It’s a mixture of things. Great defensive teams defend as a team. Look at Liverpool on Saturday. All they’re players were making sure they won the 50-50s and closed down. You can have the best back 4 in the world but if you keep leaving them exposed 4 v 4 they’ll concede more. When we had Vieira and Petit batterramming opposition midfielders they were winning the ball countless times per game. We don’t have the midfielders to do that today and because of that they are instructed to retreat and block. So you’ll always be on the backfoot against Liverpool as we were. In theory Torriera plays that role but he’s so small and easily pushed off the ball. We could do with a DM upgrade and someone like Ndidi may give us that physicality in the middle of the park.
Then you have to look at the fullbacks, Monreal’s way too slow and Kolasinic is often way out of position. Hopefully Tierney solves the leftback problem. Bellerin made some pretty bad errors last year.
Our centrebacks haven’t been physically imposing enough. Mertesacker was tall but slow. So Luiz and Saliba are signs we’re going in the right direction. When you have taller physically imposing players you defend set pieces better
Wenger rebuilt that defense for the invincibles though and the defense improved with the likes of Petit, Gilberto and Viera. In Graham’s last season we conceeded 49 goals in the league.
He did push the ball but there was not enough power behind the shot for it to go far. Weaker left foot shot should of been caught hence why it did not go far from him
It’s a right foot shot actually and it wasn’t as soft as you’re making it sound. He can’t catch that shot, he was all stretched out, all he could do is push the ball but I can’t really blame him that much that he couldn’t get it far and away, for me Sokratis has to pick up that ball but he is casually strolling as if he is in the park and his date is running late.
For me you can’t really excuse the goalkeeper there but then he did redeem himself over the course of the game, as Tottenham should’ve scored more than 2.
I feel like if he really is the main individual error maker in the team, those stats are possibly skewed towards last season when he had a bit of a shaky start. Improving all the time generally since then.
Sokratis going unnecessarily for the same ball as Xhaka was the initial error that could’ve prevented the shooting opportunity at source
I think @Phoebica, as Mourinho said so aptly in the half time discussion of the match yesterday- if there are no errors in a football game, there are no goals.
Even long range goals can have blame apportioned to them somehow.
I’m of the opinion there’s a place for both back 4 and back 5 approaches depending on the game and our options. I also think the experience of Luiz and Sokratis largely goes out of the window at this point. So with that in mind:
If Arsenal would make the loan of Pablo Mari a permanent signing they are going to have seven central defenders on the books. I’d think it’s close to a certainty there is not going to be another centre back signing.
