Arsenal: Sokratis becoming the patron saint of no-nonsense

Arsenal’s defense was riddled by nonsense last year, but with the emergence of Sokratis, that nonsense is quickly hitting the road.

If there was one key problem that plagued Arsenal’s defense last year, it was mental mistakes. This inability of defenders to stay locked into the game mentally, which often led to foolish goals surrendered that could have been prevented with a little focus.

Shkodran Mustafi, while skilled to no end, has a long-time history of being the face of mental mistakes – of ‘nonsense.’ And while Rob Holding is learning to be no-nonsense, there are going to be the growing pains for at least a little bit longer.

Enter Sokratis. The hulking Greek defender has a strict no-nonsense policy, almost to a fault. Against Tottenham, we saw him taking such a proactive approach to snuffing out nonsense that he was often guilty of making foolish fouls, solely in the name of stopping the nonsense before it could even begin.

Which, honestly, is better than the alternative, of letting the particular play hash out and seeing what happens.

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And it gets better. Because it hasn’t gotten that good thus far into the article. What Sokratis did after the match is what has a lot of fans talking. Sokratis was seen, on video, wagging a finger at Son Heung-min at full-time, and the clearly accusing him of flopping.

How awesome is that? Sokratis is so no-nonsense that he took the ultimate bit of nonsense all the way to the final whistle and made sure that he let his point be heard – that the nonsense could be exposed.

What better person to have in the center of a back three than someone who takes absolutely no chances? Someone who has no interest in trying something risking or daring because it just isn’t necessary and it is, in a word, nonsense.

Just another signing that is exactly what the club needed. We talk a lot about Lucas Torreira and how he hits the exact specifications of what was needed, but doesn’t Sokratis do the exact same? He is the patron saint of no-nonsense, he just won’t stand for tomfoolery, and he had, for awhile there, become something of a guardian angel for the nonsense-maker, Mustafi.

All of this to say that the defense is shaping up nicely. I know some people don’t like the back three, but I for one find it to be equal parts exciting and reliable.