In praise of the Arsenal defence since the Spurs defeat-A Case for the Arsenal defence by Dan S
When Per Mertesacker twice inexplicably played Spurs onside to score against Arsenal at the beginning of March, few thought he would end up one of our heroes in the race for 4th. Nor Laurent Koscielny, who was on the bench at White Hart Lane having spent much of the season as our third choice centre back.
That result in the North London Derby left many writing off our Champions League hopes, coming so soon after domestic cup defeats and a first leg drubbing at the hands of Bayern Munich, few thought we had the spirit or character to put the run together we would now need to close the seven point gap between ourselves and Tottenham.
To make matters worse our next game was in Germany, the way we were defending at this point coming back to England with our confidence not further shattered would be an achievement. That was the game where Wenger dropped Thomas Vermalen. With the tie effectively over given the event of two weeks previous it was deemed that Wenger was simply taking the opportunity to give the captain a rest mentally from the constant pressure.
Little did anyone know that night; Vermalen would only start one more game this season, something unheard of back in August. Confidence was so low that few would have also believed that going into that famous 2-0 win in Munich that we wouldn’t taste defeat again.
To underline what a feat it was for us to overtake Spurs from where we were back In February, it is worth noting that we took an incredible 26 points out of a possible 30 to finish above our old enemy by a single point. In other words even just one defeat in that run would have been enough for Spurs to have capsulized.
Unlike previous winning sequences this wasn’t based on the kind of free flowing attacking football we are renowned for. There was a certain focus, concentration, a desire to fight and to dig deep, uncharacteristic traits of Arsene Wenger teams.
While Ramsey found form, Arteta stepped up as a leader and Walcott and Podolski rediscovered their goal scoring touch it was largely down to the performances of the team defensively which proved the difference. Apart from the Reading and Wigan games most of the points really had to be fought for, matches where the margin for error was so small in terms of how it could of made the table different. Earlier on in the campaign Arsenal would not have held on with 10 men at West Brom and certainly would not have won games 1-0 away from home when not playing well. It gives us confidence we can take into next season, this group of players showing we have learnt how to win while not at our best. Arsenal have made ’1-0 to the Arsenal’ a famous song again – and who would have thought that Mertesacker and Koscielny would be the two responsible for it?
Which is why it was fitting that for the second season running Koscielny got the winner on the final day.
Dan/JUST ARSENAL
Laurent Koscielny the Catalyst Behind Arsenal's Top-Four Recovery
At one stage this season,Arsenal looked dead and buried.
Tottenham were comfortably ahead in the race for UEFA Champions League football, the Gunners had dipped as low as eighth in the English Premier League table and many had already concluded that the race for the top four was done.
But one man formed the basis of Arsenal's resurgence, and that man was Laurent Koscielny.
[caption id="attachment_8941" align="aligncenter" width="593"]
Laurent Koscielny[/caption]The Frenchman finished the 2011-12 season very strongly and looked a certainty to man the centre of Arsene Wenger's defence come the start of 2012-13.
Injury prevented him from taking his spot, though, and so commenced a merry-go-round of central defensive trials as Wenger attempted to find his strongest pair.
Thomas Vermaelen, the captain of the club, was a mainstay be it centrally or on the left. That left a dogfight between Koscielny and colleague Per Mertesacker to take the other spot.
Some Gooners suggested a switch to a three-man defensive line was necessary to incorporate them all—it's an ideal way of masking Mertesacker's lack of pace and frees up the full-backs into wing-back roles.
This indecision and uncertainty harmed the side's form for more than four months. It's arguable that the only position that doesn't prosper from squad rotation is centre-half.
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Laurent Koscielny[/caption]But Wenger stuck to his usual 4-3-3/4-2-3-1 hybrid and kept the faith in his players. Questions were asked, but eventually form picked up—Koscielny displaced Vermaelen in the starting XI and formed a consistent, formidable partnership with Mertesacker.
Of the final 10 games Arsenal played, eight were won, two were drawn and none were lost.
That's title-winning form, and the minimal five goals conceded during that time was the perfect reaction after losing 2-1 to Tottenham at White Hart Lane.
Over that stretch, Koscielny was the Gunners' most influential player.
His contribution in the final two games underline his style, commitment and clutch ability to come up big when needed.
Against Wigan Athletic, when tensions were running high at 1-1, the Frenchman made an acrobatic hooked clearance to stop the Latics taking the lead. His side, growing in confidence, went on to win 4-1.
That left them one victory away from assuring Champions League qualification, and that victory came courtesy of Koscielny's solitary strike in a 1-0 victory at St. James' Park.
Mertesacker and Kieran Gibbs had been caught out of position early on only for Laurent to bail them out with some superb defensive covering. After Mikel Arteta came off injured, the Frenchman took on leadership responsibilities without the armband: vocal, commanding, dominant.
Koscielny is fully appreciated by Arsenal fans and is now the unquestioned No. 1 central defender at the club.
SAM TIGHE/BLEACHER REPORT
