Arsenal: Konstantinos Mavropanos is worth the patience

Arsenal’s defensive situation has two schools of thought, either load up or remain true. Konstantinos Mavropanos is giving the latter school more credibility.

Arsenal’s defense is a mess, what a mess. They were a brittle, crumbling excuse of a wall that underwent the same mistakes time and time again. No matter who was on that back line, it never seemed to make a difference. The mental mistakes plagued every single player in the regular back four. They will, most likely, surrender 50 goals this season. Awful.

The only players who have, as of yet, not made colossal mistakes in far-too-large quantities are the young ones – Rob Holding, Calum Chambers and Konstantinos Mavropanos. They’ve all had hiccups, as every player in the world has, but nothing monstrous.

But naturally, investing the hopes of a defensive revival next year in three defenders 23-years-of-age or younger isn’t going to inspire a lot of people with confidence. They want a big name, a proven name, and someone that – though they probably won’t admit it – costs a lot of money.

That’s fine. I am not going to oppose the signing of maybe one big name defender, because that is the quickest, easiest way to solve a problem. But for the sake of Mavropanos, I have to urge that we sign one less defender than we would think, solely to give our youth the chance they have earned.

More from Pain in the Arsenal

For instance, if the plan truly was to uproot the entire back line and start again, then stop. Calum Chambers is Premier League ready. If you want a new defender next to him, fine, buy that. Keep Shkodran Mustafi and Rob Holding as a side and, behind that, allow Mavropanos the lane to work his way into more matches this coming season.

He may not catch on right away like he has late-on in this season. If you recall, Rob Holding did the same thing when he first arrived. But just seeing how much talent is spread across these young defenders, it would be a shame to block them with overpriced, aging stars who don’t offer much more.

I can’t help but look at Liverpool loading up on Virgil van Dijk and how little has actually changed there. They spent a stupid amount of money to fix their defensive problems and while he has made some decent improvements, overall, there isn’t much to write home about.

I would hate to see that happen at Arsenal. With so many talented young defenders, sometimes the growing pains are worth the product that emerges on the other side.

Next: Arsenal vs Burnley Player Ratings

I don’t think anything changes with Chambers or Holding, but the emergence of Mavropanos should alter the plan slightly. Let him be a relied-upon Premier League defender, even if it takes some time for him to actually get there.

Home/Arsenal News