Say hello to my new Brazilian: Wenger to unleash defender in new attacking role next season
Arsene Wenger is reportedly planning a change of position for Andre Santos for the upcoming season.
The Brazilian international arrived last summer as a left-back, but Santos’ displays during the course of the season proved he was a truly attacking-minded defender if anything.
Indeed, the 29-year-old netted three impressive goals last season, with two of them coming in the Premier League at Stamford Bridge and the Hawthorns – two vital equalizers in tough matches against Chelsea and West Brom as the Gunners went on to win on both occasions.
Santos displayed a consistent ability to contribute to Arsenal’s attack from the back during Kierran Gibbs’ injury lay off last year, but he also proved to be a liability for the Gunners on some occasions, as Wenger’s men conceded some poorly defended goals where he was caught out of position.
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Santos has also shown a slight lack of pace when defending and his shortcomings as a left-back along with that of Kierran Gibbs has forced calls for Arsene Wenger to sign a new full-back this summer.
And with Wenger still in search for a new left-back, the attacking-minded Santos could be set for a new role in midfield to pave way for a better defender and for his attacking intent to be better appreciated by his team.
The switch of positions for Santos, which has been experimented during this pre-season including in Friday’s match against Manchester City, will see the former Fenerbache man deployed as a winger next season.
Wenger last made a move of such sort when Emmanuel Eboue went from being a right-back to a right winger in 2007 after the arrival of Bacary Sagna.
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sounds good, but we can’t gamble on Gibbs’s fitness all season. I do think that we are trying to replace Cesc’s creativity though by trying to plug the creative gaps in the team with players out of position. Square pegs in round holes. Dont get me wrong Santos could do a great job but shouldn’t we buy someone to occupy a creative midfield role?
But the thing is Santos would NOT play in the center of midfield. He will be on either flank as a winger. And I sure know that despite the fact that he may not be as fast, he is a better deliverer and finisher than Gervinho.
Fair enough but I dont think he would stick to the flanks too much, he would want to drift inside and influence the play. At times in pre season he was playing like a number 10. Love the site btw
Hmm, I see what you mean on that. And thanks for linking the site mate !
Im not sure we could afford to gamble on the fitness of Gibbs, but I agree that we should play Santos further up. He does have a shot on him. I think he would need to work hard on his fitness though, to play on the wing for us.
A tad harsh on Gervinho in the comments, his finishing and confifence need polishing, but he takes on players, gets into the right positions, never runs out of steam….I think he could improve easily into a very productive and hardworking player.
I doubt we will sign cover/competition for Gibbs, Vermaelen will be the cover if Gibbs and Andre are both injured.
sakho?
…miquel will be the cover or even a competitor for Gibbs position,no need to buy any1,santos looks really good in left wing position,tends to drift in the middle sometimes,but hey,I think he will end up with 8+ goals this season, add few assists to that and I’ll be happy with his contribution
several times i found fans lament about the need for defensive midfielder most of them they 4gt the quality of francis conquen. He fits both positions you mentioned, defensive midfielder, right back, left back and other positions so i bet he will be the right cover and even keep gibbs at the bench coz he has that quality compared to both santos and gibbs.
what a gay
J….why don’t you send him an e-mail to meet somewhere in a public toilet so you can both come out of the closet!
He’s making a joke about the fact that santos sent a message to the team last season saying ‘good win gays’ when he meant to say ‘guys’
We aren’t exactly overflowing with defenders so my guess is that Wenger will keep him in the left fullback position but allow him to move into the midfield more often by having Vermaelen, Arteta and/or Koscielny cover him when he does that….that’s the extent of Wenger’s experimentation I fear.
We need another experienced central defender the the Verminator can be left back since he is strong on both defending and attacking
Wenger can unleash anybody but he better leash the defence.In the end it’s results that count. If RVP is not in the team and the gunners start winning and challenge until the 95thmin of the 38 th game,all will be forgiven and forgotten. If not it will be I told you scenario.
Wenger says his next generation is ready. Make sure they win . Play to win. Football is basically a simple game. The aim is to score asap. The problem is Wenger is overdoing it by making the players pass more times than necessary. Until he gets rid of his obssession that soccer is art,the gunners will be easy pickings for teams who play anti soccer and counter attacking teams.
There are many of such teams in the epl. You have to adopt a flexible approach when playing such teams. Wenger’s one size approach is a gift for such teams.
I hope he can prove the cynics and doubters wrong. If not,it’s back to the drawing board and more time will have been wasted.
This could prove excellent. He could be the NEW Petit!
Santos has always managed to get himself into good scoring positions but his finishing often let him down. Good move by AW. Train on his finishing!
He can be good up front more than gervinho
definitely arsenal needs a left back, all the current left backs are not good enough for arsenal to win anything now. They are always out of position and they are not as fast as other left back i have seen to redeem their mistakes once they are caught off target like ashley cole, clinch, evra etc.
In such a position, one needs to be well positioned or once you drift to be fast to redeem yourself not to always expect cover. They either move in front, poor deliverance or loss of ball but still unable to get to their positions in time. One of them. compare with the Right backs performance.
Then the next one is always mixed up with central defenders and by the time he realizes that the person he is to defend has received the ball, its too late to prevent a damage in form of a cross or a dangerous attack. That is another.
While the covers of the two always perform below standard in that position that one just feels they shouldn’t continue in the next second of the game. They either don’t attack or their performance is not 100% in that position.
To be a good half back, prove that you do better than a winger you are faced with. Don’t allow them to get behind you or have a perfect deliverance then you sit in a dressing room smiling at the end of the game.
Wenger should sort out left and rightback problem early.GIBBS N JENKINSON cant defend top strong strickers like .messi,Ronaldo ,Roney,Torres, drogba etc
Imagine this scenario. RVP moves to OT and scores the winners against Arsenal.This will make a mockery of Wenger’s claim that he wants the dm at ES.He must first show the dm the money for such talent.
Frankly I would prefer RVP to move a Euro team even if they offer less cash than the epl teams. Btw please don’t slamRVP for being injury prone. Class is permanent and form is shrt trem.
i strongly agree wit prof.wenger 4 dat decision hwever, i thik is de rit observetion @ very rit time.up gunners.
Mr.wenger is the manager whatever he suggest about the possibillity of andre santos change of position.is good for the club as well as fans..
I hope Arsenal can beat the rd even if RVP moves there. I have enough of the red faced ‘s arrogance. He is treating the epl as his own turf.
He says his successor need not fear anything as all things are geared for success. Nothing can be further from the truth. He better add the refs,
Aslong as the refs help him towin,no problem.But all good things must come to an end.The Arsenal referees analysis indicates how he has been helped by the guys in black.
Fear not. It aint going to be easy for him or his successor.Once upon atime Wenger was his his closet rival. Since then the fm has fallen off the pedestal. Now with Chelsea and MC competing for talent he has found it tougher to dominate.
Wenger tried to convert Eboue to an attacking winger & then left him half-way, may it not happen to Santos!
Moving Santos forward wouldn’t be such a bad idea, he isn’t the fastest but his technical skill on the ball is probably up there with the best at the club.
Looking at videos of him at his old club it seems he’s still not up to the fitness he was back then and has lost a yard or two of pace, if he can improve his fitness, we might just have a scary chubby winger on our hands.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVXkjlLgCxA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEhlvsHF1L8
The only bad thing about this is that we’re now left with a young’ish injury prone left back who is adequate but for us to really push forward and challenge we’re gonna need a more defensively able left back not one who turns into a an attacking winger once he’s past the half way line and forgets his duties.
I tink is a gud idea bringin him forwad wit is skil and xperience nice one wenger.
i dnt understand why pple dnt like Gervinho _ts kinda racist i think..
#i dnt knw, maybe um wrong#
Gervinho’s my type of player just hoping higher percentages of assists and goals will follow this season and subsequent ones. But he can be frustrating especially in games we are fighting to get back in – I am believing the transistion is round the corner.
Anyway most football fans are like prostitutes give them the goals and they’ll crown you king! How else can you explain the Spuds falling over themselves for Adebayor last season! Say what you want but bring him or Nasri back to the Emirates and let the score more than 11 (and/or win us a big game) and watch the (embarrasing?) u-turn.
Put him in goal
Wenger will never learn. Eboue was one of the best right back until wenger switched his role, now he wants 2 do thesame to santos.
The draw in HK raises questions about the defence. If a side three rungs below epl std can score twice it shows the defence is still a work in progress. Granted three of the senior defneders werenot in HK.
I believe the defence will again be a problem area. Until and unless Wenger fixes it,I don’t see how the gunners can cope with the top teams.Btw the big German could be a big area of concern. His lack of pace could be his undoing.
it would be good to have a defensive minded player in left midfield to help gibbs
but santos is better in left back maybe wengers got his eye on another left back and does not know how to tell santos he is not needed so he put him on the left were he’s unlikely to get a spot over gervinho miyachi maybe even podolski. follow me @kyekye45 ill follow back
Wenger is deluded if he thinks other teams will play f ootball his way. He wants to play ballet soccer.His style is passing and passing and expects free licence all the way to goal.
The problem is other teams employ hatchet men to break up attacks something Arsenal have been missing.
And so to the coming season. It’s no use having offensive minded players if these guys can’t or won’t defend.This has been a problem the last ten years.I think Arsenal need a hatchet man or thug.This guy will break up enenmy attacks in the same they stifle the gunners by fair or foul means.
That is why Pires said English soccer was and is a street fight. You don’t try to bamboozle the thug. You give him a dose of his own medicine to even the playing field. Otherwise the gunners will continue to be intimidated by these thugs. There are many of these guys in the epl.