The Defence

September 16, 2007 | 81 Comments

Usually it’s not a good idea to have the back 4 rotated too much, because we can’t judge the defenders “individually.” The back 4 must work as an UNIT to be at its most efficient. There is not much point to have a top class defender if the back 4 fails to work well as an UNIT.

The famous Arsenal old back 4 weren’t that great individually, but together they formed a rock solid unit.

But they did not achieve this over night. George Graham used to spend an hour every training session to work on the back 4′s understanding and positioning.

Arsene Wenger is an attack-minded manager, so it’s unlikely he would spend as much effort working on his back 4. Besides, with the amount of games top clubs have these days, it’s difficult anyway.

I mean, one reason that made the old back 4 so difficult to beat was they were always PLAYING TOGETHER. Apart from a few back up central halfs slotting in when Bould or Adams was injuried, the SAME back 4 were almost there every game.

George loved to employ a high-pressure defence as well, putting his back 4 high up the pitch. Understand that neither Bould nor Adams nor Linigan nor O’Leary was the fastest central half around. But it worked because of their tremendous understanding to work their offside trap briliantly.

These days, with so many games in the calender, the Arsenal back 4 rarely have a settled lineup. As a result it’s much more difficult to work an effective offside trap. When the offside trap fails, the central halves are bounded to struggle.

David Seaman also made a valid point on his book “Safe Hands” – with the amount of foreign players in the backline today, it makes things even more complicated, since they all speak different languages.

[Editor's note: Found this excellent article right around the time that Andez posted this comment: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/premier_league/arsenal/article2462721.ece?print=yes&randnum=1190068185480]

Posted by Andez | Filed Under Mailbag