Arsenal Squad Assessment Part 2.

Continuing on from the previous section of the goalkeepers, this one is for the defenders.

Defenders.

3. Bacary Sagna. Current first choice right back, he is a consistent performer, however his effectiveness in his second season hasn't been as stellar as his début season. There is still lots of room for improvement, his crossing has been very bad all season, if there is no one in the box, don't cross. He also needs to work on coming infield with the ball instead of only moving on the axis. Improve on this, added to his reliable defensive work, the right side will be locked.

5. Kolo Toure. The veteran at 28, since his lofty performances under Sol Campbell in the Invincibles and Philippe Senderos in 2006 in the Champions League, he has regressed markedly. Underlying fitness issues to his mobility, and his non-genesis as a defender have combined to making the fans favourite a weak link in the defence. To improve and play a big impact, he needs to improve his physical conditioning, and communicate with the other defenders, in particular Mikael Silvestre and William Gallas, with whom he has been very bad with.

6. Philippe Senderos. Returning from an injury ravaged season at A.C. Milan, the Swiss defender is rumoured to be looking for a transfer. Despite stretches of good form, he hasn't managed to sustain it, only for an elementary technical error to undo his good work. To improve, he'd need to read the game better and play in unison with his co-defender, however with more teams buying quicker strikers, he may be caught cold on the turn.

10. William Gallas. Ignoring the events off the pitch, many which have been blown out of proportion, and are not as corrosive internally than many think, the former skipper is the best defender at the club. He has shown a champion spirit on many occasions, when the team needs a goal to get points, you can rely on Gallas. This season which may be his last, in a World Cup year where he will hope to lead the France defence, he should be inspired. He cannot improve in the aerial game, but we hope to see sharper last ditch tackles which are his forte.

18. Mikael Silvestre. Consensus is that he had a disastrous début season at Arsenal. He never seemed to communicate at all with the other players, then again he arrived 10 days before the close of the market last year. Despite this, he has experience that in theory should help the team, he only needed 3 games with Arsenal to earn a recall to the French squad after a 2 year wilderness, so the quality is there in parts. If he is able to form a bond with the other long standing players in defence, he will be a useful cog in the squad.

20. Johan Djourou. The Swiss defender had a decent shot at the games that he started last season, and has become one of the fans favourites because he is a tall player 'to deal with the high balls'. However he hasn't delivered killer performances that will consign one of the other senior defenders to the bench, and thus remains just another of the squad players. His genesis as a central midfielder show at times where his positioning and reading of the game put the team in trouble. This season he must dedicate his all to establishing himself as the best defender at the club, rather than a stand in player.

22. Gael Clichy. This will be his fourth season as a starter, and his previous three have been satisfactory, two seasons ago he edged his compatriot Patrice Evra as the best left back in the league. Despite his all energy performances, there are some serious defensive cracks in his game, still loses concentration, and his crossing doesn't lead to assists. He is a good player at the moment, Arsenal need him to be better, he must improve on these aspects of his game to become a better player.

27. Emmanuel Eboue. A versatile player who has played everywhere except as a striker, but he bore the grunt of a disgruntled fanbase when boo's rang out as he was substituted against Wigan. Most other players would have been left totally shattered, not the Ivorian who has had tragedy in the cival war in his country, and to his credit he has maintained his smile and work rate in training i gather. Despite this, a berth in midfield will be limited this term, and unless Bacary Sagna has a long term injury, chances are limited there too. He can work on his overall game to improve, but with no assigned position to work on, the levels he can aspire to are limited.

30. Armand Traore. He has returned from a loan period at Portsmouth, where he played mostly in midfield. Opportunities in defence will be limited, and maybe as well in midfield. His defensive and offensive work needs a lot of refinement as does his dribbling stance that makes it easy for the ball to be taken away from him.

40. Kieran Gibbs. The youngster got extended spells in the team, first choice in the Carling and FA Cups, and a run at the end in the League. However at this rarefied level, mistakes are punished, and his ultimate mistake was to slip in the Champions League semi final for Man Utd to score and take the advantage. Despite this, he has a big upward curve, he appears to respect hid defensive duties and is not cavalier, he also respects keeping the ball is vitally important for a full back. It will take a mammoth effort to dislodge the incumbent Gael Clichy, but this must be his ultimate goal.

Thomas Vermaelen. The former Ajax defender and Belgium international has been bought in to hopefully play as a first choice player. I have never seen him play so i have no assessment of him, but hopes are that he is here to put one of the central defenders on the bench, as that shows squad improvement.

Verdict: Individually, Arsenal has some good players, they do lack cohesion and a definite plan in the art of defending. All of them have scope to improve, which they must, statistically the defence is still a major problem, 31 goals conceded in 2007-2008 and 37 conceded in 2008-2009, so defence has been a long standing issue, and it requires a big improvement and desire to stop goals from this unit as a collective as well individually to take responsibility for no goals being given away.