Tony Cascarino's football lesson No 6: How Arsenal's soft centre is causing them a hard time

The trouble with Arsenal’s spine is that they’re spineless. Their defensive struggles lately are a lesson for teams at any level but there’s a limit to what coaching can do because you can’t teach players to outbattle and outmuscle the opposition. They’ve either got it or they haven’t.

When he joined, Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal manager, was gifted a back four of Nigel Winterburn, Martin Keown, Tony Adams and Lee Dixon and David Seaman in goal. What a contrast with the present defence. You couldn’t imagine Keown and Adams being bullied out of contests like Kolo Toure, Philippe Senderos and William Gallas have been lately.

Never mind the pretty football, Wenger has to do something about the back line. He must prioritise. He needs a commanding goalkeeper and a man-mountain centre back, not whichever teenage striking sensation from South America he’s probably got his eye on.

Five goals conceded against Tottenham Hotspur, four against Manchester United and Liverpool, even two against Bolton Wanderers. The secret is out. Pile forward and pressurise Arsenal and they cave in. There’s no tall holding midfield player, no Patrick Vieira, to shield the defence with his aerial prowess.

You can win games with skilful but weak-willed defenders but you can’t win titles unless you have inspirational characters at the back, real rocks. Jamie Carraghers, Nemanja Vidics. Gallas? He’s more like Marcel Desailly when he was in decline at the end of his career. Toure is a great athlete but you can intimiate him. Senderos is like another Pascal Cygan.

They’re experienced – experienced at shirking. What I mean is that they’re firmly in a pattern where they’re used to not taking responsibility, are more likely to point fingers than get stuck in. It’s too late for them to develop leadership qualities and in any case, players are generally born with those instincts.

Opponents sense weakness. At any level from five-a-side upwards, one team will try and bully and pressurise the other, aim to dominate the physical and mental battle. You either submit or fight back.

I remember playing in the Kent League, we knew certain teams would fold under pressure. The Kent Police side were as bad as anyone – they were tough and rough. No one liked playing them; and not just because we were worried about having our cars clamped if we’d parked illegally outside the ground.

The lesson for managers is that even if you want to play attractively, like Arsenal, if you have title ambitions you’ve got to have tough characters whether they are good passers or not. And if they’re not at the club, you’ll have to bring them in. As well as leadership, there must be a good understanding so that your back line works as a unit, a partnership where each player recognises the others’ strengths and weaknesses. That can come with experience, but you’re either a battler or you’re not.

Comments

[jim_flip]

Ummm Duncanc, it was light barb directed at a pundit. Whilst I don't have the spare time to write a short novel like yourself, my point was that his comments were hard to take seriously. And yes AW and AF weren't particularly good players, BUT they have won titles as managers. I would give sheringham more respect as a player as he did win titles, but he doesn't try to comment on things he has no experience in ie: managing a top team

[Darryl]

Tony, why do you despise Arsenal so much? What about them wants them to fail so badly?
They alongside Man Utd have been shining becaons this season in terms of the football played (as evidented yesterday) and I feel Arsenal play a more team orientated brand of Total football where everyone of their players can create and score goals. You seem to rate a team like Liverpool above them despite what the league says and the games between them. What is your issue with a young team that plays so well and is so close to being a dominant force both in europe and domestically? If they are so 'Spineless' why do other managers home and abroad laud over their mentality spirit and most of all their ability on the field. OH NO lets all watch Liverpool and Chelsea play long-ball defensive football because thats what England is about....

[Darryl]

Tony, why do you despise Arsenal so much? What about them wants them to fail so badly?
They alongside Man Utd have been shining becaons this season in terms of the football played (as evidented yesterday) and I feel Arsenal play a more team orientated brand of Total football where everyone of their players can create and score goals. You seem to rate a team like Liverpool above them despite what the league says and the games between them. What is your issue with a young team that plays so well and is so close to being a dominant force both in europe and domestically? If they are so 'Spineless' why do other managers home and abroad laud over their mentality spirit and most of all their ability on the field. OH NO lets all watch Liverpool and Chelsea play long-ball defensive football because thats what England is about....

[DuncanC]

Jim_Flip, I'm sorry to say that your section about Tony's playing career is totally irrelevant. The fact is anyway, you're cherry picking the parts you want from Wikipedia. You conveniently leave out the fact that he played 88 games for Ireland and played in a Euro Championship and 2 World Cups. To be honest, his list of clubs aren't that bad anyway. If you want an example, what about Sheringham? Until he moved to United, he hadn't acheived that much at club level & the list of clubs that he has played for aren't that much more impressive than Tony's. But I bet you'd be a little more respectful wouldn't you? I would also guess that seeing as it's his job to commentate and write about football, he probably watches a lot more than most people so is in all likelihood in a better position to comment.

In any case, a successful playing career is not a prerequisite for a good understanding of the game or an ability to analyse it successfully. I don't think Arsene or Alex Ferguson had particularly impressive playing careers and yet they're considered some of the finest coaches in the world. Guus Hiddink is another one, he spent most of his career at middling Dutch clubs with 2 seasons at PSV. Another quality manager who didn't have the best playing career. Cloughie is considered a legend, yet while he scored goals in abundance, they were not all in the top flight at Middlesbrough and Sunderland. Finally, lest we forget Jose Mourinho (whom I don't particularly rate as a manager personally, but he's won more than I have, haha), another whose playing career I don't think can be called stellar in any way.

Regardless, Arsenal's mental strength and stregth in depth is merely part of the issue. Tony touched on something there with the mentality of the players. I think he's wrong, however, in saying that it's too late for them to develop leadership skills etc. Sometimes the winning mentality or the ability to triumph in the face of adversity can be acquired. Winning is a habit. If you look at the Arsenal team/squad now, how many of them have won a major trophy? The majority of the squad just does not have the experience of taking part in a winning campaign. With the sales of Henry & Viera, he lost two players who had experience of winning. Whether they were good leaders or not is debatable (at least in Henry's case).

You often hear the cliche about how it's easier for newcomers to slot into a winning team. There may be an element of truth in that I feel. For example, it can be argued that the new signings at Man Utd have performed better and gelled better with the rest of the squad, when compared to other clubs. The fact is that United had just won the league and were on a relative high when compared to the couple of seasons before. Thus, there was already a winning mentality there and it was perhaps more easily passed on to the new players.

I also feel that team spirit may have something to do with it as well, though it can be argued that that comes partly from good leadership. Again, using United as an example, in the last few seasons, when Chelsea won the league, there were various ructions within the squad - Van Nistelrooy vs. Ronaldo, Keane vs. Fergie, Keane vs. Ronaldo - and the lack of harmony seems to have played a part in the lack of success in that period. Compare that to Chelsea last season and to an extent this season and Arsenal this season as well.

At Arsenal you have the dispute between Almunia and Lehmann, that in itself cannot make for a settled defence. Then you have the Adebayor and Bendtner incident. It seems that Bendtner is not the most popular player there. Notice the lack of team-mates celebrating with him when he scores and compare that to other clubs and players. At Chelsea you had the friction between Mourinho and Abramovich, with some of the other players getting a little twitchy as well.

With regards to Arsenal's defence, it always makes me a little happier every time I see Senderos' name on the teamsheet. What is it that Wenger sees that the rest of us don't? In terms of centreback pairings, I don't think that pace is necessarily that important. Henchoz & Hyppia didn't exactly have pace to burn, but they formed a pretty good parnership. John Terry is not particularly quick either. In fact, I don't think height even that important, look at Cannavaro, he is only around 5' 10" yet he is a brilliant centreback and defensive leader.

I think it is important, however, to get the blend and balance right and then to have decent quality cover. If you look at the Bruce/Pallister partnership and compare it with the Vidic/Ferdinand partnership, there are some similarities. Neither Bruce nor Vidic were quick but they were/are willing to put their bodies in the way and sacrifice themselves for the cause. They read the game well and keep it simple. Pally and Rio are the quicker half of the partnership, more comfortable on the ball, some would argue the more "stylish" centre-half. However, while Rio may not be the most astute defensive player or suffer from lapses in concentration (thank God he's not Wes Brown), he can cover for mistakes with his pace. In effect, they form a good combination. For England, you can replace Vidic with Terry. At Liverpool, you could argue it's a similar thing with Carragher and Agger.

In past seasons, Wenger could argue that he didn't have the funds to compete with the other big clubs. Fair enough, but now he has less of an excuse. I have always felt that Senderos has been a stopgap, until Wenger has been able to find a better player, like a Cygan v1.1. Sorry about the length of this. I was a bit bored...

PS. I believe l'OM won the Champions League in 1993 and were only relegated to Ligue 2 because of match fixing & financial issues etc. but in any event, they were promoted again 2 seasons later. Also the period when Tony played there, they had players such as Laurent Blanc & Andreas Kopke (who I believe was the German goalie in Euro 96). So not exactly lacking in quality there...

[Quartzgooner]

Cascarino is merely echoing what a lot of us Arsenal fans have been thinking. We need a tall centre back, however good Gallas and Toure are as individuals, their partnership, consisting of two mobile but under six foot central defenders is not producing the goods.

In midfield, Cesc and Flamini is a decent partnership, but we need another option too. Lasana Diarra was the tough guy we needed, but now that he has gone, we do not have another tackler. Maybe Djourou can be used there next season?

[Michael Frangeskakis]

Having just seen Arsenal pass Manchester off the Park (not to mention Scholes!!)I can say that they have been more than a little hard done by in the past few matches. If Van can stay injury free then the goals from Ada and him will be enough to "finish" teams off. The title and Champs league only slipped away because the goals dried up, thereby causing pressure on the backs and the confidence dip. Another defender is needed but lets not ditch all the good work. Surely Arsenal are the only team in the EPL that can stop the likes of Barca when they get back in their groove. United despite all their clout this year still have to resort to counter attacking!!

[olaf]

Opportunist article from Tony. How did a spineless team get any wins in the premier league? How did this spineless team loose the fewest games in the premier league? In fact how did this spineless team come from behind in more games than any other team in the premier league?

You may or may not wish to answer these questions, -Tony.

I will concede AW has been guilty of stubbornly believing certain players will develop into top performers even though they continue to make basic errors.

All credit to Liverpool on their victory. If we analyse the circumstances of the first two goals, which came during periods of Arsenal outplaying (SG even admitted as much),

The defensive lapses were so bad hopefully AW will now make the decision to move PS out of Arsenal.

In the overall analysis of Arsenal in my opinion some tweaking of the squad in the summer will be necessary.

I did expect from the start of the season that with the size and depth of their squad MUtd would take some beating.

The fact that Arsenal have kept in the race until this stage of the season is down to AW.

[Igno]

I ,think that man who is commenting is so articulate and fellow fan I have to agree that wenger has always blundered by keeping senderos in arsenal, Gallas is also prone to mistakes both at club level and at the national team, think theyboth (the two) need replacing.

[Sandeep Mudhar]

Philippe Senderos and Eboue need to go they have been shocking this season, they are the weak link in the Arsenal team.

Wenger needs to do some spending this summer, we have got a quality team but we lack depth. Fabregas has played nearly every game this season, no doubt he does needs resting now and then in the season. Take Fabregas out of the equation, who have we really got in midfield to be creative as him? Helb possibly, but I would like you to cast your mind back to november/december tim when Fabregas was injured and he missed a few games, what happened we didn't win. After the Birmingham game I don't know what happend, maybe it was the injury of Edurado, that should have acted as ammunition to win the league!

If the current Arsenal still had Pires, Edu, Cole, Viera, and Campbell they would have been great impact players and would have provided the current squad the vital back they are missing. All these players Wenger let go are still playing at high levels!

Pires has been great for Villareal and Viera is doing good at Inter! This is what Man U have done they still have players like Neville, and Giggs to give the team a spine of a wealth of experience that some of their new players don't have.

If Van-Persie and Edurado were not injured the season would have been different for for us.

[Alex]

I disagree with the article absolutely. Arsenal has a spine in Toure-Gallas at the back Flamini-Fabregas in the middle and Adebayor upfront. The reasons behind the failure's of Arsenal of late is down to a naivity, which comes from a immaturity and a lack of concentration. As well as a lack in the squad depth. Who to replace the above mentioned players? At the back the only option is Senderos, with Djourou injured. In the middle only ageing and disinterestingly looking Gilberto, with Fabregas looking seemingly irreplaceable(where, in the God's name is Denilson?) and upfront we have the inexpirienced Bendtner. So there seems to be no effective backup whatsoever! And my God do we miss Sagna now!
But as I was saying, Gallas and Toure proved hundred times before and this season also that they are a great partnership as did Fab and Flam. Even if they sometimes lack the muscularity of Vieira or Keane they make up to it by their intelligence and mobility as well as technical abilities. I personally believe in this team, they can achieve anything!

[rlcoach]

I think you are right in that Arsenal need to invest in the back 4. The lack of a quality third center back has been Arsenal's achilles heal for too long.

How many goals could be put down to mistakes by Senderos (and Cygan before him). Senderos was to blame for two goals in the Champions League game with Liverpool.

However, I think the article unfairly picks out Gallas and Toure for critisism - both quality international defenders. Toure is a powerful defender that is rarely outmuscled, and has pace to burn. Gallas is quick and good on the ball. They make a quality partnership.

Arsenal's real problem is when that partnership is broken up. Senderos isn't premier league quality, never mind Arsenal quality.

[anesu]

man you are a joke really , how many centre half are better than gallas and toure.cesc and flamini have been as good as any midfield pairing , and adebayor has 25 goals and counting.you are a biased man who just things because arsenal do not have an english player.you were a poor player at your peak and though you played for chelsea
this day and age you would be at the exit door

[Tim]

Guys,

I think tony's right this time. Apart from the weak defence/midfield axis and the problem of Phillipe Senderos, Arsenal also have no squad depth. Theo's usually the only promising substitution of arsenal games.

Arsene needs to revamp his strategy of recruiting the most promising (but invariably YOUNG)South American or African player and invest in some more established power-houses.

[callum]

Taken a bit of a thrashing here haven't you Tone. About time too. Why don't YOU have the backbone and good grace to respond to your critics and your supporters, or at least have your ghostwriter do it.

[choclatesamosa]

I agree
Arsenal need someone like Marquez who would be easy to buy as he is not a reagular at Barca. He is strong powerful and bullies strikers.
A cl winner and twice la liga winner he has bags of experience

[jim_flip]

"Having originally planned to be a hair-dresser and a part time yoga instructer, Cascarino joined Gillingham F.C. in 1982 from Crockenhill FC, for a transfer fee of a set of tracksuit tops, a packet of condoms and some corrugated iron.[1] He went on to play for Millwall, Aston Villa, Celtic and Chelsea. However, his most successful years were with Olympique de Marseille and Nancy in the French Ligue 2."

A man with a career history that reads like that is in no position to question Arsene Wenger after the fact. If you had pointed this out when Arsenal were doing well then yeah I could take it as a valid statement as these problems have been evident for a while, but your just jumping on the bandwagon.

[James]

ps gallas the finest defender in the land? you're having a laugh. he wouldn't even get a game for man u. and that's not to mention his appalling attitude, which makes him the worst captain in the premiership.

[James]

Tony

How dare you criticise Arsenal - don't you know they're the Greatest Footballing Side in the World Ever?

Look, can we nail this ridiculous myth that Carragher gets exposed at the top level? Has he, or has he not, been one on the best players in the champions league for the last five years? during this time he's marked several top players out of the game - and also, lest we forget, won a CL winners' medal, which last time i looked was one more than gallas or toure (or was he being carried?)

but frankly, this is totally besides the point. it doesn't matter how many titles he's won, and it sure as heck doesn't matter how many titles tony has won (although he'd be perfectly entitled to ask: how many of you criticising his opinion have played top-level football?)

his basic point is: arsenal need to stengthen in the centre of defence. can even the most one-eyed arsenal fan argue that this isn't true, on the basis of the last few months? seriously?

[starks]

I think that if arsenal are looking for a powerhouse defender they should consider david wheater from boro. he has been outstanding all season and i am surprised that he is not nominated for the young player of the year award.

[omissh]

Tony Cascarino,

I have to say i admire your guts. To come out with such rubbish in a national paper. I can only assunme you have got away with it in the past, hence the audacity to continue.
Gallas, in the opinion of many is arguably the finest defender in the land. His last ten or so performances have been a consistent 8 out of 10. Infact in my opinion he has been arguably Arsenal most consistent(along with Sagna and Flamini) player adding vital goals against top level opposition. I think it is tragic you are empowered to pollute the mind of the public with such tosh. But hey thats the power of media for you!

[dave b]

You are correct in thinking Arsenal need a powerhouse at the back. I think Wenger is a top class manager, but I remember watching Cygan, and before him a long curly haired defender, who played at Old Trafford in a heavy defeat, and couldn't understand how Arsene kept them in the team. I'm an Everton fan, so I have no axe to grind, but I think it so sad that a beautiful footballing side should suffer because one or two obvious flaws are not fixed. Its not as though Arsenal are short of cash! Ps, the full back, Clichy is fantastic, an unsung 'player of the year'

[dave b]

You are correct in thinking Arsenal need a powerhouse at the back. I think Wenger is a top class manager, but I remember watching Cygan, and before him a long curly haired defender, who played at Old Trafford in a heavy defeat, and couldn't understand how Arsene kept them in the team. I'm an Everton fan, so I have no axe to grind, but I think it so sad that a beautiful footballing side should suffer because one or two obvious flaws are not fixed. Its not as though Arsenal are short of cash! Ps, the full back, Clichy is fantastic, an unsung 'player of the year'

[Ross]

Cascarino,
Senderos, Eboue, Campbell and Flamini set a record for clean sheets in the Champions league 2 years ago. Was this Sol Campbell (during his "personal problem" stage) carrying the whole back 4? I doubt it. Maybe you could look further into your days in the Kent League, playing against amateur police sides to give us , and Mr. Wenger, further insight into life at the top of the game and how it should be done.

[James]

Tony is correct, . We need a big stopper - I suggest Mertesacker. Someone who can compliment Gallas. He doesn't need pace, as we have Sagna, Clichy and Gallas. He needs to be calm, strong, experienced and able to anticipate.

Toure should be on the bench, he can cover at centre back and full back positions. Senderos should be sold to the Championship, that's his level.

I normally have confidence in Wenger, but persisting with Senderos for 5 years worries me. How can a man of such intelligence still play this persistently bad defender? You have to put it down to stubbornness. And when a manager is stubborn and tries to go against the world instead of putting the team and the club first, you know it's the beginning of the end.

If Wenger does not sell Senderos and the player continues to cost Arsenal, then I will no longer support him. Enough is enough.

[Dan Goddard]

Senderos has to go. It's amazing that Wenger has kept faith in him for so long. Over half the goals weve conceded this season could probably be attributed to senderos losing his man or not clearing the ball properly. Everytime he plays I get this horrible feeling in the pit of my stomach. If we dont get another player of Toure's quality were not going win anything.

[Billy The Fish]

I can agree with the fact that Arsenals defence is some what soft @ the centre, they do need a bully, as Gallas and Toure are too similar to one another and they need an old fashioned stopper alongside them to allow them to use their skills as defenders. But then at the same time where do you get such defenders as they are all pretty much at the top clubs as it is.

Arsenal also have a lack of goals from midfield, since Pires & Ljungberg have gone. Barring Fabregas there is no goals from that midfield. Flamini will get about 2/3 a season but thats not his job as he is the holding/ engine room midfieler, Gilberto must of been wearing Henry boots last season, with his goal return last year. Trying to get 3 games on the trot from Rosicky is a miracle of biblical proportions. Hleb, for all the wonderful technical ability he has, Des Walker would be a more dangerous threat in front of the opposition goal thn Hleb.

[Kern]

I know Senderos is probably covering for Sagna's injury as toure has moved to right back, but he isn't good enough. No pace and his marking is awful, always giving people space (Hyppia and torres's goals both his fault). He reminds me of Huth at Chelsea. Good Centre back and dominates in the air but speed, marking and technical ability are nowhere near good enough.

[Journo]

Tony,

I appreciate what you are saying, but I'm sure Arsene Wenger doesn't. You would be the same Tony that predicted Arsenal would lose their 4th position to Tottenham Hotspur at the beginning of the season.

Why should anyone read let alone take any notice of what you have to say? You said Darren Bent was a great capture for Spurs at 16M. Eh?

[Bob Sayer]

The Arsenal team lacks steel. They have no physically dominating players.

Titles cannot be won with only one consistent goalscorer.

The ratio of ball possession to quality stikes on goal is poor. So few quality strikes on goal.

[Danny C]

An excellent article Tony.

Arsenal have missed a commanding centre back since Campbell left and of course Keown retired.

For the last few seasons their inability to deal with set pieces, in particularly corners has cost them dear.

Wenger has been aware of this problem for a while now, but I thought it would have been brought to a head after being knocked out by PSV last year.

In your games mentioned how many were set pieces or crosses into the box that were failed to be dealt with?

A bullying centre half playing alongside either Gallas or Toure is what is required.

No disrespect to either players, as they are good defenders but Toure is a converted midfielder and Gallas played his best football for Chelsea at fullback.

Therefore at times I think they both lack the natural instincts of a centre back.

I don’t subscribe to all this doom and gloom about Arsenal currently going about though, they are not far off from where they want to be.

[chris milias]

I fully agree one wonders what this current Arsenal team would have achieved with Adams + Bould at the back.I have to say trophy or no trophy I would not pay to watch liverpool give me the Arsenal flair any day

[MK]

With almost all those goals coming on the counter attack, its hardly other teams that "Pile forward and pressurize Arsenal" catching us out.

Struggling to put the ball in the net at the other end like we are at the moment, we often find ourselves short at the back with too many committed forward.

And when Flamini has been playing there hasn't been a single team that has out muscled or bullied us in the midfield.

[stuart jones]

Great comment Tony. Just one question how many titles did you win in your career? Were your teams spineless as well? Did they bottle it nine times out of ten? Were your teams skilful but weak willed? Just how many titles has strong willed Jamie Carragher won? Funny I seem to remember his strong will not being so evident when Arsenal scored 6 at Anfield last season. It is upsetting enough to lose thanks to a poor refereeing decision, but it is utterly depressing to read these bogus insights that are conveniently wise after the fact.

[Drew]

Not going to win a Championship with Jamie Carragher. Rest of the article was very good, but you can't say Carragher is a man mountain. He has and always will be a last ditch defender who gets very much shown up against the better players, he doesnt have any real pace and footballing wise he is not that sharp. Being last ditch doesnt make you a world class player, the best defenders dont need to be last ditch because they have already read the danger and dealt with it i.e Rio Ferdinand. I feel alot of the time, the way Carragher likes to defend invites pressure onto Liverpool and his distribution is woeful. Average player who has been made out to be more than he is because he is a "local lad".

[Rizla]

"You can win games with skilful but weak-willed defenders but you can’t win titles unless you have inspirational characters at the back, real rocks. Jamie Carraghers, Nemanja Vidics"

Really Tony? And exactly how many league titles has Jamie Carragher won?

[Onulf the Seaman]

Right on Tony, Philippe Senderos looks as though he were geared up with lead soles on Liverpool's goals #1 and 2. Obviously by far no match for the likes of Fernando Torres. By one the other hand neither would the Keown or Adams of yore have managed to nail down such a manic-paced striker as El Nino, or most current top Premier League sharpshooters.