especially bartly..kinda though defender from what i’m seeing at rangers..
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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I prefer koscielny to mertesacker overall (it amazes me that he wins so many more headers despite being 5 inches shorter), because he is quicker, more aggressive and imo reads the game better, but both are very good defenders. Mertesacker does bring a measure of calm to the defence because he never loses his head. Even when he makes a mistake, it will not affect him later in the game because he is so level-headed. It’s an important quality. The other thing with him is that he necessitates playing a deeper defensive line, due to his lack of pace. Not sure whether it’s a good or bad thing, to be honest – I guess it depends on the opposition.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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TV5 and LK6 look more solid and i would prefer that
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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I prefer Vermalaen and Mertesacker CB. But Kossie has proven himself to be a good defender, perhaps use him in RB while Sagna is injured. I would like to see Bartley back in action for the gunners too.
Opinions divided. What do you think?
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He should just rotate the defence. They’re all good, and if they perform well regardless of the combinations used then that’s ideal.
Top Gooner!. Agree or not?:
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i think we have good options in that department and we can adjust our defence depending on who we play.
kos + tv5 would be the choice if we play teams with quick and not too tall attackers.
tv5 + merte would be the choice if we play teams like stoke or any other team who have a big cf and rely on the long ball and on set pieces.
Good to have that choice
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kos and tv are the best pair
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TV5 9/10, KOS 7.5/10, MERT 5/10…..I THINK IT HAS TO BE TV5 AND KOS
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kozzy was so good until to the point that wenger opt not to buy a defender. having said that, now that we have per, wenger will surely rotate all three depending on our opponent with TV5 the first choice definitely
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To be realistic, both pairing looks good. Kosienly has been in a very good form while the arrival of Mert has also given us stability due to his calmness and height. The Prof. Would know best when their is need for them to be rotated. They are all good defenders and they deserve to play.
This is something that has been missing from our beloved club for sometime. Proud to be a Gunners.
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Don’t know about other people in here, but there seems to be recycled news about Arsenal’s defence every 2 days.
Frankly, it’s getting boring. Wenger will choose the best possible side to compete, so lets just trust the Manager in doing so.
Yes I hear fans thinking, “Wenger should never have allowed Santos to play in Greece.” Totally agree, but what’s done is done. We can talk about the same odorous excretion for weeks, over who we prefer per se, but nothing will change unless we have players coming back and new players from the transfer market.
So having said this, please Mr Admin give us something new!
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@ Ryo Oxlade-Chamberlain
I enjoy reading your posts regardless of whether I agree with them or not. Good to see you analyse the game well. I look forward to reading more.
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Hello fellow gooners. koscielny should play against teams with pace, eg Barcalona. We all remember the game at the Emirates when he kept Messi quiet. However I think Mertesacker should play against teams like Blackburn or Stoke who loft the ball into the box alot. Elz. Gooner till I die.
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The best is to rotate them. Buy I think Koscielny is way better than Mertesacker. I don’t see any better CB partnership in the world than Vermaelen-Koscielny.
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mertesacker and vermaelen is the best pairing for arsenal because merte has plenty of experience and the thing is he should adapt to this soil..then he can be at the same level as tony adams….
EXPERIENCE is the key…
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ENOUGH OF DISCUSSIO ON OUR DEFENSE!I THINK WE ARE DOING WELL NOW SO….PLEASE GIVE US SOMETHING DIFFERENT.BEFORE METERSACKER CAME YOU WERE COMPLAINING BITTERLY AS IF KOSCIESLNY WAS NOT A GOOD CENTRE BACK. NOW WE HAVE PER AND STILL COMPLAINING! VERY SOON WE WILL START PRAISING DJOUROU AND MIGUEL…THIS IS WENGER’S ABILITY. GOD BLESS YOU ALL.
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Verma and Kosc probably the best pairing. Both are fast and strong, very good in air.
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do u kno that mertesacker got the best defender award in the euro08….campaign….
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I like Mert but Kos is brilliant on the ball so it’s great to see him alongside Vermaelen, a defender with so much attacking prowess. We should definitely rotate while we’ve got such great options but the first choice should undoutedly be Verm and Kos.
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lmao at these comments saying that koscielny and mertesacker are battling for position koscielny is the best defender on the team how any can think vermaelen and even mertesacker are better is an absolute disgrace to football. Its sad to see that koscielny gets given so little credit as well as arsene wenger for spotting an unknown player and turning him into one of the best defenders in the world.
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