There were numerous occasions last term when Arsenal’s season appeared to be as good as over. Their 2-0 defeat to Swansea, the famous loss to Bradford City in the League Cup and a worrying display against Blackburn in the FA Cup springs to mind, but no fixture endangered the Gunners’ campaign more than a 2-1 defeat at the hands of their local rivals, Tottenham, as both North London clubs intensely pursued the final spot in the Premier League’s top four.
Yet out of the North London derby that most Arsenal fans would rather forget, somehow emerged a solution to the first team’s domestic woes. The result certified Arsene Wenger’s suspicions that Thomas Vermaelen was no longer playing to an effective standard, making way for a partnership of Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny at the heart of the Gunners’ defense.
The two centre-backs have often been frowned upon by those inside and outside of the club. Mertesacker was dubbed as a reject of the European elite, whilst his defensive partner had been previously judged as yet another acquisition from the French top flight that failed to live up to his billing. Essentially, the duo epitomised how Arsene Wenger’s reluctance to spend big had left the Gunners with players of lesser quality in comparison to those at the Emirates previously, in this case namely Kolo Toure and William Gallas.
But from the Spurs defeat onwards, with the Mertesacker-Koscielny partnership propping up Arsenal’s defense, the North Londoners went unbeaten in their final eleven fixtures of the season, with all but two Premier League ties against Everton and Manchester United ending in victory. Along the way, Arsenal recorded six clean sheets, with three ties ending one-nil in a fashion incredibly alien to the customary attacking mentality at the Emirates.
With Arsene Wenger expected to invest heavily in the transfer market this summer, despite a lack of movement from the Emirates outfit so far, it begs the question whether the Arsenal gaffer should seek to bring in a new centre-back, or rely upon Mertesacker and Koscielny almost exclusively for the coming season. It could save the Gunners summer funds to spend on an expensive front man, but will the pairing be able to progress the first team to the next level any time soon?
The stats don’t lie, and Arsenal finished last campaign with the second best defensive record in the top flight. The Gunners recorded 39 goals conceded in comparison to Manchester City’s 32, a drastic improvement on last year’s figure of 49 conceded for the North Londoners. At the same time, Mertesacker and Koscielny totalled 17 games last season in partnership together, ending up undefeated in all encounters, including ties against the Premier League champions and Champions League winners Bayern Munich.
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Both have shown consistent progress since moving to the Emirates, with Mertesacker joining the Gunners in January 2011, and Koscielny six months earlier. The German international was deemed too slow for the Premier League, and during his first eighteen months was regularly caught out of position or flat-footed by an opposing attacker, to the detriment of the Arsenal backline. Mertesacker hasn’t got any faster, and never will at the age of 28, but this season has shown great positioning and unique understanding with his team-mates to anticipate play in difficult situations.
Rather than being too slow to keep up with fast-paced attack, the Arsenal defender now appears to suck play towards him or catch his opponents offside, last term winning 1.1 offsides per game. Similarly, the ‘Big Friendly German’, measuring in at 6 foot 6, has proved a vital counterbalance in the air for Arsenal’s typically short midfield, whilst Mertesacker’s nickname also stems from his ability to avoid bookings, with just three yellow cards and one red last season and in total recording just 12 fouls.
Koscielny too has come on leaps and bounds since arriving in North London. The former Lorient defender struggled to adapt at first, and still has a knack for netting own goals, but is one of the Premier League’s most astute defenders on the ground, with a tackle win rate of 83% and a ground duel win rate of 74% last season, according to OPTA. Similarly, the Frenchman is incredibly athletic, leading to regular interceptions in the air, whilst he’s also an aggressive blocker.
On their own, the two perhaps would not necessarily shine, yet together they construct a cosmically balanced, ying-yang partnership. Koscienly’s pace allows for Mertesacker’s lack of mobility, whilst the German defender’s experience, positioning and ability to read the game atones for his partner’s defensive naivety. Both remain effective and dominant in the air, making up for the squad’s overall lack of height in defence, and contributing five Premier League goals collectively in attack.
Can the defensive duo be trusted to marshal Arsenal’s defence ahead of next season however? The Gunners end of season run, based around the Koscienly-Mertesacker parntership’ss ability to claim clean sheets was an undoubtedly impressive feat, but the pair are yet to be truly tested at the highest level, and when it really matters.
Manchester United were in cruise control amid their 1-1 draw with the Gunners, having secured their Premier League title against Aston Villa the match previous, whilst the same can be said for Bayern Munich, who sat comfortably with three away goals to their name before the returning fixture in Germany, which Arsenal won 2-0. The pair played well in a 1-1 draw away to Manchester City earlier in the season, but are yet to record a clean sheet against a divisional rival, and were spared blushes in the first North London derby of the season after Emmanuel Adebayor scuppered Tottenham’s chances with an early red card in a 5-2 victory.
The fact is, in comparison to Chelsea and the two Manchester clubs, Mertesacker and Koscielny both come up short. Manchester City have a Premier League star in Vincent Kompany, undoubtedly currently the most talented central defender in the English top flight, Manchester United have the tried and tested Nemanja Vidic and Rio Ferdinand, whilst Johnny Evans and Phil Jones have proved their worth at the heart of the Red Devils defense this season, and Chelsea have seen great progress from Gary Cahill and Branislav Ivanovic, in addition to David Luiz and John Terry providing more than adequate cover. It’s hard to imagine Mertesacker and Koscielny, as individuals or a pairing, hypothetically usurping their counterparts from the first team at any of Arsenal’s divisional rivals.
That being said, it’s difficult to gauge the pairing’s potential considering the lack of protection they receive from midfield. Mikel Arteta and Aaron Ramsey both do their part when utilised as deep-lying midfielders, but they can hardly replicate the efforts of Sandro at Tottenham, Marouane Fellaini at Everton, Gareth Barry and Yaya Toure at Manchester City, Ramires, John Obi Mikel or David Luiz at Chelsea, or Michael Carrick at Manchester United, simply due to their lack of physicality or natural defensive awareness.
If the plan for Arsenal next season is to win the Premier League title, as Theo Walcott has suggested, I’m afraid the Gunners will fail to do so with Mertesacker and Koscielny as their star defenders. But if the objective were the more realistic goal of simply improving upon last season, the duo have the capability to maintain their form for at least another year, with the Gunners enjoying the benefit of the Koscielny-Mertesacker partnership for a whole campaign, rather than the final run-in alone.
With few available centre-backs on the horizon this summer, excluding Swansea’s Ashley Williams, who would fit in well at the Emirates but will unlikely hold down a first team place for a prolonged period, it seems naive to suggest Arsene Wenger should be on the hunt for a new central defender – exceeding Koscielny and Mertesacker’s current cumulative quality will command a fee too rich for the Arsenal gaffer’s taste.
Rather, the Frenchman should invest in a new defensive midfielder, with Marouane Fellaini being the obvious candidate, to provide some added and much deserved protection in front of the Gunners’ successful defensive duo. I still see both as a stop-gap solution, a means to an end, but with Arsene Wenger yet to fulfil his promise of rapid improvements in the transfer market, it makes sense to stick with the tried and tested Koscielny-Mertesacker partnership next season, as the Gunners attempt to bridge the gap between themselves and the Premier League title race.
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