I had originally planned to pen an article on Wenger’s to do list over the international break; but having read Mean Lean’s superb article on Bendtner and other Arsenal striker options, I’ve decided to follow up with my own thoughts.
I agree with a lot of Mean Lean’s thoughts, particularly to do with the January transfer market. January is a notoriously hard time to push through deals and often deals that are done are usually a stop gap solution to an unforeseen injury or threat of relegation. Of course we have seen in the past that it can be a time to get ahead of your competitors, such as the Wilfred Zaha case, as United purchased a highly rated youngster and loaned him back. However, that style of purchase would not help our striker situation.
What I do find interesting is that we are in the midst of an international tournament year, more excitingly a World Cup year that is set to take part in Brazil. Every player dreams of playing in a World Cup and I cannot imagine a more thrilling arena than that of the home of the Canarinha A Seleção. The thought of missing out on the World Cup is unbearable and many international footballers have found themselves in a precarious position. Llorente is one, as he sits behind several international players despite being a player of real quality. There are several in the premier league in a similar position; how long can the likes of Edin Dzeko, Chicarito and Demba Ba sit on the bench before deciding enough is enough? I am not saying we will move for any of the aforementioned players but this could be the year were the January transfer window is a bit more accessible.
Looking at our own squad it is clear that until January, Wenger needs to come up with a suitable plan B. This may take the form of Nicklas Bendtner, Theo Walcott or Lukas Podolski; whatever way it goes there needs to be a clear understanding of what is required from our deputy striker. Giroud’s excellent form has not only shown itself in his goal scoring but in his all round play. He gets involved in build up play, dragging defenders out of position, holding up the ball and playing delightful flicks and passes around the corner. He has matured into a player that has the ability to do the sublime whilst knowing when to play simple. There will be nights like Friday where he will score outrageous goals; but more importantly there will be far more games where he will selflessly lay off to our on rushing midfielders or poke it home from 4 yards.
None of our three potential candidates encompass exactly what Giroud brings to the squad but they do have individual traits that equate to a few of our Frenchman.
Great Dane
Bendtner is far from the perfect centre forward but he has shown glimpses of his ability to link up play and finish moves over the past few years. He is strong in the air and comes deep to get involved in play. He is of a similar mould to Giroud but lacks composure in front of goal and has never consistently performed at the top level. He has always had a very high opinion of himself, that much is clear, but in amongst all the stunts and silly mistakes both on and off the pitch, there is clearly a player with some ability. He has an excellent international record and showed a lot of potential during and after his spell with Birmingham; it is now up to him to walk the walk.
Theo’s Time to Shine
At the other end of the spectrum is Walcott; in terms of ability and personality there is quite a difference. Walcott, despite his insistence on playing up front and taking free kicks, has always appeared quite humble. It is arguable that he does not have the same footballing ability as Bendtner but he has worked hard on his game and has utilized his key strength to the best of his ability. He obviously trains hard and practices one on one situations regularly given his composure in front of goal in recent seasons and has worked hard to improve his crossing, although it could still use some work. Walcott’s style of play is entirely different to that of Giroud and Bendtner as he looks to break the offside trap and get himself into goal scoring positions. He will rarely come deep and does not have the ability to link up play in the way that Giroud can. His lack of build up play is somewhat made up by his coolness in front of goal and his devastating speed; with Walcott playing centre forward, defenders will have to play a deeper line, giving our midfield greater space and time on the ball. Whilst this may be great for shooting opportunities outside the box, it would somewhat eliminate the effectiveness of Ramsey’s timed runs into the box. This of course brings me back to Mean Lean’s question, are we looking for a player who can directly compete with Giroud, such as Llorente or are we looking for someone who can offer something different, as we saw with the Suarez pursuit. I have no doubt that Walcott will get us goals in the centre forward position but I just feel that the overall performance of the team will suffer and given his goal scoring tally last season, will he really contribute anything extra that he doesn’t already do from the right?
It’s Hammer Time
Podolski’s ability in the centre forward position is hard to evaluate given that he is often played as a left sided forward; we know his strength lies in his hammer of a left foot, demonstrated by the majority of his goals from last year. He is very experienced and professional in his approach but has never really thrived in the lone front man role. He will take up good positions in and around the box and poses a significant goal scoring threat to opponents but can be easily marked by more mobile and stronger defenders. His experience may be extremely useful, particularly against better opposition and he obviously has a lot of fight and drive but I can’t help but feel underwhelmed by Podolski as our focal point. I think he could certainly do a job coming off the bench when defenders may be a little more tired and complacent to his runs but otherwise I see him as a wide man.
It is not an easy task for any of these three to fill the role that Giroud has done so well to make his own; it may be that the situation dictates the personnel, with Bendtner being favoured in games where we will need to keep possession and Walcott favoured in games where we will attempt to hit teams on the break. I’m sure Wenger and the coaching staff have been working on a backup since the window closed. Given that Wenger vetoed the Bendtner deal to Palace and the Dane’s similarities in style of play (not quality), I get the feeling that they will place their faith in Bendtner should the situation arise. I guess we’ll have to keep our fingers crossed that the situation doesn’t arrive but in the mean time we should concentrate on keeping Giroud fit and utilizing lesser games to get his backup up to speed.
Til next time,
JR
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