Hello again everyone and first off apologies for not getting around to posting anything for a while as I just didn't get the time. Thank God that international break is over, however, so we can all focus on some proper football. We have a big game against Liverpool to look forward to and if we manage to win that game we will be in a great position to not only guarantee a top 4 finish, but also, push for that second spot.
I cam across an interesting article in The Independant, where Mertesacker gave a very interesting interview about how modern football sometimes lacks an arguing culture and he also cites this as one of the primary problems with the squad last season. Anyhow, here's the crooks of what he said;
“You need that arguing culture, “We lost that at times. It gets personal, and someone gets upset too quickly, but you have to face the truth and have a proper argument. That was normal 10 years ago and it has slightly changed.
“We lost that a bit, what is the intention of argument. It’s really important, not only in general, but in a footballer’s life.
“It has to get louder sometimes. We need to discuss, to find solutions, to get everyone in one direction. We had to think about how we can play better, especially defensively.
“We slightly changed approach and defended much better at Man City, even at Chelsea, when we lost 2-0.
“We decided to play more the easy ball, the secure ball, to not get exposed that quickly, and to drop off at times, and just be in good shape. You could see that. That was the benchmark for me, at Man City, how we played there. They couldn’t score against us.
“You learn a lot from defeats. As well, you need to learn from victories. That’s even more important, not to drop a single second.”
The big German also echoed Wengers view that a big part of why the team has been playing so well of late is down to the increasing familiarity the players now have with each other;
“Automatisms – when you know players better, especially your partner – are a big part of a footballer’s life,” he said.
“In the first 10 games, we had literally 10 different back fours, due to injuries, and we had to cope with that. It took its time. As a team, we look quite sharp defensively, not only relying on the back four. There’s more team effort, I feel.
“The post-World Cup difficulties were a new experience for the group, so it took us a long time due to injuries, lack of form.
“Everyone who was at the World Cup suffered an injury or lack of form. Now, slowly, as players come back, everyone needs to deliver and I think the selection is good at the moment.”
“We slightly changed approach and defended much better at Man City, even at Chelsea, when we lost 2-0.
“We decided to play more the easy ball, the secure ball, to not get exposed that quickly, and to drop off at times, and just be in good shape. You could see that. That was the benchmark for me, at Man City, how we played there. They couldn’t score against us.
“You learn a lot from defeats. As well, you need to learn from victories. That’s even more important, not to drop a single second.”
The big German also echoed Wengers view that a big part of why the team has been playing so well of late is down to the increasing familiarity the players now have with each other;
“Automatisms – when you know players better, especially your partner – are a big part of a footballer’s life,” he said.
“In the first 10 games, we had literally 10 different back fours, due to injuries, and we had to cope with that. It took its time. As a team, we look quite sharp defensively, not only relying on the back four. There’s more team effort, I feel.
“The post-World Cup difficulties were a new experience for the group, so it took us a long time due to injuries, lack of form.
“Everyone who was at the World Cup suffered an injury or lack of form. Now, slowly, as players come back, everyone needs to deliver and I think the selection is good at the moment.”
Arsenal are always, perhaps lazily, criticized as a team with no backbone and lacking in leadership, but I think Per shown real maturity and said all the right things here. He spoke like a real captain, in which he effectively has been with Arteta missing most of the season.
Right I will have a preview up tomorrow morning.
Subjectively, Cosmic Kid.
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