Our Back Four

[Mark]

I don't know if toure still isn't 100% fit after recovering from injury which is why he was left on the bench today, but I'd be rather annoyed if he was dropped, no one can doubt he's been superb this season and despite solid performances from lauren and cygan in particular i think he deserves a place ahead of them, preferably at CB, but then again he's a great RB too, so I'm not sure.

How do the rest of you think our back four should look like?

 

[JazzG]

Toure Keown Campbell Cole

Keep Toure on the right as he can defend and go on his good runs from there.

I'd rather have Keown over Cygan, Cygan has done allright but Keown is better.......

 

[thegame24]

for me it would be the first.

but if kown was really fully fit and on fire id put kolo RB.

but overall i guess 1 with number 2 very close.

 

[AFCG7]

Toure Cygan Campbell Cole

this is the best at the moment.. who would have thought Cygan would be there after last season?
goes to show you should never write somebody off

 

[GoonerGurjit]

TBH the defence did look shambolic at times today. Cole was caught out of position numerous times and Cygan also got caught out a few times, while Lauren tried over-doing every single thing.

 

[Mark]

i didn't think of keown but to be honest i'd say cygan would be a better option with campbell as keown and campbell don't have great distribution while cygan and toure do. toure and keown worked well, cygan and keown might work well but we're not gonna drop campbell and imo keown and campbell doesn't really work.

 

[Kyla]

Cygan remains a massive enigma for me. Even hearing his name read out before games I shudder, yet in all honesty he hasn't done much wrong. I'm just never relaxed when he is at the back. He has adjusted well to the pace of the Prem this season, so I can't fault him on that but does he fill one with much confidence- no. I can't see why Wenger continually plays him- is it to justify his purchase full stop or has he indeed contributed to our defensive stability this season? I can't figure it out.

I'd agree with Jazz that a Campbell-Keown parternship is the better option, with Toure occupying the right spot. But being a bit controversial, I thought that Keown and Toure were at times sensational before Campbell's return. I think Wenger has a bit of luxury in the defensive dept tbh. Who would of thought it ey.

Ironically our attack (despite what stats say) isn't as potent as it was at times last season. I do think Kliuvert might be the missing link. As for Eto'o, what's his scoring tally like? Is it enough that he simply fits into our style of play or will he actually relieve the bulk that Henry scores (I will still maintain over-reliance unless Pires and Freddie start scoring for fun, although Bobby has been excellent recently)

 

[Kyla]

GG were we THAT bad? Heard the game on 5Live. Didn't sound like Villa had too many chances.

 

[jc8gooner]

Rotate it. Sometimes leave Lauren out and put Toure RB with Pascal and Sol in the middle. Other times leave Cygan out and put Toure in CB and Lauren RB. I don't tknow what our best partnership in central defence is, but both Cygan and Kolo have played excellently alongside Sol there.
Keown should come in if Sol gets injured/suspended as the senior CB.

 

[GoonerGurjit]

GG were we THAT bad? Heard the game on 5Live. Didn't sound like Villa had too many chances.

You know what Cole's like. Villa exploited the space he left when we lost possession in their half and well Cygan's Cygan. I think Lauren was poor today. He kept getting himself in to mess and his passing wasn't up to it.

 

[Kyla]

When has Lauren ever been up to it? I think it is a joke he is in the side to be honest. He isn't even that comfortable on the ball which seems an Arsenal prerequiste these days. He offers little defensively and nothing offensively. Toure has come of age this season and he had some great moments on the right. He offered the team so much more penetration which kind of evened up our left sidedness.

 

[GoonerGurjit]

Thats why I think Wenger should sign a proven CB and keep Toure at right-back.

 

[jc8gooner]

When has Lauren ever been up to it? I think it is a joke he is in the side to be honest. He isn't even that comfortable on the ball which seems an Arsenal prerequiste these days. He offers little defensively and nothing offensively.

That is a very harsh critique of a solid and reliable player, I think.
He is very comfortable on the ball and is not that bad going forward, just doesn't do so game in, game out. He's a good tackler, pretty strong and quick and has never looked really out of his depth. I think a lot of people jump on his back way too easily considering there were hardly any complaints when we won the double with him as RB.

 

[Kyla]

Yes, jc8 but we also had the luxury of Dixon. I guess the same can now be said with the emergence of Toure, but nothing can convice me otherwise on Lauren. He isn't a defender for a start. As for any potency down the right- well if he does manage to get past his man, he manages to screw it up with his wayward passing. His crosses are fine but we don't play it that way- forget the term solid- it' just another way of saying "average."

 

[JGooner]

Lauren is not good enough on the ball, which is why I am being won over to the idea of Toure as right back. The problem with this is that he prefers playing CB and I think it is almost always a bad idea to make a player play somewhere other than his favourite position. However, this could be solved in a year or two if Hoyte emerges as our first choice RB, as we could then return Toure to CB.

 

[thierrys_girl]

Either
Lauren Campbell Toure Cole
or
Toure Keown Campbell Cole

if sure either of them would work well, just not sure where we should put Toure.

 

[Mark]

well one thing i'm certain of is that toure really should be first choice but he needs one position, moving him around from CB to RB isn't a good idea. i say keep him at CB with campbell, because if one of them is injured we have good cover in cygan and hopefully hoyte will emerge as our first choice RB in the near future. until then i think lauren will do, he hasn't been bad since coming back from injury, if he plays as badly as he did at times earlier in the season and hoyte still isn't ready then maybe we can buy trabelsi or someone.

 

[JazzG]

Our defending a few times was abit dodgy early, not quite as bad as Gurjit is making it out though. Thought most of the lads did allright :dunno:

The problem with this is that he prefers playing CB and I think it is almost always a bad idea to make a player play somewhere other than his favourite position

Didn't Thuram always say he wanted to be a CB? He didn't do too bad as a CB did he

 

[patrick42uk]

i havent got the statistics on this, but i can say confidently that we probably kept the most clean sheets with toure at right back and cygan at cb. surely that should be all that counts and not prejudices agaisnt cygan?

 

[JazzG]

He has done well there, I haven't said he hasn't done well. I just think Keown is a better player and would be the better option for us. I have no problem with him staying as our CB though, would just prefer Keown.......