And Now a Word About our Fullbacks

January 29th, 2008 | by: Laurie |

I stumbled on this article when I was looking for more Sagnol news. (Of which there is none, of course. Curse this long Bundesliga winter break! Don’t they know if affects our February friendlies?)

But that’s not my point. My point is: Fullbacks. Specifically this quote, with which I am in complete agreement, heart and soul:

“Believe me there is nothing more satisfying for me than to see a marauding full back.”

Hey, that’s me too! I love marauding fullbacks. They make my heart go pitter-pat. But let’s see what else he says:

If you look around Europe you will find plenty of high quality players in other positions but not enough full backs of quality. In fact they are so few in numbers that I can name them now (remember high quality) –

Clichy, A.Cole, Evra, Abidal, Zambrotta, Sagna, Sagnol, Lahm, Alves, Maicon and well that`s about it.

Recognize any of those names, boys and girls? Do we have the fullback market cornered or what? Clichy, Evra, Abidal, Sagna, and Sagnol. Ours and nobody else’s. This causes me to emit involuntary happy sighs, except for the fact that we can’t have them all on the field at the same time.

And: Is Sagna a replacement for Sagnol, now or in the longterm? What do you think?

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sandrahn

Hey, you forgot about King Kolo!! Currently away at the African Nations Cup and unfortunately for us gooners tearing it up with Ivory Coast to make them one of the favorites to win the tournament. HURRY UP AND COME BACK KOLO!! Fortunately his injury doesn’t look serious enuf to put him out too long. Kolo marauds marauds marauds (I don’t think that’s a word, but I don’t care) all over the pitch. Bombs forward all the time, tries for powerful vollies (occasionally gets them in) and just tears it up. Clichy is definitely up there, we gooners just wish he’d get a goal! He deserves one. I wish he could be cloned! He’s just astonishing. He’s one of Arsenal’s top 3 sprinters — in training the fastest players often do these competitive sprint races. Henry and Clichy are tied as the club’s all-time fastest. Clichy never seems to get tired.

As for Sagna…again, another brilliant Wenger find! I do think he’s a fantastic replacement for Sagnol in the long term, he just needs more games with the national team. I hope Domenech knows how to use him to his best advantage. I’ve never seen a player fit in so seamlessly with absolutely no fuss at Arsenal.
http://ghana.worldcupblog.org Inara

I’ve always felt that if there was one position that France doesn’t have a lot of talented players, it’s right back. In all other positions, France is knee deep in talent. But at RB, after Sagnol, you have an entire host of so-and-so options. Sagna is admittedly the best of the bunch, followed by Clerc, Diarra, Chimbonda, Reveillere, etc, but none of them fill me with hope for the future.
Jean-Michel

Seems like le selectionneur favors Clerc over Sagna. I haven’t seen Sagna get too much action. Wondering if that ridiculous hair style has anything to do with it.
http://ghana.worldcupblog.org Inara

I don’t watch the EPL, so I have no idea how Sagna is doing, but Clerc has been looking rather well this year. So I am expecting that he gets a call up, but if Sagnol is available, I’m not sure if Clerc will be in A or A’.
sandrahn

Sagna is now considered one of the premiership’s best fullbacks. Some rate him as #1. His performances have been as close to perfect as any player can get. What is amazing is how quickly he became a regular first team player. No adjustment period at all. We gooners were very dubious about him when he first arrived, had never heard about him, and we wondered why Wenger was buying in that position when it wasn’t a priority one. Well Sagna has become part of our first choice back four all season. He is absolutely integral to our defense. Like Kolo, when he doesn’t play (which is rare), we get worried. His hairstyle is remarked on constantly of course (Gallas doesn’t like it at all and has said so) but we saw that the one game in which Sagna was not at his best was the one where his blonde locks were gone. So we want that crazy hairstyle to stay on permanently please.
Brandon

I think Sagnol should be the top choice for the Euro’s this summer, but after that, I can see Sagna possibly starting to take over. Im not a huge fan of Clerc… he plays well for Lyon but always seems a bit lost when playing for France – and hasn’t played many top level matches against quality national teams.
As the biggest Sagnol fan out there, its tough to admit that his time may be coming to and end with les bleus, but I definetly think he deserves to play out these Euros at the very least. I feel pretty confident with Sagna coming up though, his play with Arsenal is incredible. Their names are so similar anyways… seems like a natural progression. haha