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03/10/2006
What is Arsenal’s Best Back Four?
Last week’s performance by our back line was adequate at best. The combination of Eboue, Toure, an unfit Gallas, and an out-of-position Hoyte provided some scary moments. Not only did the four seem to lazily ball-watch on the first goal, but they conceded what looked like a clear penalty and failed to mark Hasselbaink for a wide-open header, both of which would have been equalizers.
One major contributor to our sub-par performance was Gallas’ fitness. He clearly had not fully recovered from the hamstring injury he suffered against Sheffield the week before and was forced to play—as the idea of Song playing center-back is terrifying. He was neither as quick nor as confident as the William Gallas we’ve grown accustomed to. His hand-ball in the box appeared to be just a lack of concentration—I doubt it will happen again.
The other contributor was Justin Hoyte. Justin Hoyte is not a left back. When Hoyte plays Arsenal are not able to attack on the left side. Opponents, on the other hand, keep pushing and pushing attacks down our left. Charlton’s best opportunities to score came down our left. City’s winner in Manchester came from a penalty by Hoyte on the left. Hoyte is the weak link. He should not be playing. If was acting in the best interests of the team he would just tell Wenger what the rest of England knows: he is not anywhere close to comfortable at left back, just like Flamini claims to be.
Flamini, not Hoyte, is the temporary solution at left back. He proved himself last year to be five times the player Hoyte is. I know he told Wenger that he isn’t comfortable at the position, but he is a utility player: he plays where he is needed. He needs to buck up and play where he is needed. Right now Flamini’s whining and Hoyte’s lack of quality are hurting the team, and they need to clear it up relatively quickly. Clichy, our first-choice left back, has major questions with fitness. Who knows if he’ll ever be able to keep healthy? If Gallas and Toure are supposed to be our permanent partnership in the center, we definitely need to add (or convert) a left back.
Gallas and Toure give us a partnership of two of the best defenders in the world, but neither of them is strong in the air. Djourou proved in the early weeks that he is a very strong defender, both on the ground and in the air, but his lack of experience is discomforting. Phillipe Senderos seems to be the forgotten man. He was easily the best defender for Switzerland in the World Cup, the only team to not concede a goal. Senderos was a force, anchoring the defense and attacking set pieces, and his consistent play was mouth-watering for Arsenal fans. Once he regains fitness, Senderos will give us an experienced 21-year-old central defender that wins aerial challenges and threatens defenses on set pieces. There is a reason we gave Senderos Tony Adams’ number.
This may be seen as heresy from other Arsenal fans, but perhaps Toure and Gallas in the center might not be the best use of our defenders. Toure and Senderos, with Gallas on the left—where he is still very effective (see goal against Sheffield), might be a better combination. This would help us become stronger in the air and competent on the left. I know Gallas is not a true left back, he is one of the best center backs in the world, but he is versatile enough that it would not be a problem. Many people say he left Chelsea because he had to play left back, but that seems to be not his major reason for leaving, as money and Mourinho most of all seemed to piss Gallas off the most. I do have faith in Clichy’s talent, but not yet in his health or experience, so I think it would be making the best of Arsenal’s options to play Toure and Senderos in the center—the same partnership that have produced so many Champions League clean sheets and dominated towards the end of last season—and Gallas on the left, where he does produce and defend well.
To put it in simpler terms, Senderos is a better, more proven player than Clichy. His inclusion in the squad would add experience and a big body to win headers. The advantage Senderos presents is worth moving Gallas to the outside, as long as he is willing to. Obviously if Gallas does not want to play on the left than he will play ahead of Senderos, he and Senderos aren’t even worth comparing, but being that Gallas is still a danger and a defensive stalwart at left back, why not play him there? This is not to say that Gallas should have been playing on the left against Charlton, we needed him in the center, but in the future I think he might suit the squad better fixing what seems to be our only weakness.
Just one more point to add: where is Lauren going to play. Eboue is the most dynamic right back I have seen this year. His play since Lauren’s injury has been fantastic, and although I normally do not approve of a first team player losing their spot through injury, Eboue needs to play every day for Arsenal. He is too good not to. I do not know what this means for Lauren, I hope it is not his end with the Gunners. He is a great defender. In the end, I don’t know what will happen to him, but I do wish him the best.
Joel Martin
21:15 Posted in Sports | Permalink | Comments (18) | Email this
Comments
Rubbish, While senderos can provide sufficient cover and is better in the air, he lacks the speed and athleticism of Gallas. NEED I REMIND you of what Drogba (the crap last year version at that) did to him?? Or how about how Rooney physically abused him. No, the reason we look so vulnerable in the air is because we have no one to cover the right side where all these crosses are coming from. Add a speedy left-footed Clichy and we are fine. We are a big club and need to start acting like it. That means poor Phil will have to wait. JUST LIKE most other promising, but above average at best CB's do at other BIG CLUBS. We put Gallas on the left and Senderos on the right. I promises you, we will not be Chelsea, nor Man U again, nor Liverpool. And Gallas will be PISSED OFF!
BAD IDEA.
Posted by: rwb44@hotmail.com | 03/10/2006
Yea, Senderos has looked a little shaky against Drogba, but that was the Community Shield, who really cares? We were better than ManU with Gallas on the left, and I'm not sure we would have won if a big guy like djourou was not in therre to win headers. Senderos is clearly better than Djourou, and he is also definitely better than above average for that matter.
Gallas and Toure are kinda clones, so it does make sense to match them up with a bigger guy to win balls in the air, most great partnerships do have one of each, so I dont think your argument is as bad as rwb44 would say, but I would like to see Clichy play before we decide to bench him. In all I kinda like your point, and you make a good argument, but it may be a little too early to write off a young guy like clichy.
Posted by: gooner4eva | 03/10/2006
One thing all these returnees might do is allow Toure to spell Gilberto. We could play Senderos or Djourou and Gallas in the center with Eboue and Clichy on the right and left.
Posted by: bob | 03/10/2006
We play Hoyte to have an englishman in the squad, not for his quality!
Clichy will come good bar his injuries...BTW, how did he fare in last nite's reserve team, anyone heard?
Posted by: kukayagunner | 04/10/2006
I would rather play someone based on their quality and not on their nationality. Hoyte should stay on the sideline.
Posted by: ARSEfan | 04/10/2006
If Senderos has to accept a role as the 3rd choice centre back for a season or two, it is hardly the end of the World.
If we go deep in the CLeague and the domestic cups again this year we will be playing 60+ games again this season.
Our 3rd choice CB will likely play at least 30 of those games, whilst Djourou as 4th choice CB will still play perhaps 15 1st team games and at least the same number of matches for the reserves.
This current Arsenal team may not have quite the strongest 1st XI that we have seen under Wenger, but I am certain that we have never had this depth of quality squad before!
Posted by: Rob | 04/10/2006
The depth of the squad is one of the best assets that the team has this season. With the potential length of the season I would much rather have a quality depth than a better first 11.
Posted by: gunnerman | 04/10/2006
No detailed information on Clichy last night but he did not play 90 mins so I think he is still far from being fully fit. Gallas' inclusion in the Charlton game was a risky one. He seemed to be struggling with his injury and I have to praise him for his effort.
When everyone is fully fit, there is no question that our centreback pairing will be that of Toure and Gallas. But given Clichy's condition, I would say that Djourou has to partner Toure while Gallas fill in the leftback position.
You may think that I am being ungrateful towards Senderos. I never forget his contribution and great performance in the last two seasons. He will still be good enough to play against most teams. But he simply has to work on his game before he is ready to play against all type of opponents.
At the moment, Senderos is fragile against aggresive and strong forwards such as Drogba, Beattie, and probably Johnson. He is also lacking pace. When he finally solve his weakness, I am sure he will be a great great player for us.
Posted by: patpat | 04/10/2006
I'd rate Djourou a better prospect and player then Senderos; but that aside first choice is Eboue, Toure, Gallas, Clichy.
Clichy is a far better left back then senderos is a centre half. Gallas is a far better centre half then Senderos.
The logic is simple; we always play our best four.
Posted by: sucky | 04/10/2006
Djourou has more pace and strength than Senderos.
Gallas has far more goal threat and better defensive nouse than Clichy.
So
Eboue Toure Djourou Gallas
this defence has played together for us and not conceded a goal (man u and sheff u).
I am happy for senderos to get some games in place of Djourou but otherwise I would leave it alone. but I see wenger doing this
Eboue Toure Gallas Clichy
should clichy get injured again then surely only Gallas can do the job there. Hoyte is just not good enough. he has been in the team while we had injuries to Senderos, Clichy and Djourou. If any one of those had been fit Hoyte would not have played.
Posted by: gazzap | 04/10/2006
Djourou is much better than Senderos. A blind man can see that. I swear the people that rate Senderos so highly must barely watch the games. He gets turned all the time, gets the done for strength (supposed to be his good point). He's basically a clumsy oaf who can only defend well when he has a 5 man midfield in front of him and he is allowed to defend deep. When he has to push up, forget it.
Djourou should be alongside Toure, he is the only one that has the agility of Toure and the size and presence of Terry or maybe Senderos. He could be the best of the lot.
Gallas is more effective at left-back as well. He is brilliant there. You get centre back and left back all in one. He also has a liberated attacking game which is very underrated.
Posted by: gooner24 | 04/10/2006
Some of these comments are absolutely ridiculous.
How the fuck is Djourou so much better than Senderos? Big phil has played before djourou in every circumstance, both for arsenal and for the swiss. He has had two bad, bad games, one in the Community shield where Drog raped him and the other game against Everton. Just because Djourou played above himself against ManU and Sheffield doesn't mean he is far and away better than Senderos, who has become one of the best center halves 21 and under in the world. How come everyone forgot about Djourou's lack of a mark on Mellborg on our debut? Take it easy on big Phil, his positives clearly outweigh his negatives, which seem to be a couple bad games.
-Good Job Joel
Posted by: blackpoolGunner | 04/10/2006
Senderos has had more than a couple of bad games. Your obviously one of those fans that forgets mistakes unless they lead to an opposition goal. Senderos has made a million "fu*k ups and gotten away with them and lots more which have been punished. Even against Togo for Switzerland he was terrible.
I like the guy, and he is solid enough, but Djourou is different class. Just because Senderos did things before Djourou doesn't make him inferior. Plenty of players represent their country young and never reach predicted heights. Senderos is lucky he as no competition apart from Patrick Mueller and Djourou himself.
Posted by: gooner24 | 04/10/2006
I wrote this article, and I am glad you guys are posting so much on it.
After reading some posts I have realized that I may be wrong to find Gallas-Toure center combination so ineffective after only watching one game. I thought I had found a glaring weakness after only one game, and this was probably premature. I also should give Clichy a chance to prove himself as well, as I admit I haven't seen him play enough to say that Gallas would be more effective at left back.
The Senderos vs. Djourou question is still clear in my mind, however. Senderos is rated ahead of Djourou by both Wenger and Jakob Kuhn, the Swiss head coach. Neither of these men are "blind." Neither of them "barely watch the games." Senderos is very young, he's only 21, and he is bound to make mistakes. Who are we to assume that Djourou will never make any mistakes, or even less mistakes than Senderos, who has 2 seasons of Premiership experience under his belt. While I agree that Djourou will potentially be a better player than Senderos, right now, as we are very capable of winning every competition we are playing in. Yes Senderos has a problem defending Drogba, but what center-half in the Premiership doesn't right now? The fact is experience is irreplaceable, and Senderos' injury should not make him fall below Djourou in class. This "what have you done for me lately" approach is just not fair to Senderos. Djourou wouldn't have even played this year had Phil had not gotten hurt.
So there's my case. If you think you can change my mind, go ahead. I am eager to listen to your arguments, that's what this site is all about. Thanks again and keep posting.
Posted by: Joel Martin (the author) | 04/10/2006
I remember that few years ago I had my doubt on Toure as a centreback. He was an awesome athlete but he often got caught off position. He lacked the timing and judgment that a solid centreback should have. But he has improved greatly over the years. Only the most biased anti-Arsenal folks would refuse to admit that he is now one of the best centrebacks in the world.
Djourou is, in my opinion, similar to Toure. He is fast and strong. But he lacks the positioning sense that Senderos has. Senderos is probably the better reader of the game, a better leader and a natural stopper. Both have their strength and weakness.
Swiss team play more defensively and they defend deeper. Senderos is thus the obvious choice. But Arsenal push their defense line up and it is always a danger to play a slow centreback given our style. Given current situation, I favor Djourou's athletism.
Geez.. it's really hard for me to say this coz deep inside I believe that Senderos can really be a much classier defender, he just has all the natural talent that a centreback should have.
Posted by: patpat | 04/10/2006
Senderos is a decent player, he does have the tendency to make stupid mistakes. What Phillipe does have going for him is the fact that he is the best header of the ball in the team, bar none. I feel we need him to play mainly because he is "old fashioned". A quick centre back (Kolo or Gallas) and Phillipe would be ideal. With players like Kolo and Gallas at the back we have a recovery agent. Someone who can use his pace to thump the ball into the stands if Phillipe fucks up. I would prefer Kolo to partner Senderos with Gallas on the left. That leaves us with two quality players on the bench. Djourou and Clichy, since when is that a bad thing? This season could well involve 60 games plus, and injuries will occur. Senderos/Djourou/Clichy aged 21,20,21 respectively are for the future.
Posted by: blinkrebel | 04/10/2006
Check out Senderos's positional sense against Man United at Old Trafford last year for Rooney's goal. Let the ball go right over his head for Rooney to smash it in.
Djourou is better. He has the agility of Toure and the presence of Terry etc. There is nothing written in stone which says you have to have a clumsy oath in your team to provide a strong defence.
Fact is, our defence was great against Man United. I'm guessing that indicates that that particular dfence is really rather good.
Posted by: gooner24 | 05/10/2006
a message to gunner24:
If you think you know more than Wenger than why do you not manage the side? Wenger values Senderos ahead of Djourou. Wenger is not dumb. He does not think Senderos is a "clumsy oath," which was good for a laugh by the way. If you only want to address every mistake Senderos has made and only look at every good thing Djourou has done, of coure Djourou would look better. Senderos was a warrior against the Koreans in the World Cup, one of the best performanes I've ever seen from a defender. But you are quick to ignore that game, and every good thing Big Phil has done for that matter. Djourou probably played above himself against ManU, but other factors were at play as well, such as an out-of-form Rooney and no Ji-Sung Park in the line-up, who went at our defense all game. While Djourou could potentially be much better than Senderos, he isn't now. If you disagree with this than you are proclaiming to be smarter than Wenger.
In all, please do not act as if you are one of the best football minds in the world, because you are not.
Posted by: blackpoolGunner | 05/10/2006
The comments are closed.