Bould – Page 2 – Bergkampesque

What has happened to our defensive discipline in the last few games? Arsenal started the season so well-organised in defence; conceding just two goals in our first five PL games. But with Vermaelen and Koscielny all over the place against Chelsea, and the Lion of Flanders bombing forward like a total nut-bum whenever he feels like it, it is difficult to say whether Arsenal have made progress or not.

Vermaelen’s kamikazes have been rightly criticised by the majority of the fans. His attacking endeavours against Olympiakos and West Ham – mostly late in the game when we were already ahead, seemed unnecessary and left us vulnerable at the back.

I cannot imagine Steve Bould feeling very comfortable with that, but I have no doubt that TV5 is simply acting on instruction. I guess the theory is to keep attacking in order not to invite pressure on our defence, and by going for a two (or more) goal-lead rather than closing up shop, we have a better chance to finish the game with all three points in the bag.

Bould-dozer has been asked by Wenger to sort out the defence this season, and in order to complete his task successfully, he will surely have doubts about defending a lead with risky attacking football late in the game.

But what is Wenger’s role in all of this? Although Arsene will really want a tight defence – which manager wouldn’t?! – he will also want Arsenal to play attacking, attractive football: to keep its identity. He will also have noticed that except for the goal-fest against Southampton at home, we were simply not scoring enough goals in the fist five games.

Something needed to change, and I reckon Vermaelen finds himself now caught between the Bould-dozer’s need for defensive discipline and Wenger’s desire to play attacking, heavenly football. He is stuck between a rock and a hard place.

In the last two games, we have seen a lot more involvement of our defence in our attacking moves. Gone seems the tight defensive discipline where only one of our four defenders – mostly one of our Full Backs – would go out to support our attack. Gone, seems the conservatism of the CB’s to focus on defending first and for all.

We all got the biggest shock of the season so far, when we conceded two super-soft goals from set-pieces against the Chavs. It just felt that overnight we lost our magic and we were back at the Arsenal defences of ‘recent old’. I reckon a lot had to do with the managers’ decision to keep Mertesacker on the bench. Big Per has made incredible progress in his second season at Arsenal, as his organisational, game-reading and natural leadership skills have all come properly to the fore, and Arsenal appears to be lost without them.

Vermaelen and Koscielny are similar CB’s. They remind me of Gallas, Kolo Toure and Martin Keown: energetic, adrenalin-driven, high levels of stamina, aggressive, strong in the air and on the ground, good tacklers, with good timing and good ability to go forward from a defensive position, if and when there is space for it. Every team needs a CB like this if it wants to be successful.

Mertesacker, on the other hand, reminds me of Sol Campbell, and to a certain extent of Tony Adams: he is calmer, and has a strong ability to organise his defence and keep discipline. Good in the air and on the ground, but clearly not the quickest turner and not the fastest defender. His reading of the game is so exceptional, though, that he will seldom find himself in a position where his weaknesses are exposed, and can subsequently be exploited by the opposition. Every team also needs a CB like this if it wants to be successful.

I have no doubt that Mertesacker will play a pivotal role this season, and our ability to win something will hinge disproportionately on him staying fit, most if not all of the season.

Mertesacker’s continuous selection will also allow Vermaelen to keep bombing forward, and keep both Bould and Wenger happy at the same time. The German has the ability to organise the defence, including one or two deeper laying midfielders, in such a way that the gaps left behind by the Belgian are appropriately covered.

There is a delicate balance to be struck between defensive discipline and attacking football, and one of the most interesting developments to watch this season, is how Bould and Wenger will work together to achieve it.

Let’s hope we end up with a Bould-dozer kept in the air by Wenger’s heavenly wings!

Total Arsenal.

One: Arteta and Cazorla are no mercenaries (in case there was any doubt left). They both gave everything tonight, all over pitch, and carried the team forward for large parts of the game. What a couple of awesome players!

Two: Steve Bould, judging by the evidence of tonight, can do a good halftime team talk. We were more organised, worked harder and never let the Greeks back in. His substitutions did also really work out for Arsenal tonight. All three of them made a difference: they were focussed and eager. I was very impressed with the Boulddozer tonight.

Three: Our young FB’s are showing great signs of maturity – just as they did against Chelsea and Man City – and what a difference this is making with last year’s FB situation at the start of the season.

Four: TV’s performance in the first half was poor, but he improved in the second half quite a bit. But why does he keep bombing forward continuously, even when we are in front and don’t need to chase a goal? It must be by instruction of Wenger and Bould, but I don’t like it at all.

Five: As much as I could judge from a dodgy stream, Coquelin did reasonably ok. The Ox had an unfortunate game and I am starting to wonder where he could play best: at the moment, in our 4-2-1-3 system, I can only see him up-front as one of our ‘fluent-three-attackers’, but as a pure winger he seems to be struggling at the moment (offensive as well as defensive). The difference in experience between, on one side Cazorla and Arteta, and on the other side The Ox and Le Coq, was very obvious tonight. Let’s hope the boys can learn quickly.

Six: With five goals in five, Gervinho is firing from all cylinders. He is so important for us at the moment: not just in terms of his goals but his general play as well. He makes himself available constantly and holds on to the ball well most of the time, and creates chances for others on a regular basis. Together with Arteta and Cazorla and the FB’s, he has been carrying the team tonight. I also thought Mannone did the simple things well tonight and I liked his calmness.

Seven: There is no need to despair about our strength in depth, yet. With Szczesny, Sagna, Mertesacker, JW10, Diaby, and Rosicky not involved at all, and Giroud, Theo and Ramsey starting on the bench, we were still able to field a strong team.

Eight: Despite Podolski’s goal, which he took well, he seems to be struggling at the moment to get hold of the game on the left hand side. His cooperation with Cazorla, and especially Gibbs, is good, but there are too many, and long, periods in which he is simply not involved enough in the game.

Nine: I was happy with Theo’s zest and focus when he came on as a substitute. That was much better than the insipid show he presented us with on Saturday. Let’s hope we get complete contract clarity soon.

Ten: The first half was pretty bad, and lessons have to be learnt again. But the second was much, much better – although by no means faultless – and will give us plenty of confidence and gusto to face the Hammers on Saturday.

All in all, not a bad night and a great result – especially when taking into account the result between Schalke and Montpellier tonight.

Keep the faith fellow Gooners!

Total Arsenal.