Winter Transfer Speculation

[Kano]

Debuchy can suck the back of them, moaning sod,hope he doesn't play fur us again

http://www.skysports.com/football/ne...ove-to-man-utd

Oh well. bye

[Power n Glory]

Pace is needed when you are playing on the counter. Arsenal rarely do because an increasing number of our opponents are set up to hit on the break, meaning we get sucked into having the ball, closed down and away they go. Two games where I can remember where Feo did play well was when he had the space to cause problems, away at Leicester - before they changed the two full backs that has subsequently improved their defence - and at home to Utd, where ageing players left massive gaps in midfield for us to exploit. We saw a totally different second half in the Utd game once they shored up those holes. Our counter attacking didn't work that day for the latter 45 mins. When Feo was injured, as per usual, this season, Ozil was the best player in the league. Last season when Feo was injured, his yearly mid-season break, it didn't stop Alexis performing like a monster most weeks. The evidence is against Feo in terms of what he can give to this team on a consistent basis. Added to the fact that you can't develop a longterm plan around someone whose injury stats are always going to be higher than his appearances, goals or assists. Giroud is not exactly a world beater but at least you know what you are going to get from him. Feo brings too many unknown quantities to be anything other than a useful, short term use substitute. Aubamayeng would be great but we have to remember just how many of these 'big name' players from Dortmund have actually come across to the PL since Klopp transformed them.

What is that? 6 games without a goal and we’re struggling against open teams like Leicester and teams that also sit deep. We know what we’re going to get from Giroud but is that enough?

[Globalgunner]

Who has scored more goals this season, Walcott or Giroud. Who has played more games, been absent far less?. Plan your future around a player who actually plays and scores more than once in a red moon. We can keep him but to move with the elite we need an elite striker.

[Power n Glory]

Who has scored more goals this season, Walcott or Giroud. Who has played more games, been absent far less?. Plan your future around a player who actually plays and scores more than once in a red moon. We can keep him but to move with the elite we need an elite striker.

Is that enough for this season. The remaining games we have left in the season. We only have internal options at our disposal so no point in talking about transfers. Giroud's done well this season but is this it for him? Have the goals dried up and do we keep going, clinging on, even though we're forced to play a certain style with him or do we try something else?

Take Walcott out of the equation because there is no point in debating that with you.

[I am invisible]

I disagree about Giroud. We need him to find his form or someone else to step up and T up some chances for him. Yesterday’s performance from him was predictable and it has been for a couple of weeks now and that’s not a good thing. He should be a plan B striker coming on off the bench in that case. It might not be wise to tinker with Sanchez now and we really don’t have many wide options being honest.

As for Welbeck and Walcott…..your arguments against Walcott is probably what I feel more so for Welbeck. When he first arrived and had his run up front, he just wasn’t getting into goal scoring positions. He’d need a bit more time to adapt in that role. Walcott on the other hand started to find his feet in that role but got injured as per usual. I think he’s at his worst blowing hot and cold when on the wing. If he’s not scoring, he’s not really contributing that much on the flanks. If he didn’t score last night, people would have been all over his case. But first shot on goal and he scores. He’s the type of player, I feel, will get opportunities and end up putting them away once the confidence flows. Just like we’ve said about Ade, but Walcott has a better touch and finish. Certain games are suited for a striker like Giroud but I don’t think we’ve seen enough of Walcott to write him off.

I did a comparison of Walcott and Welbeck some months back and it’s telling. Walcott had never had a run up front for as long as Welbeck had last season. But in the short period Walcott has had games up front, he’s done a lot better than Welbeck. I’m still not sure he’s had as long a run as Danny up front. But right now, I think we need to switch things up. Giorud not scoring in the last 5 games should be a worry.

Sorry mate, I never saw that comparison - probably too busy changing nappies, and mopping up drool and puke. If you can dig it out again though, I'll give it a read.

To be honest I would probably expect Walcott to come out on top on any comparison from last season, even with a shorter run to work with? He's a (slightly) more experienced player, who's been at the club for 9-10 years, and will have had a much better understanding with his team mates, and a much better knowledge of our system and the manager's ways. Welbeck would have only been at the club for about 5 minutes, during that run he had up front at the start of last season - he didn't even get a pre-season with us because of how late in the window we signed him - so I wouldn't be expecting to see anything particularly mind-blowing from him in terms of stats.

I'll admit that there's an element of fantasy football going on here, but I'm looking at these guys more in terms of raw attributes, and trying to picture the kind of striker that we could fashion with them. Work to be done with any of the current options, but I feel like there's a more complete package to be had with Danny than there is with Theo or Giroud. And, in theory at least, I don't think it should take too much work to get him there? Aside from being blessed with all the physical traits you'd have on your wish list, and being a pretty good all-round player, I like the fact that his attitude and work-rate are always consistent - you never have to motivate him, or stroke his ego, or get him angry before he'll make the effort. Where he lacks consistency, as you say, is getting in the right places at the right times - on the one hand that sounds like a pretty major problem when you're talking about your CF, but I actually think it's a relatively simple thing to sort out in the grand scheme of things? It's something that can be taught. Unfortunately, Theo can't really learn how to be bigger, just as Giroud can't really learn to be faster.

My personal opinion is that both Giroud AND Walcott are potentially most valuable to us as players coming off the bench. And that's not meant as an insult - it's more of tactical preference. Ideally, I'd want to start each game with a striker like Welbeck, who offers us a bit of both worlds - pace and mobility, as well as strength and hold-up play - then bring one or the other on once we've felt the game out, and seen whether there's a high line that is begging to be punished, or a packed area that needs breaking down. It's a move away from the more traditional 'best XI' way of thinking, and towards a more targeted approach, but, if used correctly, I think we could have a couple of really effective weapons on our hands?

[I am invisible]

I think Walcott has frustrated us repeatedly over his career but there are far too many of our fans who have pointed to us playing well without him as proof we don't need him whilst ignoring the fact that we have played best when he has been on the field this season.

He's not popular at the moment but the fact we seem to see the best out of our 2 best players in Sanchez and Ozil when he plays is ignored at our peril. If pace really is all you need then Man ure really should sign Usain Bolt who is shamefully a fan of theirs and regularly whores himself to them.

Whilst we have the options we do I'd prefer we use Walcott up front a little more than we have been.............. but yes, sign Aubameyang this summer FFS.

I'd rather have Walcott than not have him! Same with Giroud. They both still frustrate me at times, but I don't think either are bad players - far from it. I just don't think they're complete players, and that puts them more in the bracket of 'tactical option' than 'guaranteed starter' for me. No shame in that - that's just how the game is these days (especially where attacking options are concerned). If you can't get a world-class monster who can do everything, then you're best bet is a more modular approach.

Aubameyang? Top player, but, again, every time I watch YT compilations of all his goals from this prolific run he's on this season I'm left thinking "why can't we get one of our guys to do that?" 90% of them really are just tap-ins from a couple of yards out. I don't know... have a look for yourself, and see if you think it's anything we need to be paying £60-70m for?

[Globalgunner]

I'd rather have Walcott than not have him! Same with Giroud. They both still frustrate me at times, but I don't think either are bad players - far from it. I just don't think they're complete players, and that puts them more in the bracket of 'tactical option' than 'guaranteed starter' for me. No shame in that - that's just how the game is these days (especially where attacking options are concerned). If you can't get a world-class monster who can do everything, then you're best bet is a more modular approach.

Aubameyang? Top player, but, again, every time I watch YT compilations of all his goals from this prolific run he's on this season I'm left thinking "why can't we get one of our guys to do that?" 90% of them really are just tap-ins from a couple of yards out. I don't know... have a look for yourself, and see if you think it's anything we need to be paying £60-70m for?

If you take Aubemayang. He is like for like an identical physical specimen with Welbeck. Same physique, same pace. Except that Welbeck is less prolific and far more injury prone. We need him to save us E60m and be that guy. There is no rational reason for us to keep 3 nearly strikers as our main attack options. I would rather we get Akpom and Aneke back and start working with them then and junk our crap trioka of average players. Welbeck holds the most promise. He needs to keep fit and start finishing reliably.

[mastermind84]

Theo gets the best out of Özil and Sanchez but he is not prolific and only works in space.

We tried him up top against Chelsea a few weeks ago and he gave a horrendous performance. One of the worst we have seen.

The problem with our goals this season is not necessarily Giroud tho. Through expected goals and assists he has been the best striker in England and for Arsenal he is the only player converting their chances at a high clip. It's the others who are a problem, particularly Alexis.

We need a better version of Theo although Giroud has a ton of value. But we really need goals from other positions. A guy like Griezman would be perfect as he runs behind defenses (only Theo does that on our team) and he takes chances.

Welbeck is not a striker. He don't score enough or even take shots/

Saying that, I think Theo should start against Tottenham at CF because they play a style he would thrive against.

[Power n Glory]

Sorry mate, I never saw that comparison - probably too busy changing nappies, and mopping up drool and puke. If you can dig it out again though, I'll give it a read.

To be honest I would probably expect Walcott to come out on top on any comparison from last season, even with a shorter run to work with? He's a (slightly) more experienced player, who's been at the club for 9-10 years, and will have had a much better understanding with his team mates, and a much better knowledge of our system and the manager's ways. Welbeck would have only been at the club for about 5 minutes, during that run he had up front at the start of last season - he didn't even get a pre-season with us because of how late in the window we signed him - so I wouldn't be expecting to see anything particularly mind-blowing from him in terms of stats.

I'll admit that there's an element of fantasy football going on here, but I'm looking at these guys more in terms of raw attributes, and trying to picture the kind of striker that we could fashion with them. Work to be done with any of the current options, but I feel like there's a more complete package to be had with Danny than there is with Theo or Giroud. And, in theory at least, I don't think it should take too much work to get him there? Aside from being blessed with all the physical traits you'd have on your wish list, and being a pretty good all-round player, I like the fact that his attitude and work-rate are always consistent - you never have to motivate him, or stroke his ego, or get him angry before he'll make the effort. Where he lacks consistency, as you say, is getting in the right places at the right times - on the one hand that sounds like a pretty major problem when you're talking about your CF, but I actually think it's a relatively simple thing to sort out in the grand scheme of things? It's something that can be taught. Unfortunately, Theo can't really learn how to be bigger, just as Giroud can't really learn to be faster.

My personal opinion is that both Giroud AND Walcott are potentially most valuable to us as players coming off the bench. And that's not meant as an insult - it's more of tactical preference. Ideally, I'd want to start each game with a striker like Welbeck, who offers us a bit of both worlds - pace and mobility, as well as strength and hold-up play - then bring one or the other on once we've felt the game out, and seen whether there's a high line that is begging to be punished, or a packed area that needs breaking down. It's a move away from the more traditional 'best XI' way of thinking, and towards a more targeted approach, but, if used correctly, I think we could have a couple of really effective weapons on our hands?

I think you've summed up the problem with Welbeck already in this post. What I wrote was just a comparison on how long both have played up front and what they produced. As said with Welbeck, he needs time to adapt to the team and learn the role. Which is why I'm hesitant to say we should play him up front right now. He really needed a pre season to work on his game but injury has robbed him of that and it's very risky to play him up front now. He's had games where he looks totally ineffective and anonymous. In theory he should be the guy to take the role. He has the physique and speed to come short to link up play, hold up the ball, win it in the air and play on the shoulder. But I also thought Podolski would make an ideal striker.

When a striker gets zero chances and looks totally anonymous, I worry. More so than a striker that isn't clinical. My problem with Giroud now is the lack of shots he's getting on goal when we're playing ball to feet. I have a similar problem with Danny up front but hopefully he can work on that this summer. But it still leaves us with problem up front this season. Also, I don't want us going into the summer again waiting on Theo or Danny to play well up front which is what I fear Wenger will do. I think the way Theo is playing right now on the wing rules him out as a winger. We haven't seen enough of Welbeck but I'd rather not take a risk with him up front. Except maybe for a cup game or even Barca. Just not the league. I also hear what you're saying about Theo and Giroud's limitations and I wish we'd adopt a two striker system. I think they'd work well as a pair up front. But it's unlikely we'll change that.

[Power n Glory]

Theo gets the best out of Özil and Sanchez but he is not prolific and only works in space.

We tried him up top against Chelsea a few weeks ago and he gave a horrendous performance. One of the worst we have seen.

The problem with our goals this season is not necessarily Giroud tho. Through expected goals and assists he has been the best striker in England and for Arsenal he is the only player converting their chances at a high clip. It's the others who are a problem, particularly Alexis.

We need a better version of Theo although Giroud has a ton of value. But we really need goals from other positions. A guy like Griezman would be perfect as he runs behind defenses (only Theo does that on our team) and he takes chances.

Welbeck is not a striker. He don't score enough or even take shots/

Saying that, I think Theo should start against Tottenham at CF because they play a style he would thrive against.

Hard to judge Theo in that Chelsea game because we had 10 men and it looked like he was still playing on the wing for most of the game. Giroud has done well but we're a team that plays ball to feet and he's more suited to a direct style. We have to compromise somewhere. But agree with some of the other points. I think Welbeck needs time but he might not get that.