Does anyone have the feeling that Wenger has tested our patience far too much if he's going to next season without any left back signings? There are big question marks over Gibbs's fitness, and it's not like he played well everytime last season when he was fit. I really find it hard to see why we should treat him like the left back equivalent of Wilshere. Don't even get me started on Traore, he has always been inconsistent and yet we probably will have to see him on the field at least a few times next season. It's fair if Wenger thinks someone like Baines would be too expensive and not worth buying, but then you have Enrique who's in his last year of contract and someone we should be fighting tooth and nail for. Does someone in here actually support Wenger putting his faith in what we already have at left back?
Gibbs seems too injury prone and is the most one-footed player I have seen in a long time. I haven't seen enough of Traore in the past two years to make a judgment, but we seem to have taken a step back in this case.
Seems like AW thinks speed is the only quality required in a LB. Even if we kept Clichy, we still needed an upgrade at the position. It's be nice to get a LB who can deliver a ball and understands the concept of stepping up.
I think that actually both Gibbs and Traore (Gibbs more so) are overall fairly good attacking LBs. It's defensively that they worry me, especially Traore. I think if Gibbs can stay injury-free he could be an excellent LB. While we might think that this is a big what-if, you have to remember that Clichy was similarly troubled with injuries for the early parts of his career.
No and no. I think we will see TV5 (our new captain??) playing LB for much of the season with Gibbs and Trarore thrown in during early cup games and such.
Highly highly doubt that. Gibbs will certainly start. Only in emergencey situations will Vermaelen play there.
i'm fine with gibbs. just hope he is more present in attack than the garbage we saw from gael. from what i've seen from kieran so far, he is more ashley cole in attack than clichy.
If Gibbs can stay fit, I'm all for him getting the starting job. The thing is he won't be, and we need a better rotation. If we sign a CenterBack then id bet we will see Vermaelen there at lb a lot
How you judge somebody on injury history. In that case, Van P should be sold or saved for Carling cup games because he is 'Injury Prone'. You judge on talent first, he is good enough and i believe he can better than clichy because he can actually provide an attacking threat from LB, something Clichy struggled with providing assists or even a few goals a season. Traore should be given the oppurtunity, he is still only 21 and has excellent potential attributes. Just a case of learning his trade but his pace is awesome. Dribbling ability is not bad either.
Traore is the worst player on the first team. He has had his chances, and he always fails miserably. I don't blame him though. He's not a defender.
What the.....? Last time he played for Arsenal was nearly 2 years ago, how you can judge a kid that is 19 and a LB. Even if he sucked you have to judge on attributes cause experience plays a massive factor. If he sucked so bad he wouldn't be on loan to a Serie A team at the age of 20. Im from the AW school of thought, technique is the most important thing. I believe with time & experience he can become a top left back. Defenders always mature later anyway.....only way they get better sometimes is through learning there trade. Remember it's easier to learn how to defend than become Leo Messi.
Can we try him at the left wing? He plays better defense than Arshavin. Then again it isn't that hard to do.
Traore "defends" like a forward. He ball watches more than me and I watch games from my couch. He positioning is poor, and his tackling is spotty. Honestly, I don't think he likes to defend. He sure doesn't seem to have the natural inclination to do it. Some things you can't teach. I don't expect ever to be a good defender. He needs to be further upfield.
That's where I think he should compete, nut I don't see him getting substantial minutes there. He's not good enough. He' quick and has decent skill, but he won't beat out Nasri, Arshavin and Gervinho (assuming he plays there). He'll probably be Gibbs' back-up by default given that we don't have any real cover at LB.
Dude, 'natural inclination' in football is weight of pass, awareness, natural finishing, creativity..... Not positioning, tackling.....that is all based around things you coach. It's easier to poke your foot and win the ball.....also to follow someone running than it is to learn the art of dribbling, skill moves etc. Following your theory we may as well put Sczesney at left back seeing as he enjoys being the last line of defence. Remember we are not stoke, our game is based around attack, fullbacks with high attacking attributes are crucial to open the game up. Why do you think Barca get so much space......Dani Alves ( he sucks at defending too ). Makes them oh so much potent.
Furthermore, let me just go all out with a quote from Roberto Carlos.... 'Defending is for Centre Backs'.......that's coming from somebody who has won everything & is probably 1 of the best Left Backs at all time. So the answer to this thread is irrelevant.....& since when under AW have we been defensively secure? lol
Huh? That didn't even make sense. Whata ramble. Man, believe whatever you want. I don't see Traore here for more than another year or two. He can't defend.
Actually for the first 9 years under Wenger, when we never finished outside of the top 3, we were routinely either 1st or 2nd in goals allowed. In the last 6 seasons, where we have never finished higher than 3rd, we have pretty much been either 4th or 5th in goals allowed. But don't let history get in your way, we clearly need less defensive discipline in this team right now!
I trust Gibbs will play well for the 10-15 games he will be fit for. I also trust he will be injured more often then not.