Arsenal Sign Per Mertesacker

[She Wore A Yellow Ribbon]

always said the merts should be first choice to anchor the defence. only seen one game but by the sounds of things his presence seems to be making the difference.

with a defence that sits a little deeper, it draws back everyone in front of them and creates a better shape.

everyone is obsessed with pace and being fast. it really is not the decisive factor. it helps of course but you can still be a great defender without it.

the only positive i can find of not replacing song is the positive impact it can have on the defence.

when you play a DM the other midfielders instantly assume they can bomb forward and the DM will stay back to take care of opposition attacks. its a psychological mindset triggered by having a player like song in the team. without a DM the whole team defends as a unit and all the midfielders do their part.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

[Olivier's xmas twist]

there was a stat which said something along the lines of when we play BFG and verm together we let in half the amount of goals compared to when we pair verm and kos together.

looks like we know who 3rd choice is

Kos is our best defender so proved to be last season, it would be silly to say he is 3rd choice. what i will say for the 1st time in a long time if one gers injured we know we have a good defender who can come in and replace them.

[Cripps_orig]

This guy is awesome

Has impressed me through out the last 6 years

Certainly Verms best partner for sure which i said time and time again last season and now its being proven

[Boss]

Didn't think he'd fit in so well.

Should swap between him/Kos depending on the team we play, how they attack (aerial threat or on the ground) and so on.

[I_Killed_Kenny]

i thought the prem pace would kill him but he has been pretty decent so far. gives us a choice of type of CB pairing now which is great.

[LDG]

Played well so far, and in the prem he'll do alright this year. Definitely benefiting from us playing a deeper line, with Verms staying in position.

Koscielny is the option in Europe, and against the best sides in the prem. Nowt to do with quality, but all to do with speed. Against the better teams, you need recorvery pace, and the ability to turn / step in quickly.

[Xhaka Can’t]

A key contribution to his effectiveness is Verm remaining in position. I think Vetm will however be able to have a freer role playing alongside Kos.

It really is nice to have options in central defence for a change.

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[Seymour Butts]

Can always have a back line including Kos and Mertsacker by playing Kos at right back in place of the injured Sagna. I believe he started out as a right back??

[LDG]

Jenko deserves to stay there now though. He's been excellent thus far.