Monday 20 August 2012

Part 1: The Defense

This post was inspired by the series of blogs a friend of mine wrote on  Manchester United's premier League squad at We Are United

So I am going to review the Arsenal Squad for this year's Premier League beginning with the defenders.

 The Defense                                                   

Thomas Vermaelen
Arguably the greatest defender in the premier league the Belgian centre-back has been an enormous part of Arsenal's defence since he moved from Dutch club Ajax in the summer of 2009. He had a superb first season and, not only did he provide outstanding defensive performances he also scored 7 times in his 33 performances. He missed most of the 2010-2011 season with a tendon issue but he returned for the 2011-2012 season and scored 6 goals, including winners against Newcastle and Everton, as well as showing his superb ability to defend. Thomas also demonstrated his adaptability when he was forced to play left back when injuries ruled out Kieran Gibb and Andre Santos.


Definately Arsenal's strongest and most skilled defender I predict another solid season for Vermaelen and don't be surprised to see him score some important goals.

Laurent Koscielny
Definately an "up and coming" defender Koscielny had a solid season last year for the Gunners and was easily the second choice centre back.
He wasn't outstanding at the start of the season but Laurent worked hard to improve and, by the end of the season, he was definately "up there". His hard work paid off when he made the French squad for the 2012 Euro's. He was one of his side's better preformers in their semi final loss to Spain.

Barcary Sagna
In his sixth season with the club the Frenchman has played over 200 matches for Arsenal and has preformed superbly in almost all of them.

His consistancy and class makes him an automatic starter however some horror injuries ruled him out of half of last season. He was hugely missed as Arsenal's defence never really fired. Fingers crossed his return to full fitness heralds some solidity in the back for Arsenal

Johan Djourou
Yes he is a centre-back at heart but the Swiss showed last season that he can fit in anywhere in the back playing as Full-back during Arsenal's injury crisis last season. He's been with the team since 2003 and although there are better defenders out there Djourou is a solid back-up come an inevitable injury.

Per Mertesacker
I'm still not convinced by Per. I feel like he still hasn't shown the form that helped him make it into Germany's World Cup squad but, if he does, then he will definately be a regular starter in the middle of the pitch alongside Vermaelan.

Carl Jenkinson, Keiran Gibbs, Andre Santos and Sebastian Squillaci
Gibbs and Jenkinson are reasonable players and have shown that they can preform at the top levels and although they don't set the world alight they have shown their class. I like Jenkinson's attacking runs down the wings and Gibbs is definately Arsenal's best left-back. They are both young players and I definately think that they have got bright futures.
Santos on the other hand..... I still feel like he belongs on the wing. That was the position he played when he scored 17 goals in 28 games for Atletico Mineiro. I don't like him as a defender abd I can't see him getting much game time.
I know absolutely nothing about Squillaci and can't comment on him here, but I can't see him getting much game time this season.

So there we go. Part 1 of my review. I'll be doing pieces on Midfielders and Attackers as well as a final piece overviewing my thoughts on the best side for Wenger to put on the field.

Bye for now! :D

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