Arsenal: Sokratis hasn’t been terrible, and that’s fantastic

Sokratis had his baptism by fire in his first two matches for Arsenal, and seeing as how he wasn’t horrible, it’s safe to call it a success.

Arsenal have surrendered five goals in their first two matches in the Unai Emery era, which might sound like the end of the world, when you look at how terrible this defense was last year, but it needs to be pointed out (ad nauseum) that it was against Manchester City and Chelsea.

However, there still need to be questions asked. Questions such as: But weren’t improvements supposed to be made to prevent these kinds of goal tallies?

The answer is yes. The improvement was Sokratis, and after two games, I think we have to be 100% thrilled with what he has been able to do for the club. Not because he has been a brick wall at the back, but because he hasn’t imploded on himself like a dying star.

Fixing this defense was always going to be about more than adding someone to the mix. This is a team that is focused on the attack, with the defense’s primary responsibility being to not screw up. Which they obviously screwed up massively last year.

But this year, there haven’t been any horrible defensive gaffs, and there have been plenty of opportunities to make them. A couple runs haven’t been tracked, sure, but overall, neither Shkodran Mustafi nor Sokratis have been terrible.

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Sokratis has been gloriously average. He has had some solid moments and some shaky ones, but overall, given the amount of action that he has been involved in, he has held his own against two of the best attacks in the best league in the world.

As such, I do believe that signing him qualifies as a resounding success. If he can go up against City and Chelsea and not crap his pants in his first two games in the Premier League, then we have someone who can probably be relied on to do so much more going forward, as he finds his footing, settles into the new club, and establishes a line of communication with Mustafi, he will only improve.

This is all good. All very good. I wouldn’t call it great, because it isn’t. But it’s good. Sokratis is perfectly good and as long as that continues to be the case, he will be a smart, sensible signing. If Mustafi can fall in line (which is also looking like it’s going in the right direction), then our defense can be an adequate line that can keep our goals per game in the 1.00 range.

Do that, and our offense will do the rest.

Sokratis never had a huge task. All he had to do is exactly what he is currently doing – not screw the pooch.