Central Defence

[selassie]

I bet we'd see an improvement right across the backline with every player benefiting. Kos could play one position instead of two, the fullbacks wouldn't then have to cover random and gaping holes appearing as Merts tries to get up steam and move himself from one spot to another on the pitch. The German is decent enough covering set pieces but when the play is mobile and with any sort of pace he might as well be at home with his feet up. Added to that he slows everything down when he gets all those fucking backpasses from the midfield. And his distribution is lousy if he attempts anything other than a square ball to either side. He's not the worst but he's not good enough for us.

Hmmm..that's very debatable. I'm not happy with Merts performances either but I really don't think bringing Gabriel in will improve us that much...if at all. Gabriel or Kos are not perfect, Gabriel especially is quite naïve in his positional play, he obviously makes up for that with his speed which Merts doesn't have.

Gabriel's distribution is even worse than Merts, it's one area he really needs to improve.

The defence are accountable for conceding goals but without the protection from Midfield they are like lambs to a slaughter. I stand by my opinion that if we had Caz and Coq in midfield or a more disciplined structure to our midfield I.E. not Ramsey & Flamini we would see an improvement in our defensive play.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

Statistically Gabriel has the second best pass completion rate of any defender in the league

[Power n Glory]

No point in getting into it on pass completion for our defenders on that game. I think Liverpool's pressing game and our lack of midfield just put pressure on the defenders.

[Herbert_Chapman's_Zombie]

I was more responding to the issue of poor ball distribution.

[Power n Glory]

That was more an overall response starting from what NQ said about Merts. He's not usually that bad at passing the ball and often high up the list when comes to completing passes.

[Niall_Quinn]

That was more an overall response starting from what NQ said about Merts. He's not usually that bad at passing the ball and often high up the list when comes to completing passes.

He's safe and accurate enough with his slow, sideways passing. Wouldn't argue with that.

[Power n Glory]

He's safe and accurate enough with his slow, sideways passing. Wouldn't argue with that.

What do you expect from defender though? He shouldn't be taking risks and I also think it's the responsibility of the two deep midfielders to collect the ball and protect it.

[Niall_Quinn]

What do you expect from defender though? He shouldn't be taking risks and I also think it's the responsibility of the two deep midfielders to collect the ball and protect it.

It's a big deal if defenders can pick a pass from time to time, nothing spectacular just a forward ball to keep the momentum rolling when you have a grip on the game. The other three can do it. But everything grinds to a halt when Merts gets the ball, everyone knows what he's going to do. It's probably Wenger anyway. Wenger's new found love for slowing the tempo, especially when we are on top, is a pain in the hole.

[Power n Glory]

It's a big deal if defenders can pick a pass from time to time, nothing spectacular just a forward ball to keep the momentum rolling when you have a grip on the game. The other three can do it. But everything grinds to a halt when Merts gets the ball, everyone knows what he's going to do. It's probably Wenger anyway. Wenger's new found love for slowing the tempo, especially when we are on top, is a pain in the hole.

That's unture because he's often the defender that makes the most passes and it's been that way for a while. I think you may be seeing extra.

[selassie]

Statistically Gabriel has the second best pass completion rate of any defender in the league

Yes just seen the stats on sky sports website, it's surprised me to be honest, both Gabriel & Merts are pretty much equal. I always viewed Gabriel as the most insecure on the ball out of our CB's.