Arsenal: Benedikt Howedes Would Provide Seamless Transition

Arsenal’s defense has looked rather solid this year, but it is never too early to prepare for the future. Benedikt Howedes is perfect for Arsenal’s defense.

The Independent is reporting that Arsenal may be looking to land an incredibly reasonably priced Benedikt Howedes for just £9m. If that is all FC Schalke’s big German captain will cost, then what’s the hold up?

Arsenal have had one of the most steady defensive duos in the Premier League for the past three years. Per Mertesacker and Laurent Koscielny have forged a pristine partnership that allows the two to play off each other’s strengths and render opposing attack’s useless.

While Koscielny is the aggressive defender, pushing up the pitch and fighting for interceptions, Mertesacker is the one thatsits back and absorbs the pressure. The big German has an uncanny intelligence when it comes to positioning and it leaves him in perfect situations to make tackles, no matter the attacker.

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However, all good things must come to an end. With Mertesacker and Koscielny both being on the wrong side of 30, it may be time to start looking for players that can fill the inevitable voids. Gabriel Paulista was brought in as a start. However, his play mimics that of Laurent Koscielny. It would not be the most ridiculous proposition to try to mimic the success of the Koscielny/Mertesacker duo by finding someone that can now mimic Mertesacker.

Originally, it appeared that the plan was to let Calum Chambers grow into the role. However, he is still very young and he has found new use as a defensive midfielder. No doubt with Debuchy on his way out the door, Chambers will find more usage on the right side of the pitch, where he began his Arsenal career, when teammate Hector Bellerin needs a rest. That will still leave three men rotating across the two centerback position. Adding a fourth would not be such a bad option, especially when considering a future pairing of Gabriel and a Mertesacker-type.

Arsenal need look no further than Howedes. The big German is very similar to Mertesacker in more ways than just being big and German. He also has leadership experience as he is the FC Schalke captain. Howedes may not be a blazer, but he does have superior pace to Mertesacker, although that is not saying much.

To prove the similarities, let’s look at the stats. As mentioned, Kosielny is the intercepting type (4.10 interceptions per 90 to Mertesacker’s 1.47) while Mertesacker is the sit-back and tackle type (1.20 tackles to Koscielny’s .90). As it turns out Howedes provides the same tackling abilities as Mertesacker (1.20) while providing an increased interceptions benefit as well (3.24).

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All three defenders in this comparison average just over five clearances a game as well.

However, it is impossible to 100% replicate the styles that Mertesacker and Koscielny have. At least not right away. Gabriel blows all three of these defenders out of the water with 1.64 tackles per 90 while still maintaining 3.52 interceptions and well over five clearances per 90 as well (all stats via Squawka.com).

The potential duo of Howedes and Paulista would learn to adapt to each other and we may start to see changes in their play to mimic their predecessors. Rolling the statistics back, we start to notice that Mertesacker and Koscielny did not begin this way. Mertesacker’s interceptions have slowly been decreasing over the years since his arrival while his tackles have been increasing. Sure enough, the opposite can be said of Laurent Koscielny. The Frenchman’s tackles have slowly decreased while his interceptions have greatly increased.

It is pretty clear why that happened. Koscielny and Mertesacker learned how best to adapt to Arsenal’s defensive needs. Koscielny learned to trust Mertesacker enough to push up the pitch and Mertesacker learned to trust himself enough to sit back and be the sole defender in the center at times.

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Howedes and Gabriel could very well mimic that if Howedes makes the trek to North London. While their stat spreads are very similar now, given time and communication, their play styles would gradually sink into the same rhythm that the current defensive duo has.

Land Howedes, and Arsenal’s defensive transition when they change the guard will be seamless.

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Arsenal Will Find Seamless Transition In Benedikt Howedes

By Josh Sippie | Jan 11, 2016

Arsenal’s defense has looked rather solid this year, but it is never too early to prepare for the future. Benedikt Howedes is perfect for Arsenal’s defense.

More from Pain in the Arsenal