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.
For more, check out www.theArsenalreport.com
16 Responses to “What is Arsenal?s Best Back Four?”
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
October 4th, 2006 at 6:49 pm
The back four was all over the place against Sheff Utd for two reasons, Gallas was worried about pulling his hamstring and Justin Hoyte.
Hoyte is laughably inadequate and in every game we play he’s a liability. He’s a bit like Cygan, every game he played you could guarantee he’d be to blame for the ball ending up in the back of the net somewhere along the line.
However, never fear. Clichy is much better than Hoyte, but personally I think Eboue, Toure, Djourou, Gallas looked pretty watertight in the games they played together. Djorou impresses me more than Senderos, he is much better on the ball and much quicker too. Senderos is not a bad defender by any means, but his shortcomings tend to get the better of him.
Theoretically, I would prefer Toure and Gallas to play in the middle together, but no-one at left back is strong enough yet to make the position their own. So I would stick with Eboue, Toure, Djourou, Gallas.
October 4th, 2006 at 9:54 pm
Its a good question. I think it totaly depends on the opponent.
If the other team play in the air a lot, then we need a tall guy there …Sendy and Toure in the Middle with Gallas on the left.
If we need more dynamic in the left, then Clichy is the answer.
Eboue or Lauren, tough question. Lauren has been playing realy well for the time he was in Arsenal. He is better defensivly than Eboue, but Eboue is more mobile.
When everyone is fit, we will have a very good back line that is changable to fit the situation we are in.
Can Lauren play in the Left , can Eboue play in the left , where else these guys can play.
Eboue Toure Gallas Clichy
or Eboue Toure Sendy Gallas
… Many choices. Which is very good ……
October 4th, 2006 at 10:33 pm
If Gilberto gets injured or just needs a rest, I would like to see Toure play a few games at his position. It would be interesting. That would leave Eboue-Senderos/Djourou-Gallas-Clichy in the back. Lauren might also be able to replace Gilberto. Wenger might also want to play Baptista as the holding midfielder, but I do not know if that is his best position.
October 4th, 2006 at 11:05 pm
It's quite clear:
With Clichy back,
Eboue - Toure - Gallas - Clichy
Without Clichy
Eboue - Toure - Senderos/Djourou - Gallas
October 5th, 2006 at 3:45 am
At present, the best back four is Eboue, Toure, Djourou and Gallas. When Senderos, Clichy and Lauren return, there will be options. I doubt Lauren replacing Eboue. I also doubt Clichy making the left back position his own. But Senderos could replace Djourou, although Djourou is learning really fast.
The best part is that we have so many good options. As long as Hoyte doesn’t play, any which way you look at it, our defence looks great.
October 5th, 2006 at 5:21 am
The other thing to consider here is that Senderos can play left back.
We could also plsy with three at the back, toure gallas and senderos with two wide men in midfield of 5.
If the other team had good wingers you may want Gallas at LB and Lauren at RB as they are more natural defenders.
October 5th, 2006 at 9:25 am
The great thing is - now we are having quite a few OPTIONS. The CB position in particular, be it putting Toure, Gallas, Senderos, Djourou there, they would do a good job I’m pretty confident. Although my personal favourite is Toure+Djourou at the moment.
RB with Lauren and Eboue, whoever starts they will be more than capable.
Only concern may be LB, hopefully Clichy will stay healthy. Otherwise, if Gallas doesn’t fancy playing there, I have a feeling AW may move Lauren there. Lauren is too good a player for a back up, and Eboue has established himself as one of the most dynamtic right backs in the game.
October 5th, 2006 at 10:08 am
Digressing slightly…..but when Lauren is back and occupying the RB position, I would love to see Eboue as a Right Winger in Ljungberg’s stead. Eboue is strong has terrific pace and his crossing/passing ability has significantly improved in the last few months…I think he would be lethal in that position.
October 5th, 2006 at 11:28 am
Interesting thought… b/c he does have the lightning pace which Freddie has lost… although long-term I don’t know about his crossing ability, but again I could be wrong. It’d be interesting to give Eboue a couple of run outs there just to see what he could do.
October 5th, 2006 at 11:29 am
Having too many lineup options are the kind of problems managers dream about!
October 5th, 2006 at 11:38 am
Exactly!
October 5th, 2006 at 2:59 pm
WOW! That would be such a Wenger type move. Convert Eboue to wide midfield/wing and regain the defensive capabilties of Lauren. Brilliant! Ljundberg does not cause defenders to back up (as in scared to get beat) anymore. In fact Freddie was got pummeled by Charlton’s LB. When Eboue attacks he gets yards of space (as in repect/fear)or two defenders trying to close him down. Plus Eboue will defend/cover the RB.
Gallas looking iffy for Scotland. I hope he doesn’t play and came come back to us in good condition.
October 5th, 2006 at 3:02 pm
Senderos at LB would remind me of Cygan-not enough pace and no crossing capability..
October 5th, 2006 at 4:27 pm
No doubt….we need him totally fit. By the way great work on the Setanta stuff….I am moving and losing my DirecTV so this is just in time for me. Thanks
October 6th, 2006 at 9:59 am
I think that Eboue should stay at RB; I think he should be our first choice. It’s a shame that Lauren’s starting career should end, but there’s no way he could be as good as Eboue when he hasn’t played for like 8 or 9 months. It might take him 2 months to get back on form.
Our first choice back four should be, right now, Gallas at left, Toure and Djourou in the middle, and Eboue at right. In a few weeks, when Clichy is fully fit, it should be Clichy at left, Toure and Gallas in center, and Eboue at right. if Lauren wants to help out in the midfield (like we haven’t got enough already, but, one may say, does a team ever have too many midfielders… besides Chelsea) then it’s okay.
Off topic, I think we should run a 4-3-1-2 with the back four, Freddie at right mid, Cesc at center, and Gleb at left mid, and Rosicky playing CAM, with TH14 and RVP up front. That’s my first-choice lineup.
October 6th, 2006 at 10:00 am
I think that Eboue should stay at RB; I think he should be our first choice. It’s a shame that Lauren’s starting career should end, but there’s no way he could be as good as Eboue when he hasn’t played for like 8 or 9 months. It might take him 2 months to get back on form.
Our first choice back four should be, right now, Gallas at left, Toure and Djourou in the middle, and Eboue at right. In a few weeks, when Clichy is fully fit, it should be Clichy at left, Toure and Gallas in center, and Eboue at right. if Lauren wants to help out in the midfield (like we haven’t got enough already, but, one may say, does a team ever have too many midfielders… besides Chelsea) then it’s okay.
Off topic, I think we should run a 4-3-1-2 with the back four, Freddie at right mid, Cesc at center, and Gleb at left mid, and Rosicky playing CAM, with TH14 and RVP up front. That’s my first-choice lineup.