Arsenal’s standout performers for the 2010-2011 Premier League Season –Part 2
What has been rather shocking about this past season for http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Defence-c38904 being labelled as one of the weakest, it was their defenders who kind of stole the show on a number of occasions for the team.
At the start of the Premier League season, Arsenal’s first choice centre back, http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Thomas-Vermaelen-c35002 went on to suffer a devastating injury. This injury led to a number of other defenders to get their shot at becoming the Gunner’s main man at the back and one
player managed to seize that opportunity and make a permanent spot for himself in the back-line for the team.
Johan Djourou
http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Johan-Djourou-c18779 made his move to Arsenal, way back in 2004. However, ever since his arrival at the club, he had mainly been a second/third choice defender at the club.
Nonetheless, it seems like lady luck was looking down on the Swiss international this past season. Following Vermaelen’s injury, the Gunners needed a defender to come in and fill for the club and with the team already being down to its http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Bare-c7300 minimum number
of defenders, they had no choice by to ask Djourou to step up to the plate.
However, what happened next, seemed to blow almost everyone’s mind. A defender, who has appeared to be shaky, unstable and disaster prone, went on to produce some of the most solid defensive performances that the Premier League has seen.
Djourou to say the least, went on to become a man mountain at the club. The defender was getting almost all of his tackles down to perfection, his man marking was brilliant and the fact that he stands in at a towering six feet four inches. This massive vertical
advantage that Djourou possesses, actually helped him win a number of defensive and offensive headers, which any other Arsenal defender would have seen sail over their head and beyond their reach. As a result, Arsenal’s vulnerability from set pieces went down
a notch and the sole reason for that can be traced back to Djourou.
The performance that can sum up the player’s brilliance, is the silently brilliant display that the defender put up against http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Barcelona-c38604, in the first-leg encounter between the Catalans and the Gunners in the UEFA Champions League.
Going into the game, Barcelona were the strong favourites, mainly due to the fact that no one expected the Gunners defence to be able to cope with the Barcelona attack. However, Djourou seemed to have made it his personal mission to not let the Catalans
get anything past him and the incisive tackles that he put in throughout the game. Djourou’s marking of the Barcelona http://www.senore.com/Football-soccer/Attackers-c38555 and his ability to get in between passes and make crucial interceptions, ultimately proved to be the key to Arsenal beating Barcelona,
in the first leg by two goals to one.
The defender however managed to go on and dislocate his shoulder in March, while playing against Manchester United in the FA Cup. However, despite being ruled out for the rest of the season, the defender once again beat the odds and returned just a month
later, to help run the show for Arsenal once again.
Tags: