Arsenal: The one problem with the Sokratis/Koscielny partnership

Arsenal rocked it out on the defensive front against Chelsea, but their defensive duo has one irking problem that has no solution.

I could not be happier with how Arsenal handled Chelsea at the Emirates. They wont the game at the back first, then in the midfield, and the attack followed suit. This wasn’t your typical match, where an overpowering attack is asked to compensate for flimsy defense and a midfield that hasn’t been properly equipped.

In this match, we won the midfield and the defense first. And that wouldn’t have been possible if the defensive pairing wasn’t as strong as they were.

Laurent Koscielny and Sokratis were the two best players of this match. They were so good defensively that they combined for a fantastic goal on the attack as well. The whipped in ball from Sokratis that found the shoulder of his defensive mate. Couldn’t have scripted it better.

It was also the first time in quite awhile that Unai Emery trusted the experienced side of his defenders over the presence of Shkodran Mustafi, who spent the day on the bench. Safe to say he was amply rewarded for his faith.

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Going forward, this has to be the defensive schematic that Emery works with. I know it was just one match, but this defense has been horrid all year, so now that we’ve scored a clean sheet against Chelsea, it’s time to mimic everything possible for as long as possible.

The problem is – that isn’t that long.

Given the skillsets of the two centerbacks, there is plenty of reason to believe in their combined ability, but the problem is that we aren’t going to have them together for that much longer. Koscielny is reaching the end of his tenure and Sokratis is no spring hen.

Leave it to Arsenal to find a potential defensive solution at the feet of their two oldest defenders.

Of course, worst case scenario, this still gives a good indication of what is working for the defense and, as long as the midfield plays as well as it did, that helps the situation immensely as well. It’s just a shame that we can’t invest in this defensive set-up for the long haul, because they proved a lot in one match.

Now if they can just carry us to the end of the season and… you know… through all of next season, that would be great.