kiwomya wrote:I think people are a bit selective when it comes to "favourites" like Sagna. He's as much a part of the back four as anyone and therefore as much to blame.
I appreciate the manager and coaches responsbilities but with Sagna's experience should we not expect a bit more? After all they are not fucking robots. He must have an idea where he's going wrong himself.
That seems to assume that just cos they're all part of the same back 4 they're all automatically doing their own job equally as well/badly as each other.
Whereas for years now imo Sagna has consistently done his better than any of his defensive colleagues. Not perfectly by any means & he's been shite recently, not to mention his attitude at Southampton was a disgrace (regardless of any contract issues), but overall I believe that 
he doesn't need to share equal blame for Gibbs' naivety, Vermaelen's headless-chicken-on-a-blue-Smarties-rush-doing-an-impression-of-John-McClane-with-5-minutes-to-save-the-world act, or Koscielny & Mertesacker's combined strength of a jellyfish erection etc. He has his own faults obviously but he's far more solid than the rest of the back 4.I think part of the thing with Sagna (generally speaking, not necessarily aimed at you) is that a lot of the stuff he does well is slightly under the radar, quietly efficient but still important. He doesn't have the "showy" side to his game that every player seems to need these days to be considered any good by the youtube compilation generation.
Everton away the other month we spent the entire first half with absolutely nobody in front of him at all, bar one 5-minute spell when Ramsey came across to give the ball away in the build up to the goal. No idea who was meant to be there but the rest of the half Ramsey appeared to be playing left midfield & Walcott down the inside left or up front. We could easily have been butt-fucked to high heaven by Baines & Pienaar down our right but we weren't, in no small part due to Sagna's positioning, timing of his tackles and getting his angles right. Simple things that most defenders should know, but it's amazing how many don't – especially at Arsenal in recent years. And on top of that he still managed to bomb forward throughout the half to provide our sole outlet on the right. He looked absolutely fucked by half time. Yet all anyone seemed to notice was his part in Fellaini's goal and his shit crossing.
He's been massively underrated for years, even amongst Gooners until recently, and perhaps a few people have gone overboard the other way now - especially since his contract situation is another stick to beat Wenger with - but as a defender he's easily one of the best in the league, CB or FB.
