EPL | Sunderland vs Arsenal | 14/09/13 | 3:00PM

[fabo]

Vermaelen would have been ripped apart if he did something like that.

 

[tap-in]

I dont understand the excuses for Kos either. We have played 4 PL games, he was sent off in one and they scored from a penalty, now he jumps in like a lower league player, concedes a penalty and they score again. Why the excuses?

He needs to learn fast because he will cause us to lose matches, as it was Sunderland came right back into the game after his stupid challenge.

 

[Anzac]

He's needed to learn since a certain match in Feb 2011.

 

[TheGlitch]

Lets attack him. Lets discuss and berate him for actually tryna help his team. I understand if he was consistently poor in games. But I think its hypocritical to bash him for the reason why we love him.

 

[WengerFaithful]

I dont understand the excuses for Kos either. We have played 4 PL games, he was sent off in one and they scored from a penalty, now he jumps in like a lower league player, concedes a penalty and they score again. Why the excuses?

He needs to learn fast because he will cause us to lose matches, as it was Sunderland came right back into the game after his stupid challenge.

Im not defending his unneccassary and stupid tackle on Saturday but lets not throw the baby out with the bath water - Kos was WRONGLY sent off agains Villa and they where WRONGLY awarded a penalty for it - please remember facts correctly before trying to enforce a point :|

 

[TheLoneFalcon]

Pointing out flaws that can easily be corrected and 'bashing' are two different things.

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

He's been our best CB vs Spu*s just two weeks ago, and now he's turned into **** again?

 

[TheGlitch]

Pointing out flaws that can easily be corrected and 'bashing' are two different things.

You have an opinion to express mate and that is fine, by all means go ahead. But who are you to point out "flaws" that can easily be corrected?
That tackle the way he got in, is the very same reason why we love him and I for one want nothing changed. He missed timed a tackle and gave away a penalty. I dont think he should change his game because you wont get the same player after that.
He is consistently good not consistently bad, its human to make mistakes. Bash him when its deserved im all for that.

And dont sugar coat either, all that name calling idiot baffoon headless chicken is fcuking uncalled for.

 

[Bigbludfire]

He's been our best CB vs Spu*s just two weeks ago, and now he's turned into **** again?

Just another day on Arsenal Mania

 

[mo50]

That was only his second mistake of the season. He has the odd error or two in him but he's started the season in tremendous form. I've got to wonder why he dives in when the defender is running away from goal though. Adam ****ing Johnson can't do anything with his right foot, he was looking for the penalty all day long.

 

[TheLoneFalcon]

Pointing out flaws that can easily be corrected and 'bashing' are two different things.

You have an opinion to express mate and that is fine, by all means go ahead. But who are you to point out "flaws" that can easily be corrected?
That tackle the way he got in, is the very same reason why we love him and I for one want nothing changed. He missed timed a tackle and gave away a penalty. I dont think he should change his game because you wont get the same player after that.
He is consistently good not consistently bad, its human to make mistakes. Bash him when its deserved im all for that.

And dont sugar coat either, all that name calling idiot baffoon headless chicken is ******* uncalled for.

I don't love him for continuously diving into challenges in the penalty box. Are you saying he's incapable of toning down his robust tackling style in the box? No-one here has said he's **** so why the fuss. This isn't RAWK.

And if you take heat of the moment comments in a match thread seriously then God help you.

 

[tap-in]

That was only his second mistake of the season. He has the odd error or two in him but he's started the season in tremendous form. I've got to wonder why he dives in when the defender is running away from goal though. Adam ******* Johnson can't do anything with his right foot, he was looking for the penalty all day long.

"That was only his second mistake of the season."

Good point........oh hang on, its still Sept

tbh I love Kos like most people, and yes he is a very good defender but as you said, you have to wonder why he dives in like that. This is the point he is being criticised for today and rightly so. Its great that so many people are defending him but they too should have the same concerns. He could iron out these flaws and become a better player, that would benefit us all!

 

[law90026]

He's been our best CB vs Spu*s just two weeks ago, and now he's turned into **** again?

I think most of the posts on this have been fairly objective. No one is saying he's **** or should be dropped or <insert hyperbole here>.

What is being pointed out is that Kos has a tendency to do such things and it has a very real potential to cost the team (again, see Villa). Is he still our best or 2nd best CB? Yes. However, cutting out this ridiculous element of his game would make him so much better don't you think?

And I don't believe the argument that if he stops making such attempts he becomes a lesser player. He's got the right skillset already, this is one of his weaknesses, not a strength.

 

[redwhiteAustrian]

I used the measure of exaggeration, to show how people exaggerate the flaws in his performances, so far this season.

I'm not worried about him in the slightest.

 

[GunnerBP]

So basically, we've had two matches and two tackles that we can't stop talking about.

Flamini's was a clean tackle that deserved a yellow card since he left the ground, but people felt the need to recommend that he stop those sort of tackles because it should have been a red card even though he only got a yellow card.

And now Koscielny goes in for a stupid tackle in the box that only invites someone to take a dive, which resulted in someone taking a dive and drawing a PK, and people are prone to defend this tackle as if it is something we just need to accept because he does everything else so well.

I find this all to be pretty strange.

Koscielny is great, but he clearly needs to improve his judgement in the box. We're only 4 games into the season and he's already been responsible for 2 pks and two goals. And he's gotten sent off too, which clearly played a big role in our loss to Villa.

Kos' tackling in the box has arguably been our worst feature this season. Kos can be a BOSS, but if he wants to be one of the best defenders in the league he really needs to improve on this part of his game.

 

[amirkat]

This is getting silly now. How many times has Kos saved us with tackles similar to the Sunderland one? It's basically his signature as a defender ffs. Maybe some need a little reminder;

<a class="postlink" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veUpusHqpoU&feature=youtube_gdata_player" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veUpusH ... ata_player</a>

Or just type in "Koscielny tackle" into Youtube. PS. Surely Kos has his own thread?

 

[arshy9]

But it's the judgment which is the problem.It's not a coincidence if in 4 games he's got a red card and directly at fault for two goals.
That can separate the best from the just good.He needs to sort that out.

 

[amirkat]

Thing is, he's always played like this. Very much a risk taker. As someone else said, 9 times out of 10 he gets it right. It's just unlucky that we had a **** ref vs Villa, and he gave one away vs Sunderland and both happened in quick succession.

 

[Chappers]

The 2nd penalty vs Sunderland was a clear goalscoring opportunity and could have gone either way. The tackle against Sunderland was just poor judgement and completely unnecessary. It's similar to what Szczesny does sometimes when he goes for challenges in the box that are unecessary because the opposing player is on his way out of play.

As far as I'm concerned he's made one mistake so far but because it was his second penalty in a matter of weeks it gets overblown. Still was uncharacteristic of him to go in so recklessly when it wasn't needed. I'm sure he'll look at his performance and learn from it because his steady improvement since arriving suggest he's the kind of defender who works on his game constantly and is never satisfied.

 

[Bigbludfire]

But it's the judgment which is the problem.It's not a coincidence if in 4 games he's got a red card and directly at fault for two goals.
That can separate the best from the just good.He needs to sort that out.

Who are the current best then?