After his one game ban for the red card he picked up against Chelsea was served, Per Mertesacker might have thought he’d have come back into the team.
Instead, Arsene Wenger has kept faith with Gabriel alongside Laurent Koscielny, and the Brazilian has been part of a back four that has kept two successive clean sheets. Ahead of Sunday’s game against Leicester, it seems likely the BFG will find himself on the bench again, with Wenger wary of the the Foxes’ counter-attacking strength.
Asked at his press conference today why he’d not returned Mertesacker to the side yet, he said, “It’s difficult for me to go into any individual assessment. I think he has played many games. Sometimes I use a different formula.
“Per Mertesacker is a great leader, a very respected one in our dressing room, but I have three centre backs and I adapt a little bit to their level of form, to the number of games they’ve played and to the opponents we play against.
“What are their strengths and where can they hurt us?”
On the face of it, it would seem as if Gabriel is going to keep his place, although Mertesacker’s experience may be something he considers useful in a game of this importance.
Tough one to call but how about all three lol Leicester wouldn’t be expecting that!!! Ok I jest!!!
Wise call to have Gab rather than Mert against the pace of Vardy and Mahrez
Also, maybe Le Prof is giving Gabriel and Bosscielny the run of games needed to strike a partnership in the run up to the face off with Barcelona.
Yeah about Barcelona… Is anyone checking their results each week, watching them end careers, and absolutely dreading our tie? ?
At last he now understands about adapting the starting 11 to counter the opponents strengths. Never too late but a start at least.
Considering people are now saying we aren’t favorites, I expect us to win as has been the case all season when we’re underdogs.
Just don’t lose and spank those No Heart Lane wannabes back below us we they’ve always belonged.
Forever COYG!!!
@ Prof, who the f*UK do you think you are. Have you ever managed a top Premiumiership team? I doubt it. Tosser!
Normally I ignore such asinine comments but you dude need to get a grip.
I’m so sick of people trying to delegitimise criticism of Wenger because we have less experience of managing a football team. I guess you also can’t criticise David Cameron… or fucking Hitler, because they have more experience of being political head of a country. Fuck off!
I’m a huge fan of Wenger btw and not in anyway attempting to compare him to Hitler or pigfucker…
What a fallacious comparison. Political leadership is not selected on merit or specialism, but through democratic(ish) process. Managers of football teams are selected as they are considered to have the correct blend of management acumen to compliment there knowledge specific to the sport. The leader of a country on the other hand is selcted by the people based upon pledges and commitments – they very much should be held to account for anything. To insinuate that Wenger is inflexible and naive is just a dull narrative not backed by observation. His formations have varied over time, the style has adapted… Read more »
It’s an opinion. Some people think Taylor swift is shit, some think she is brilliant.
The day we are not allowed to have an opinion is the day we become Muslim women.
You sir are a cad and not a gentleman! I fancy you may have lilywhite tendencies!
Don’t understand why this was downvoted so much, only in the past few years has Wenger really learnt to adapt our game to opponents. Remember when we got destroyed by Man City and Liverpool and when we faced them the next season, we learnt to sit deep and counter-attack?
Think sometimes the boss just tryz to Intentuonao provoke us. Continue Gabriel/Kos especially vs Leicester who tormented rather fast CBs in Otamendi and Demechilis.
Thumbs up for creating a new word: intentuonao.
Not sure what it means, but I like your gumption.
Think sometimes the boss just tryz to Intentionally provoke us. Continue Gabriel/Kos especially vs Leicester who tormented rather fast CBs in Otamendi and Demechilis.
Demichelis, known for his speed like Adam Johnson is known for his babysitting.
Seriously though, if you read the details of the texts that were divulged in that case they’re really weird and unsettling – I think I might’ve had a bit of sick come up after having read them.
Maybe I’m alone here, but jokes about grown-ups grooming underage girls don’t really do it for me. They tend to overlook the fact someone is an actual victim.
last I checked, the example of fast CB doesn’t include Demechilis.
Demichelis is one of the few PL players I’d gladly race for money.
As long as we tear the foxes a new one, I don’t care who plays
It’s a tough one. I worry that Gabriel is prone to dive in and Leicester have the weapons to punish any mistake but at the same time Per’s lack of pace could be an issue… Both quality centre backs though so it’s a good dilemma to have.
“prone to dive in” as per did at Costa…
That’s it, take something that’s happened ONCE and assume from there.
That picture looks like Per is trying to convince the bouncer to let his drunk mate into the club.
Gabriel has his faults obviously ,as seen when only the brilliance of Bellerin prevented Bournemouth from scoring but generally his game is improving and we look solid defensively as a unit so I can’t see Wenger changing personnel. If Coquelin has been raring to go in training I think he will replace Flamini. If Theo is in any kind of form he may just start him with Giraud on the bench but only Arsene will know that. This is not a MUST WIN game as there are many points left to play for with our Santi yet to come back… Read more »
Although mathematically you may be correct that this isn’t a ‘must win game’, I honestly believe that psychologically it is. I want the mindset of the players to be that they BELIEVE they can win the prem, but also be fully aware that they’ll have to be on their mettle for every game in order to do so. I also believe that only a win over Leicester will do this.
We’ve seen Leicester turn all manner of defenders inside out, regardless of pace, so I’m not sure which defensive pairing would be best. However, I do think Bellerin’s defensive recovery skills will be vital on Sunday, as they were against Swansea and Bournemouth.
It’s a home game so we will be attacking more than them, therefore a high line. Easy call, Gabriel. More importantly though, Coq needs to start.
“I have three entire backs”
? if Only Diaby would have had two entire legs things could have been so different
haha, fixed now
Maybe Arsene was coining a new phrase in a Shakespearian style: the beast with three backs.
Arsene is a closet filthmonger, clearly.
Diaby may just be back to having two entire legs. He’s in the squad for this weekend’s French cup match. I hope he does very, very well.
I pray, he does well. Just didn’t like how his career was cut short at Arsenal. I sometimes think of Eduardo too. Hope these two manage to become great coaches.
The match is over. Marseille won 2-0. Diaby was an unused sub. Still, just being able to make the subs bench is a massive milestone for him! Hopefully he will begin to feature in games for the rest of the season.
As long as the Coq plays,I prefer Mert.
I think we should all hope that our attack is more on point than our defense. It’s simple. We just need to put in 1 goal more than them.
With Theo firing blanks when he does shoot, Alexis finding hard to get his shots on target and Giroud being tired, I hope our attack pulls one out the bag and surprises the fuck out of Leicester.
And when we all expect Gabriel to start this, how typical it would be for Arsene to bring back BFG. Does that make BFG the favourite to start? I am confused.
My prediction…whether we start Mert or Gab. If we win it was another great decision…if we lose Wenger must go.
If per starts vardy tears him a new arse hole
We beat Leicester before with Mertesacker in the team and he still has just the one : P
As an afterthought, Flamini also started that game.
I am now expecting per and Gabriel
@Arteta fans funny u
please I need just a win
but to me I will pick Gabriel ahead of Martersacker because I will not like to be jumping up from my seat to catch vardy and marhez & Co , which I can’t do from there. more game time will give Gabriel more experience because he can’t get experience in the bench
but Wenger knows the right changes to do #COYG
Can someone please tell Gabriel not to make any rash challenge in the box.
Why do we overlook arteta as one of the midfield anchor? I recall during the 2-5 win at the king power stadium last year, leicester city gave arsenal the runarounds(not hard, admittedly) in the center of the pack until arteta joined the fray and the gunners bossed the midfield. If we talk of experience on sunday game, arteta should get a look in as well.
I posted 2 comments to say, they don’t show up on the thread. I posted them at 1pm. What’s up with that arseblog?
Gabriel is faster but mistake-prone (yeah yeah, Per against Chelsea, etc…). Someone needs to tell him to stay focused and calm. Cech has a big role to play again.
Gabriel and Coquelin should start. And despite his wretched form, this game suits Walcott.
Vardy will disappear up Gabriel’s magnificent nostril
Per all the way! Gabriel exposed against Bournemouth….it’s Coq we need and we need it now!
We need the Coq in to counter their snappy Kante
So the boss says he has three centre backs. What does this mean for Calum Chambers?
Is he still undecided on him as to his position? Does he not completely trust that he is ready yet?
For me he is best suited to centre back but perhaps he’s doomed to being a utility player, like a good version of Phil Jones.
Per is a better defender than Gab and also much better at ball retention. We struggle building play without Mert in the side. The high press against the centre backs and Ramsey will force us to kick it long
Gabriel is injured he will not play tomorrow.
As mentioned, Gabriel is a developing player but one capable of rotating through Meterscielny. That means BOTH Per and Koscielny as he has attributes of both. That said, all these comparisons to Per seem to miss the point. Per is very good positionally. Gabriel was caught out and fleeced for pace himself last game against Bournemouth which had Bellerin not intervened would have led to a goal. It would not have led to any noise about lack of pace even though he lost the foot race and was caught out. Had it been Per, there would have been plenty of… Read more »