how bad was mertesacker guys?

I am not all impressed by him..
I have only seen his matches in Arsenal.. From these.. He is slow.. man marking is poor.. Doesnt cover the field, demanding too much from Kos.. Too shy to go for the clearance.. And we are playing high line with him... Horrible...
But you have to excuse that he needs time to adapt to the premier league and to form an understanding in defence.. Could be better if we defend deep rather than making the offside trap...
From watching Samba in yesterdays match i am really disappointed that we missed him...
.

Mertesacker > Samba - just sayin'

Mertesacker wasn't bad, maybe the first goal would not happen if he was more concentrated anyway Koscienly and Djourou were the baad guys, imo.

he wasnt bad at all imo

RealGunner wrote:he wasnt bad at all imo

i am confused.. What did he do actually ? Why rate him better than Kos when i havent seen make a proper clearance or being involved in the game.. (forget about the own goal)

he should get a rating of 6, which is not bad.

Mertesacker didn't have a terrible game but neither was he amazing. What Mertesacker needs is a strong and fast partner and Koscielny was neither in Blakcburn. I did give him a 6.5 as he did make some valuable interceptions but was caught out by the pace of the game

Koscielny was tired, but that's no excuse I suppose.
Truth is, Metersacker has not solved what his presence was supposed to "solve". How many air battles did he actually win? For all of his height, it seems that his presence doesn't do much. Even against Dortmund, I saw that some crosses were more dangerous than they should be because he didn't attack the ball and didn't clear it like he should.

I don't know how many times I've got to say it: Mertesacker's isn't the sort of defender that his height suggests he is, so stop expecting him to play as such. He's a cover type defender who relies more intelligence that just aggression and strength. We're not going to see the best of him until Vermaelen is back.

And another thing. He's only played three games. Judge him after twenty games or so, not three.

seeing djourou like this

Expect a miraclouous squillaci comeback soon enough from his "calf Injury"

Seems like the guy is getting a lot of stick for his League debut

I thought he played well, maybe the first goal he was at fault, but the best CB in the world would make mistakes like that, 2 own goals and offside goals had nothing to do with him.

He wasn't bad, but definitely needs an aggressive type of player beside him as Jay says.

Also, it's way too early to judge.

Guys I just notice we are 17th place in EPL, last time I look at that table.

It's only been five games, though, so where we are in the table at the moment is irrelevant.

The real stats we should be looking at is the points difference between us and Liverpool and Spurs, which aren't that big. A couple of results in our favour will see us rocket straight up the table.

GoonerJay29 wrote:It's only been five games, though, so where we are in the table at the moment is irrelevant.

The real stats we should be looking at is the points difference between us and Liverpool and Spurs, which aren't that big. A couple of results in our favour will see us rocket straight up the table.

for the first time I was cheering for the spurs to win, overall was a good Sunday for us.

Mertesacker has not been at fault for ANY goal since arriving. You have to remember it's his first 3 games in England!

He isn't quick obviously but he is very good in the air, experienced and solid imo.

When everyone is fit, I would go with Koscielny/Vermaelen partnership depending on the game.

For Stoke away etc we need Mertesacker.

Dont hate the player, hate the game (tactics).

There are only a few people who are blaming Mertesacker for us losing, and I think all of them just want a scapegoat because they can't decide what went wrong. Our tactics were bad, but honestly Mertesacker rarely made any mistakes. I think the people who are mad at him are mainly concerned that they didn't see much of him, and that he wasn't in the general area when the worst mistakes were made, but frankly that's terrible evidence for calling him a bad signing.

Mertesacker isn't really doing bad. The thing is that the partnership between him and Kos isn't too good.

Thing is, i've seen Per try and maintain an offside line and Kos isn't trying to keep the offside line. It's not a very good understanding they have right now. In addition playing a high line just exposes Per's weaknesses. He relies on the reading of the game, and intelligence. So a good understanding is absolutely vital.

I just wanna know, what it would be like if we had Yanited's backline for one match. WOuld they do well? Or would they be over exposed? Then we could see how much fault our backline really is for the goals we concede

Per is never going to be a Puyol or a Terry. But he has his positives. He is slow, agreed. But he has COMMON SENSE and EXPERIENCE. How many our squad have that? (Squillacci doesn't count as exp. :/ )

Stop picking scapegoats guys. Per is doing a good enough job for me. Also, apart from Per and Tommy V, how many of our defensive players actually bother to COMMUNICATE? (Answer : None). Per may not be aggressive or a aerial boss, but he is a very good defender.

Trust me, been following this chap since he caught my eye in 2006 WC. He is the leader at the back that we have been missing. Just give him a bit of time to settle and know the people around him better. You might not see him put in flashy MOTM performances, but he will be a no non-sense defender who goes about his job as a part of a defensive unit silently and efficiently.

Not impressive ! damned how tall he look's LOOL he could kill everyone !BUT-shame on him

Samuelj29060 wrote:Mertesacker has not been at fault for ANY goal since arriving. You have to remember it's his first 3 games in England!

He isn't quick obviously but he is very good in the air, experienced and solid imo.

When everyone is fit, I would go with Koscielny/Vermaelen partnership depending on the game.

For Stoke away etc we need Mertesacker.

thats what i feel.. He is hiding away from the ball.. No attempts no mistakes as i see in the last 3 matches.. Problem is not making a mistake.. But he is not doing or adding anything...:sad:
no more posting from me on him.. I am trusting my more experienced friends here who know better about him...
But i am really sad with his game and getting really confused when most of them blaming Kos for the mistakes and saying Met was ok..

Merts wasn't at fault for any goals. He did what he had to do when called into action. And enough about his "speed". John Terry is slow as *bleep* and Chelsea seem to manage.

It's all about getting the balance right, guys.