Wenger’s dilemmas: the attack, and the players who will always play

by    Tim Charlesworth

In the previous article I looked at the issue of the defence, and focussed on the issues where we have two competing players for a position.  Now we have the question of the box to box players and those playing further forward.

B2B – Cazorla or Ramsey (or Wilshere)

Cazorla has firmly established himself as the no 1 in this position, and I suspect that this will carry over into the new season.  I don’t see how you can drop a player that is playing that well.

However, Ramsey is a wonderful player, who may well be on course to become one of the best players in the world.  In 13/14, he was clearly our best player.  It must be a terrible wrench to leave him out of the team.  Some of his appearances on the right wing at the end of last season suggested how reluctant Wenger was to bench him.  Cazorla is in his 30s.  Can Cazorla really hold Ramsay at bay?  Either way, we look pretty strong here, especially with Wilshere as an alternative.

RM – The Ox or Ramsey or Walcott or Wilshere

My feeling is that the Ox is no.1 choice here in Wenger’s mind.  Only injury seemed to lose him his place last season, but he can hardly be considered an established starter here.  The array of talent competing with him is stunning.  Walcott (if not playing centre forward), Welbeck (ditto), Sanchez (ditto), Cazorla (if not playing B2B) and Gnabry are all great options here.  In addition, Wilshere and Ramsey also had some very good games in this position last season.  My suspicion is that the Ox will get the most minutes here in the coming season. (possible rotation)

CF – Giroud or Walcott

Arguably Walcott is the man in possession here.  There can surely be no suggestion that Wenger did not pick his strongest 11 for the cup final (goalkeeper excepted).  However, the last two weeks of the 14/15 season were probably the only time in this 26 year old’s career when he really looked convincing in this position.  Four goals in two games against WBA and Villa is hardly sufficient to convince anyone that he is a long-term option as a no9 for one of Europe’s top teams.

Yet somehow, my gut tells me that, after all these years, his moment has finally arrived.  Wenger has been talking about him as a centre forward for years.  And when Wenger talks persistently about something, it usually turns out to be right, no matter how outrageous (I remember the derision he got for talking about an unbeaten season c 2001).  Somehow Walcott now looks more robust and confident in this position.

I wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up as the man who plays most minutes in the no9 role next season.  Remember the precedent of RVP turning into a no9 quite late in his career.

At the same time, Giroud has improved every year he has been with us.  He is still in his prime, and is a very difficult player for defenders to handle.  He made an instant difference to the team when returning from a broken leg last season.  He also makes an underestimated defensive contribution in the air at set pieces, which Walcott is unable to offer.

I don’t think much of Danny Welbeck’s chances in this position next season, and I think we won’t sign a new player (mainly because no good ones are available).  My bet is that Walcott will prevail in 15/16, but I’m really not sure.

Safe positions:

No10: Ozil

Ozil has to be the man in possession, and Wenger seems to play him here when his is fit.  The brief experiment at left midfield in the early games of last season seems to have been abandoned.  However, he is still to prove to everyone that he can consistently produce world class performances.  There are an absurd number of alternatives to play here.  Sanchez was the best alternate last season, but Cazorla, the Ox, Wilshere, Ramsey and Rosicky have all put in good performances in this position in the past.

CB: Koscielny – surely only injury can keep this man out the team. He has been our top performing CB for a number of seasons now.

LM: Sanchez – this is a bit of a simplification, because Sanchez might play in a number of positions next season (notable games at no9 and no10 last season).  My assumption is that he was so good and such a good ‘team player’ that he cannot be left out when fit.  This could change next season, but lets hope he goes from strength to strength rather than suffers the ‘sophomore effect’/burnout from a very long season that has only just finished.

Conclusions

In a few instances I have recognized that players might be rotated or that Wenger might use ‘horses for courses’.

I think this is a bit of a cop-out as Wenger is a reluctant rotator.  He is more likely to rotate higher up the pitch, but even then, it is usually clear who is first choice.  I can’t think of any examples in the past where Wenger has used a ‘horses for courses’ approach by selecting different players depending on the opposition, and I think that this is an unlikely solution to the selection dilemmas.  In the unlikely event that he does want to adapt his team depending on the opposition, then the following would seem to be the main options:

  • Play BFG when you want to defend deep (Europe away?) or want extra areal protection, play Gabriel when you want to push higher up the pitch
  • Play Debuchy when you want to defend deep (Europe away?). Play Bellerin when you want to push higher up the pitch.  You may also be interested in defensive and areal balance depending on whether Monreal or Gibbs are playing on the opposite side, or if Giroud is playing.
  • Play Walcott against immobile/slow CBs (he will run them ragged) and Giroud against smaller/quicker ones (he will dominate them in the air).  Also play Giroud if you are concerned about having enough defensive strength in the air

Finally, we also have to remember that Wenger can be a bit unpredictable.  If I was doing this article twelve months ago, I would have discussed the merits of Cazorla as no 10 or wide midfielder/winger, not as a box-to-box midfielder, which is where he seems to have ended up.  In the past, Toure, Eboue, Lauren, Song and RVP all seem to have changed position without prior notice.  Of course, injuries will also solve some of these selection dilemmas.

At the moment, we only seem to have three certain starters.  I may have exaggerated slightly here because I think, Cech and Coquelin are reasonably safe bets as starters.  Nonetheless, I cannot think of a time when there was so much uncertainty about our best 11.  If some of our players can solve this problem, by out-performing expectations and establishing themselves as a clear first choice, we will have a great season.

Untold a-Tweeting   @UntoldArsenal

34 Replies to “Wenger’s dilemmas: the attack, and the players who will always play”

  1. No alternatives for a forward line comprising of Giroud, Theo and Welbeck. I completely disgaree with that.

    We need a world class striker to make this team challenge ANY team in Europe. All

    Everything else is more or less fine, except incase of a freak injury to Koscielny & Per, then we will be in trouble although this may seem farfetched (touchwood!).

  2. DKD…by world class striker you mean the likes of who?what do u mean by world class striker?l know all the strikers we have at Arsenal have all been to the World Cup.played in the biggest competetions.so what exactly do you mean by World Class striker…can you please explain to us here..i have heard that several times and still dont understand what it means.

  3. Merts is not physical he isolates himself from his team by creating so much space between himself and others, why because when under pressure on the ball he panic. so if you have a quite and smart forward playing against him you drag him in to isolated position because you get played the ball to feet or over the top you got a better of him 80% of the time change of beating him. like wise watch him when he moves into space when are play out or when he is the last man because arsenal have gone with too many forward, pounce on him before he gets the ball he will panic. How so called best CF Merts partner in crime in the top game his concentration lapses. he begins to watch the ball, rather than checking where he is in relation to the space in between his central a partner. or he too far round to be able to cover of Merts lack of recovery when beaten. the spine of any team must be solid to be successful ours is not. the DMP doesn’t have the cover it needs. the AMP/BABP are all attacking minded, so leave s us fragile to counter-attacks. I fit and regular playing Danny Welbeck will prove to be one of the best strikers in Euro and he British, so he wont be going anywhere. The little man saved us last season and assisted Chile to lifting the cup. we can not afford to have to rely on him this coming season that’s how short we are.

  4. franck:
    I think “world class striker” is an old term used for out and out strikers who just stood in the box and waited for an opportunity to score(a loose ball etc). The term world class can be added to any position at will, e.g. world class keeper etc, yet no one really knows what is meant by it, yet everyone seems to or pretends to know what is meant. It is another one of those nonsense words or phrases that seem like ordinary words but they have no real meaning. 🙂

  5. I think some Gooners are suffering from what I call appreciation syndrome. They don’t seem to appreciate the top quality 3 strikers of Giroud, walcott & Welbeck we have at our beloved club Arsenal. If what I have been reading on the rumour mill media tourted to concern Arsenal FC is correct, it’s has appeared as if the Boss is being carried away by the bandwagon outcry effect in some quarters of the Arsenal fans, as the Boss is reported to have put-in a bid for Karim Benzema. Arsenal wouldn’t be needing him to be poaching goals for them and give as many assists he could. Arsenal have his equal in the ever season by season improving Olivier Giroud. Who despite his being sidelined with injury for a spell last season, his stats is just a little under that of Benzema. I believe the Boss will start his 4 striker-forwards that could include Akpom next season according to the level of who Arsenal are playing. A top quality left back and a top quality right winger are the only 2 additions left to be signed by the Boss after his signing of Petr Cech. I hope the Boss will oblige not only me but all Gooners soon.

  6. Another excellent summing up of what I feel will be an “embarrassment of riches” which will confront Arsene Wenger in selecting his teams next season.
    Always provided, of course, that Shad performs his magic and the PGMOs will be honest, efficient and unbiased.

  7. Perhaps all that is needed now might be another jack of all trades back up player. Flamini is competent as a fullback and centre mid so someone with that versatility coming in would be great. I’ve seen titles won with less balanced squads however and to be fair, in our entire squad, only the GKs, Giroud and Mertesacker are one position specialists. I’m happy with the team.

  8. I think by “world class striker” DKD means one who can create a chance out of nothing, or who can finish most of the chances created for him.

    Like a Suarez or Aguero… after those two, I am struggling to think of any…

  9. We are developing a multi tasking multi talented team for all seasons. That takes time, but most of the second half of last season suggests we are getting there. Agree, can see more defensive set ups in some situations, more attacking in others, especially with the different qualities of our backs. We will see more of Gabriel and Chambers. There will be no need to over play Ozil Ramsey and Alexis with the squad we now have.
    As for Theo, just wish he would sign what is surely a good deal, he is a player I have a lot of time for, but cannot help but wonder if his contract tactics are appreciated upstairs, he is good but not indispensable.

  10. DKD, please could you assist us with realistic suggestions of these “world class” strikers? To the best of my knowledge, Benzema sometimes gets rotated with OG in the French team! World class!!!

  11. Apparently, and according to the media, Harry Kane is a world class striker, so is Benteke…..but are his stats better that Giroud? Remember a certain Adebayor scoring a similar amount of goals to Kane for us one season, was he ever deemed world class……he has not done it since…..

  12. I think this year the goals will be shared almost equally by the forwards , especially if they all get nearly equal playing time . And staying long in all competition and staying injury free .
    Probably Alexis topping with 25 , closely followed by the rest averaging close to 20 each.
    The midfielders chipping in with around 10 each would further compliment our overall total.
    At least that’s what I am hoping for.

  13. Shit happens !

    A pirate walks into a bar and the bartender says, “Hey, I haven’t seen you in a while. What happened, you look terrible!”
    “What do you mean?” the pirate replies, “I’m fine.”
    The bartender says, “But what about that wooden leg? You didn’t have that before.”

    “Well,” says the pirate, “We were in a battle at sea and a cannon ball hit my leg but the surgeon fixed me up, and I’m fine, really.”

    “Yeah,” says the bartender, “But what about that hook? Last time I saw you, you had both hands.”
    “Well,” says the pirate, “We were in another battle and we boarded the enemy ship. I was in a sword fight and my hand was cut off but the surgeon fixed me up with this pirate hook, and I feel great, really.”

    “Oh,” says the bartender, “What about that eye patch? Last time you were in here you had both eyes.”
    “Well,” says the pirate, “One day when we were at sea, some birds were flying over the ship. I looked up, and one of them pooped in my eye.”
    “So?” replied the bartender, “what happened? You couldn’t have lost an eye just from some bird poop!”

    “Well,” says the pirate, “I wasn’t really used to the hook yet…”

  14. ” It’s impossible,” said pride . “It’s risky, ” said experience .”It’s pointless,” said reason .
    ” Give it a try, ” whispered the heart .

  15. For those of us angling for a WC striker, I would like you to reason with me a bit.

    Man Utd let go 2 senior strikers in Falcao and RvP and have not found a replacement. You and I know ManU have a better cash clot than Arsenal and pays insane wages. If your so called WC striker is available, don’t you think ManU would have signed him up?

    We are said to have signed 3 WC players in the last 3 years so let us look at the circumstances.

    Ozil: Became available ONLY after Bale was signed although Totts tried to block the deal.

    Sanchez: Became available ONLY after Suarez was signed although Liverpool tried hijack the deal.

    Cech: Became available ONLY because he was relegated to No. 2 at Chelsea and wanted to remain in London because I know other clubs like PSG would have offered higher wages.

    Do we sincerely think Madrid will easily sell their most senior striker just because Arsenal want him? Unless they have other plans like playing Ronaldo down the middle and that means buying a new winger eg Reus and until such a deal happens, Benzema can never leave.

    Meanwhile, do we know that Benzema may NOT want to join Arsenal or the EPL? What if he wants to go back to France and join PSG who can give him better wages and its his home club? What if PSG wants Benzema to replace Ibrahimovic, should we buy Ibra at 34?

    Giroud has identical stats to Benteke who is classified WC and cost £32.5m yet Giroud is not because he cost us £10m? Please, let us get real.

  16. Well, Giroud is not WC because he doesnt create chances for himself out of nothing. Well, fair enough.

    But what do you call a striker who creates chances for his team mates out of nothing???…
    I call him Giroud. I would rather have him in my team. And he is not WORLDCLASS.

  17. The striker or no9 debate is a fascinating one. Certainly, prolific strikers seem to be disappearing from the game. Ronaldo and Messi are the outstanding goalscorers in the world game and neither plays a traditional no9 role. However, there are still good no9s around such as Aguero, Costa and Saurez, so they are not dead yet. If Benzema was available (I don’t see much evidence that he is), I am not sure he is worth buying. He is maybe a minor upgrade on Giroud – over the last couple of years Benzema has been picked for France more often than Giroud, but not always. If we add in the acclimatisation to the PL and his age (soon 28), I don’t think he is really worth buying. He would be very expensive, and no9s are a great way of burning cash, both for wages and transfer fees. Man U blew many tens of millions on RVP and Falcao, and got one ‘quite good’ season from RVP out of it. I don’t see any striker better than Giroud in the PL except for the unavailable Aguero and Costa. I would not swap Giroud for the overpaid and ageing Rooney. Cavani would also be very expensive and may fare no better than Falcao. Of course there is always the option of emerging talent. I am not aware of an outstanding example, but Wenger is far better at spotting these than I am. Emerging talents however, don’t tend to make an immediate impact. I think any course of action in the striker department is a gamble, with highly uncertain outcomes, especially when acquiring from another league. If it was up to me, I think the best gamble available is the Giroud/Walcott (+Sanchez&Welbeck with a touch of Akpom) one.

  18. Nonny

    What is the point of comparing us to Manure? Everyone knows they are no more the ones to keep up with. So what if LVG lets Falcao and RVP go instead of purely hoping they possibly might deliver given more chances?

    Meanwhile we are busy trying to convince ourselves that OG is “world class” and the best and the only one available. So be it. Good luck to us.

  19. dieter

    ManU is still an attractive club for players and have greater financial muscle than Arsenal. Yes, their performances within the last 2 seasons diminished but that does not imply they are not an elite club after all they can still offer CL football.

    My point been that they are in competition for the so called WC players, known to offer higher wages than we can and are also a competition for trophies. Don’t kid yourself to think ManU doesn’t have what it takes to catch up. Not after spending north of £300m in 2 seasons in transfers and wages.

    Giroud is not the best no.9 in the EPL or world football but apart from few players who are untouchable ala Suarez, Cavani, Aguero, Lewandowski and Costa, who else is there. Higuain scored 14 league goals from open play last season and couldn’t even push Napoli into CL qualification. Does that make him WC? Lacazette has his first good season at the top and that makes him WC just like Harry Kane?

    Please stop kidding yourself. Even the top strikers mentioned above can only guarantee you about 20 goals a season and not 30 as the press will make you believe.

    Let us appreciate what we have and encourage them to do better rather than to keep talking them down.

  20. Totally agree with Nonny, talking about us buying a world class striker is stupid. You mentioned Man Utd, what about Chelsea ? Do u think they would have taken a gamble on Falcao if there were a world class striker available on the market ?

    I am 100% sure that if Messi, Ronaldo, Aguero, Suarez or Benzema were avaiable for a price we can afford, Arsene would have jumped to the chance go sign them. But this isnt football manager on your computer, this is real life. And in real life we have the best squad of players that we have had in years, so be happy.

    I know I am very happy and exited about our squad, only injuries and bad luck can stop us from challenging for the title this year I am sure.

  21. All this BS talk about a 30+ scorer, and ” world-class” id absolute idiocy! The real and most vital aspect of any team’s success is the manner in which they integrate and act in concert when playing. THIS, and this alone is the vital chemistry needed to win things. Yes, we had a Sanchez firing on all cylinders last year, but even when he wasn’t we were winning. Walcott and Welbeck weren’t even major contributors last year, but we came 3rd and won the FA Cup again thanks to a team effort. We could bring in éronaldo,Messi,Suarez and Jesus Christ and there would still be no guarantee we would perform well or win. For example, Liverpool and the Spuds brought in so many “stars” that, according to the media, they were going to blind everyone with their brilliance. We all know where that ship sailed so we might as well trust Wenger to develop the TEAM, using the resources he has available.He’ll develop Wallcott and Wellbeck into top scorers, Akpom into a deadly striker, Chambers into a superb DM or CM, Bellerin into the greatest right back since Sagna, Gabriel into our CB leader, etc., etc.. With talents like Zelalem,Gnabry, Crowley, Martinez, and Haydn….we are a very solid, versatile and stable team….and that’s what counts. Messi and Ronaldo would not be the same players if they were with QPR or Derby!

  22. Nonny & co

    For all of their superior financial muscle United have completely lost their way since Sir Alex called it a day. Now they’re all over the place, which is nothing but hilarious. So why should we be bothered about their transfer dealings? If van Gaal believes the ageing and injury-prone Rooney will score 30 league goals then let’s let the Dutchman keep on dreaming.

    Quite a few experts including some famous ex-players have expressed their candid views on Giroud and his shortcomings. Seems to me the lack of encouragement isn’t the only issue here. But I know it’s not acceptable to discuss these things as even the likes of Thierry Henry have recently become members of the infamous AAA.

    Btw, I like Giroud (apart from his tongue-flashing antics) and I feel for him. He’s a superb asset against weaker opposition, but, sadly, too much out of sorts against tougher defences.

    I’m not in favour of us purchasing a “world-class” striker at any price as none of those could warrant a 20+ tally. But I really can’t see Giroud-Welbeck-Walcott banging in the goals to take us to the next level either. And it’s unreasonable to expect Alexis to bail us out every other occasion.

    Some dilemma indeed. It’s time for A to KB, once again. Maybe it’s all down to cohesion, as omgarsenal indicates, maybe not…

  23. dieter, I really agree with you that United has lost their way, but they still make the most money of all the teams in England so they will be able to spend more than us so we have to spend our money more wisely 🙂

    But what u say about Giroud-Welbeck-Walcott is no more than a guess. But if u look at the facts about those players I dont agree.

    Giroud scored 14 PL goals for us last season in 27 games. I agree that he will never be a 30 goal/season goal scorer. But I cannot see why he should not get 20 goals next season ?

    Walcott is difficult to evaluate, for me his is much more a prolific goalscorer than he is getting credit for. If u go back and watch videos of him when he had longer spells in the team he actually almost eaqual a goal a game. But it has only been short spells because of injuries. Actually I think he will be one of our most important players this season. Sterling went for £50 mill, but I actuall think Walcott is a better player.

    Welbeck has had a difficult start to his Arsenal career, but he will be in my heart forver because of his goal against United in the Cup we went on to win. I think the talent is there, he got speed and strenght, and scoring goal can be learned. I think with him its alot about confidence, and I think our squad now will give eachother confidence after the great end to last season. If I could choose between Loic Remy and Danny Welcback as our 3rd striker, I would chose Danny every day of the week.

    Really looking forward to watching Lyon and Lacazette this weekend, he is a player I like, but right now I am not sure that he is much better than what we already have. And we should not underestimate the harmony in this group we now have, I have looked at the videos of the Singapore tour and it looks like we have a very good team spirit !!!

  24. Some really great comments/assessments guys, especially from Nonny, edda71, omg, Tim Charrlesworth and others, all giving, in depth, detailed arguments as to why the very few upgrades on OG are either unavailable or beyond us, and why OG is in fact a top striker in his own right.

    As for World Class. What is World Class? Surely that’s depends on your parameters.

    Is World Class just the elite? The guys that would get into a ‘World’ team ?

    Or is it the guys that get into the ‘Elite’ countries teams? On that scale neither George Best (Northern Ireland) or Gareth Bale (Wales) would qualify.

    Or is it the Club they play for? In which case that rules out La tiss, Shearer, as well as many others I would guess.

    Or is it opinion?

    or is it statistics?

    What is it? You tell me.

    All I know is OG is a top top player. Sure, he isn’t Aquaro or Suarez et el but beyond that absolute elite group, that would all cost £70 Million plus, he is one of the best forwards around.

    Dieter.

    I think you are harsh in the extreme in your evaluation of OG, as well as totally unrealistic about who there is available, or affordable, or would even want to come to us as his replacement.

    You’re Wenger. Who would you buy? And convince me:

    -Why he’s better than OG.

    -That we can afford him.

    -That he would want to come to us.

    -That his club would sell him to us.

    If you can do that then perhaps I’ll agree with you.

    Until then I’ll file you in my ‘Totally unrealistic, living in cuckoo land’ box.

  25. On the affordability dimension, there are those among the UA commentariat who hold on to their romantic credo that AFC is still the poor underdog; and then use it as a club to defend their favorites like Giroud against perceptions (like Deiter’s above) that defenses of the top-top clubs – where we do hope to end up this very season, n’est-ce pas? – find him static and easy enough to handle.

    While, yes, it IS complicated and costly to bring in a top-top striker (perhaps Landowski), I submit this financial quote from an AFC director – an insider voice – worth considering so that we might finally put to rest the “poor Arsenal, we can’t compete against those really big villains” mantra and its comforts: This from
    “The Arsenal director Lord Harris has revealed that Arsène Wenger can break the club’s transfer record to sign a top centre-forward, with “anyone but Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi” within their reach.

    “Money was tight when we moved to the Emirates but it’s a lot freer now,” the 72-year-old Carpetright owner told the Daily Mail. “We could go into the market and probably buy any player in the world, apart from half a dozen who are un-buyable. In the accounts, there’s over £200m in the bank.

    “You could say to Arsène we’ve got no money and he wouldn’t worry, or you could give him £100m and he might not spend it. At the moment there are no plans to sign anyone, unless he finds a real superstar like Mesut Özil or Alexis Sánchez. He’s looking for one of those but there aren’t many available.

    “We would back him to break the club’s transfer record. If he wanted the man, he could have him. Apart from Messi and Ronaldo, he could have any player. We will probably have to break the club record to get the man he wants.
    “We get a list of the players that Wenger wants,” said Lord Harris.

    “On the list is a centre forward, but I’m not going to tell you who he is. You’ve got to get the other team to want to sell him, but I think he wants to come. It basically comes down to whether the other team can find a superstar to replace him, because they don’t have to sell.”

    If he’s telling the truth (or you can prove he’s lying), perhaps there is an internal perception (who can say how widespread)that a top-top striker would be welcome.
    Go deiter!

  26. Although AW doesn’t like mass rotation, he doesn’t have a problem rotating players when the circumstances are right. Unfortunately we haven’t really been in that situation for many years, and the correct circumstances are that we’re winning, playing well as a team and not being forced into team changes due to injuries.
    When a teams playing well then 1 or 2 rotational changes isn’t a problem. Not the same changes every game and rarely positions that are strongly linked to each other. He did that during our invincibles season. If a team isn’t winning then it’s not really rotating as much as searching for the winning combination but when 11 players are confident that they’ll win every game, the manager wants to increase ‘winning 11’ into the ‘winning 25’. Changing more than 1 or 2 per game before the 1st team have that winning mentality (whether forced by suspension or injury) just slows the transition down.

  27. bob

    “If he’s telling the truth (or you can prove he’s lying)”

    Wengers press conference today.

    “Lord Harris has gone a bit overboard because that is not true,” he told reporters at a press conference ahead of the Emirates Cup, which begins on Saturday.

    I think I just proves he’s lying.

  28. bob and dieter

    Season 2014 2015, all competitions:

    Giroud…………Played 36 scored 19 = 1 goal every 1.89 games.
    Lewandowski…….Played 49 scored 25 = 1 goal every 1.96 games.
    Benzama………..Played 46 scored 22 = 1 goal every 2.09 games.

    League only:

    Lewandowski…….Played 31 scored 17 = 1 goal every 1.82 games. Giroud…………Played 27 scored 14 = 1 goal every 1.92 games.
    Benzema………..Played 29 scored 15 = 1 goal every 1.93 games.

    Girouds stats stack up pretty well against both Lewendowski and Benzemas, especially as Giroud is by all accounts playing in the ‘toughest’ League in the World.

    Add to that Lewendowski and Benzema play for 2 of the best teams in the World.

    But as we all keep getting told, Giroud is not ‘World Class’ where as Benzema and Lewndowski are.

    Perhaps if Giroud had cost £40 Million as opposed to just the £10 Million he did then he WOULD be called World Class.

    According to transfer league both Benzema and Lewendowski are valued at 50 Million euros so if they did want to move, and there clubs where willing to sell, do you think we would be the only ones in the market?

    Do you think we would have a chance of winning a bidding war against City, Chelsea or United, who surely would all be in for them?

    Do you think we should even try, when we already have a player with almost identical statistics?

    I am NOT saying we shouldn’t buy another striker.

    what I am saying is:

    The one we have is pretty damn good.

    The improvements on him, or even the equivalents are an astronomical price, and very very difficult to attain anyway.

    I just think your assessments of what we have and your expectations of what we could get as replacements, are misguided, or fanciful, or both.

  29. bob

    Never mind the spelling. And cheers for seeing some unbiased sense, which is not much appreciated around here.

    Jambug

    Greetings from Cuckoo Land. It’s “unrealistically” sunny and beautiful. Wish You weren’t here. And the dream came true…

    What exactly was the “harsh in the extreme” part of “my” evaluation of OG? What I wrote was I don’t see enough scoring potential in our strike force, because that’s what I really believe.

    Title race -wise Walcott & Welbeck are – impartially judged – hardly the most clinical finishers. As for Sexy Ollie then; over 3 seasons he’s scored 41 league goals, two (2) of those against top four sides. You are welcome to argue I’m completely off the mark, but these are the stats. The excuses are on You.

    Let’s play the “I’m Wenger” -game:

    I would seriously consider buying Benzema. As bob stated we can afford him and his wages. I could see Benzema netting 20+ times a season for us. But I can’t imagine Giroud scoring 10 goals per season for El Real – given a chance, which is not gonna happen.

    Regarding your last two conditions we both know you just covered your own ass. None of us can tell the answers and therefore I won’t be able to convince You. So You win.

    My turn to ask.

    In case Benzema (or Cavani, Lewandowski, whoever) happened to sign for us; would You be the first to admit that Wenger acted against YOUR better judgement? And furthermore: would Your proclamation “OG is in fact a top striker in his own right” still stand?

    Cuckoo Land says thanks and is off-line for the time being.

  30. Dieter –
    You think Giroud would score FEWER goals in La Liga? Now you’ve lost it.

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