Full backs: by SV
I have already today commented on one positive aspect of our game against Sunderland and I would now like to comment on another: our full backs. The abilities of both of our current starting full-backs have come under severe scrutiny by pretty much everyone. There were many (sorry, there ARE many) who do not think that Kieran Gibbs and Carl Jenkinson can yet cut it at the top level.
But I believe that Saturday’s match against Sunderland should have given even their harshest critics something to think about. I though Kieran Gibbs especially was excellent. It wasn’t quite a flawless performance, as he was occasionally caught out of position and had to be covered by Vermaelen. However, this happens to every full-back, no matter how experienced or skilled. The nature of the position, where you have to venture up the pitch to help with the attack, is always going to leave you with moments when the opposition are counter-attacking, and your still in their half.
And the other aspects to Gibbs’ game were very good. One on one, I didn’t see him lose a battle all afternoon and he played with heart and energy throughout the ninety. He is, in my opinion, rightfully starting ahead of Santos. He has improved steadily since the beginning of this year, and long may it continue.
Moving on to Carl Jenkinson. Jenkinson was equally as effective if not as tidy in defence. He too played with a great deal of heart and rarely stopped running. It must also be noted that he was facing decent (not great, but decent) opposition in James McLean. McLean is a powerful, quick and skilful player…who Jenkinson kept in check well. I was not so impressed with the way Carl attacked, however, as he seemed nervous whenever he got the ball. You could tell when he had it that he was thinking too much about his next move and, as a consequence, always went for the easiest pass out, which was not necessarily the best one. Sky Sports, for once, summed up the performance well, describing it as ‘tentative’. I hope that more game time and experience will give Jenkinson the confidence he needs to be successful. I’ve always said that he has the tools to be a top player, he just needs culturing.
Overall, I would have to say that I was happy with our full-backs and indeed our defence as a whole. While I concede that lacked lustre offensively, I believe that the reporters talking about the ‘same old Arsenal defence’ are spouting lazy journalism. Throughout the match, there was only really once when we were really cut open by Sunderland, and even that only really lead to a half chance.
That’s it from me today, but I’ll try and get my own (delayed) analysis out later.
Till then.
If you liked this article, you can follow me on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SVGunner.
COMMENTS GUIDELINES: ANY COMMENTS WITH SWEARING OR PERSONAL ABUSE WILL BE DELETED WITHOUT EXCEPTION: PLEASE DISCUSS THE SUBJECT IN A FRIENDLY AND OBJECTIVE MANNER. SERIAL ABUSERS WILL BE BANNED. PLEASE BE NICE TO YOUR FELLOW GOONERS! NEW IDEA!! If A comment is deemed EXTRA SPECIAL I reserve the right to sopy it and use it as an article in its own right. (Edited of course!)
No comments:
Post a Comment