I don't get the we played well bs, if Spurs were a bit more clinical we could have conceced more goals in the 2nd half. In the 1st half we played all this tippy tappy shiiiit without creating any real clear cut chances. We get the early goal in the 2nd half and we only looked like getting another when Ramsey had that chance. Spurs were very very comfortable and you got the impression they would have scored again even if we had got it back to 2-2.

wenger doesn't respect the art of defending,that's why under him we Will never be successful again , and its not a problem that's recent,its been this way for years now

We will never move forward under Wenger purely because of this.

His teams just can't defend and this won't change anytime soon

Thomas Vermaelen is a woeful defender! He seems devout of criticism! I think that is also Wengers problem, he was good when he first signed and once wenger gets an idea that your good tour play every week no matter what your form is like!

What's happened to Vermaelen? i remember in his first season he was a beast. Vermaelen has been our worst defender this season and continues to make the same mistakes every game.

World Class defenders that have suffered from terrible coaching and a lack of organisation.

Well, Kosc and Mert are anyway. The rest are pretty good, too.

Kosc and Mert world class

Per is our best defender but also our biggest problem. With him in the side we simply must defend deeper but for some reason we still try to play a high line - it just doesn't work and there's too much uncertainty on what to do.

Wenger's tone and manner when talking about defending is so abstract and distant, you'd think he wasn't responsible for it.

One more time before I clock off.....in training, PRACTISE DEFENDING! You won't win important games without it Mr Wenger. Ps Bould, walkaway

World Class defenders that have suffered from terrible coaching and a lack of organisation.

Well, Kosc and Mert are anyway. The rest are pretty good, too.

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lol at Kos being world class. Mertesacker isn't close either.

Rodgers

Mertesacker is world class for Germany.

Koscielny has proved time and time again how good he is for Arsenal.

It's just the whole defensive system at Arsenal is crap.

I thought we limited their chances and defended reasonably okay before they scored. What happened for both goals was that a midfielder of their's broke through our midfield defensive line and our defenders backtracked instead of closing down the guy on the ball, Sigurdsson and Parker.

Up until that point I thought our midfielders had done a good job of holding that line.

comment by Penguin - At least Europa League games will be... (U13630)
posted 1 minute ago
Rodgers

Mertesacker is world class for Germany.

Koscielny has proved time and time again how good he is for Arsenal.

It's just the whole defensive system at Arsenal is crap.
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Koscielny is poor. Mertesacker is a good player but no where near world class.

Jog on TOOR, you're talking bollox. Kosicelny kept Messi in his pocket over two legs against Barca and he's poor? He's ten times better than that ugly hacking moron of a player Skyrtel.

Well he can't even get into a crap Arsenal defence for a start. He's poor. Always has been. Although I quite like him when he plays against us, he seems to help us out with an OG or two.

I'd prefer Skrtel over Koscielny to be honest. Which sort of tells you Koscielny isn't world class. A ridiculous suggestion.

All these world class players but such a poor side. Don't you ever think, maybe these aren't world class afterall? You don't have one world class player in your squad. Wilshere has the potential and Cazorla is close.

Rodgers Revolution

Koscielny is the most talented defender we have and he showed that for a season and a half where he was consistent. The past year has been a mix, but a key issue he has is his mentality. He has a tendency to panic too much and can make rash decisions. Once his confidence drops, it takes a while for him to get it back again. He's nowhere near as bad as Vermaelen, who is one of the most overrated defenders ever.

comment by AHB - Better Call Sol (U13431)

posted 21 minutes ago
What happened for both goals was that a midfielder of their's broke through our midfield defensive line and our defenders backtracked instead of closing down the guy on the ball, Sigurdsson and Parker.

Up until that point I thought our midfielders had done a good job of holding that line.
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Agreed, we should not have allowed to play them these through balls in the first place.

I don't hyperflate the "class status" of Arsenal players. I agree that Wilshere is wc and Cazorla next best thing.

There's one player I'd put beside Cazorla though and that's Koscielny. I don't know why Wenger insists on playing Merteasacker and Vermaelen ahead of him, who are both worse defenders imo, but this is the same man who'll play Ramsey ahead of Rosicky and Gervinho ahead of just going with ten players.

Koscielny is seriously talented, and if we actually had a genuine leader beside him in defence, you'd realise just how good a foil he is. His intelligence in reading the play is incredible. Such a smart defender.

Kos is a good marker and has made some class interceptions no doubt. But we need a foil for him, and somebody protecting the defence adequately, too.

I think Vermaelen is your best defender and it takes some balls to say that after today. Perhaps the Mertesacker-Vermaelen partnership isn't the right one. Both players need somebody with pace next to them, in my opinion.

Something seriously wrong with arsenals and Wengers approach to defending and scouting them. Arsenals best defence had old fashioned rocks like Adams. Campbell, Bould, Keown ect, but wenger has his heart set on technically good defenders who are good on the ball but can't defend, no instinct just pace and agility that bails them out. For some reason he refuses to back to his basics that he was so successful with, skill mixed with steel and grit! Too many fancy players who disappear when the going gets tough!

Arsenal dont need a change if manager, they need a change in the manager.

Some of arsenals defending over the last 4 years has been pitiful

At times today it was like a carry on film.....

He may not be "world class", but Koscielny was excellent last season and I don't know what's happening with him this. I think Wenger is convinced that he and Vermaelen can't play together (and to be fair, they have on occasion demonstrated that pretty well), and he won't drop Verm because he's captain.

Personally I have never rated Vermaelen and I think a lot of his flaws were overlooked in his first season because he scored a lot of goals, and because he was passionate and a bit of a "hard man", which the fans were desperate for when he signed. He has always been rash and prone to getting caught out of position by charging up the pitch to close down at the wrong times, and committing to challenges when he should just stand a player up. And this season with the captaincy he seems to have regressed.

Vermaelen's become a walking disaster, a shadow of his former self Toor. His confidence is shattered.

PeerlessPirlo, good post.

It's not just in defence though, it's in the middle of the park too where Wenger has replaced warriors with flair players. It's been getting steadily worse for 8 years now and he hasn't remedied the problem. If he doesn't buy strong physical players in defence and midfield this summer, and he probably won't, then our agonising decline will most likely just continue.

With the greatest of respect, he needs a complete slap across the face. Maybe even two.

The CBs are not the problem. Even the best CBs look bad if they are not protected from midfield. Sigurdson and Parker had all the time in the world to pick a pass. Arteta, Wilshere, Ramsey and Co are too offense orientated and lightweight.
Another problem is lack of coordination. The defenders are out of sync. If the other defender (Vermaelen) had followed Mertesacker's lead and stepped out, Bale would have been a yard offside. What is Bould doing? Isn't he supposed to teach these things?