augie wrote:Steve o in your opening post you admitted that kos was absolute muck last season but has since turned it around big time so why so quick to write off the bfg ?
As I have said numerous times lately, the big german is being asked to play in a shambles back 4 that has no full backs and also play behind a defensive midfielder who cant defend
Put a quality DM like de jong in front of him and I have no doubt that you would see a big improvement in not just bert's performances but also the back 4 as a whole.
On the plus side I feel his reading of the game is excellent and he is the
only organiser in our whole team - it cant have escaped anybodys attention that we seem to be playing the offside trap more lately than we have in a long time and it is bert who organises them. Unlike some who shall remain nameless (
) I quite like the fact that when he gets the ball he just lays off a simple 10 yard pass to those more equipped to do something with it
On the negative side I have to say that I am absolutely baffled by his performance in the air - it isnt just that he is getting beaten in the air but also he doesnt seem to be committed to winning the challenges either
Of course this could be an aspect that might improve when he gets used to the physicality of our league but I cant say that I am certain of that though.
One last question.......how many of you can remember the absolute slating of kos after the 8-2 debacle in old shatford earlier this season ? The guy was written off as a dud and nowhere near good enough to be in our squad but all that has changed now - is it possible that his form has picked up because he is playing alongside someone like bert who organises and talks him through the games ? I am not saying for certain that this is the reason but it seems to be a big coincidence that his form has improved so much since the german came into the team
I will hold off judging the guy until next season
I suppose in fairness my expectations of him were a lot higher and that has probably impacted my view. Koscielny was an uncapped centre half that had spent most of his career in Ligue 2 and the highest level he'd reached was Lorient in Ligue 1 mid-table. It was obvious in his first season he was under-equipped but in fairness the guy has clearly worked his bollocks off on his physical attributes and become better for it
I will wind the clock back to the 8-2 too. What everyone, almost without fail, was calling for was a beast of a centre half that was equipped to deal with the pace of the PL. This was also shown up time and time again last season - The Britannia and the Reebok prime examples, as was the pathetically soft header Kaboul scored to complete last season's 2-3 shame against the Spuds. If Mertesacker was supposed to be that guy then I'm afraid he isn't. How can a man of 6'6" be so consistently outjumped by smaller players in a team that was crying out for someone to dominate. The case for the defence seems to be that he is a) an organiser and b) a simple user of the ball.
Well in response to a), I must have had my eyes closed since he came into the team because all I see is a quiet lad that looks lost. What little organisation there is seems to me to come from Vermaelen and Chesney.
As for b), well if that is what 80 odd caps is all about then big deal. There are dozens of centre halves that play a nice simple pass. I'm not knocking that attribute by the way. As you say, far better to keep it simple than constantly give possession away.
Song is shit, lets agree on that point, and that wouldn't help any CB in the world. We had the perfect answer in Lassana Diarra but he was a "bad egg" (spare me please) and we let him, Flamini and Gilberto go, signed Ramsey and over-promoted Song. Just one of a dozen examples of neglection of duty that spell out why the Self Harmer needs to go now.
However, Song's inability to play that role does not excuse a guy's ability to consistently lose out in the air to much smaller players and from having the pace of a carthorse. I'm not sure he'll ever be able to improve those 2 points either. I think being a CB in leagues like Germany and France, is far easier than the PL. When we roll up to the Britannia, Mertesacker will get exposed for exactly what he is and it will not be the first or the last time.
Keep on making assumptions about me, you're making yourself look like a fool. How do you know if i hate diaby and alumina or if i prefer Mertesacker over others? You don't, so don't act like you do. I take things as i see them. I was screaming at Henry for giving the ball away twice in quick succession and he's my favourite player of all time so i don't 'defend' players for the sake of it. Your childish bumping of this thread after Mertesacker's misake was a joke. All defenders make mistakes, especially when they haven't evne played a full season in the league/the team yet. God knows how you'd react if he had made the same mistakes that the likes of vidic have made against torres, or terry in rcent months etc...