So who are our center back pairings? It’s been a bit of a rollercoaster back there this season. A constant target for abuse as our main problem at the side, failing to deal with set pieces and being sloppy in general.
And then William Gallas. Over confident, cocky, lazy and a bad captain. Cocking up, failing to attack balls, being spotted with cigarettes and bad mouthing the team. And then he caused our beloved Kolo to hand in a transfer request because of some disagreement.
Kolo himself cannot be absolved of blame, looking a shadow of the player he was, not just in terms of ability but effort as well.
Who did that leave us with? Fishface reject and Johan Djourou. Hardly inspiring.
Correct me if I’m wrong but our current pairings have gone from “Kolo-Gallas > Gallas – Silvestre > Gallas – Djourou > Kolo – Djourou > Gallas – Kolo”. No wonder we’re a bit shit there, how are we
It seems as if we’re back to the troublesome duo of Kolo and Gallas. Both fantastic players individually but did Wenger not say himself that they cannot play together? Current results may beg to differ, with the team keeping several consecutive clean sheets but cast you’re minds back to 2007-08. Kolo and Gallas were playing together very succesfully and looked solid. What happened by March-April? Everything just collapsed, which is why I’m wary of a Kolo – Gallas partnership.
In my opinion, Djourou has to be the mainstay in the defence. He will be our rock for years to come – Hopefully! His height, presence and willingness to attack those long balls not only shores up our set piece problem but offers us something that neither Kolo and Gallas can.
With his renewed form, I really can’t see past a “Gallas – Djourou” formation, which I think is a cracking one. Really, we have no need for a center back. It’s central midfield that’s the problem.
Also, I think a big congratulations is due to Billy G. I must say, I despised him only a few months ago but after being stripped of the captaincy, he got his head down and is finally looking like the consistent, experienced, world class center back we need. You go Billy!
And on a side note, what is up with Silvestre? He was meant to be out for three weeks after the first Cardiff game. A month later and where is he? Did he not recently play in a charity game? I’m pretty unhappy with the lack of clarity on the situation.
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