DO ARSENAL REALLY NEED A WORLD CLASS STRIKER?

36 Replies to “DO ARSENAL REALLY NEED A WORLD CLASS STRIKER?”

1. Aliaksandr Hleb was a very important player for Arsenal but stats wise, he was terrible. My point, stats can be misleading.
   Did Arsenal need a new striker, Yes.
   One thing that can’t be measured by statistics is the psychological impart players bring to team. The Ozil and Sanchez signing lifted the team and the emirates so who says the signing of Hugain or Cavani won’t have had the same effect (I’m not a big fan of the two players and won’t have signed either.)

   Below is a link of cazorla talking about a new striker, so don’t think its only the fans.
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t66wAp7XEWs

2. Metalhead – thank you. An interesting analysis.

   The other thing that needs to be considered is the age and the prospective transfer fee of the various options.

   Only Neymar, Kane and Hazard are at the younger end of the age spectrum of the players you list. It is less worrying spending £50mm on a 23 year old than on a 28 year old as the latter has very little resale value.

   In all honesty, given the state of the market – mainly overpriced ageing superstars – then I think the best, indeed almost the only, option is for Arsenal to develop their own, either from scratch (e.g. Akpom) or from a younger age (e.g. Sanogo). Of course, this is dependent on Wenger – the peerless developmental coach – remaining with the club in the medium/long term.

   In the meantime I am happy with Giroud, Walcott and Welbeck.

3. Dude – well, yes. But the psychological impact may not be great if the player brought in as no better than those already there – except they are being paid twice as much?

   To compete with the very rich, elite teams then Arsenal will be chasing the same players. Except we do not have the financial resources of MC, MU, Chelsea, Real Mad, Barca, PSG and Bayern.

   We are almost at that level now – but the last step is extremely hard. We can’t go down the “buy” route so we have to go down another route. Which is grow our own.

4. Articles like these are important in that they go some way toward balancing out the ubiquitous trashing of Giroud. I’m firmly in the Arsenal do not NEED another striker camp since I firmly believe in the Giroud/Walcott/Alexis/Welbeck quartet; and Campbelle might surprise after staying. That said, the ol’ eye test pretty clearly shows some of the players above, namely your Argueros and your Neymars, to be superior strikers to our HFB. Statistically he may not be far off when sorted in certain categories, but therein lies the problem with football statistics. While some may chose to bash Giroud beyond reason, somehow equating his missing of a chance to be the catalyst for everything wrong in their lives, he is realistically a level below the cream. This response is not to challenge the article, which merely asks the question, rather than gives a firm answer, bur rather to spark a bit further debate. Realistically, given all the pieces and considerations (plus current landscapes both financial and in terms of availabilities) that go into a transfer, we were not going to bring in one of the topiest of top strikers this summer. And while I think it remiss to forget all the things Giroud does do exceedingly well – the flicks or quick passing around the box that do come off (he does have some vision in him), as well as defensive contributions on set-pieces, etc (both things we might lose with and Aguero – the later certainly), we also do ourselves a disservice in not recognizing the man’s limitations as a player, and how they might be improved upon. The ire Giroud receives is ludicrous, but I think a lot of supporters’ issue was in how agonizingly close to the tile they viewed Arsenal. They wanted Wenger to take a shot, have a gamble in the market- squad stability and whatnot be damned. I’m not in that particular camp as I firmly believe the title is still readily available for snatching via this squad, but I do get where others come from and don’t find it a particularly unreasonable position. The continued moaning got old real fast, though. That said, I don’t think “that” player was available this time around, and if we’re getting up to the number 70 for the morally questionable Benzema, I think that shows it. People are a bit frustrated I guess, myself not one of them, but somewhat reasonably frustrated. Beyond that, I’m not sure what else to add, so am just going to tail off…

5. While statistics can be made to produce virtually ANY desired result, there can be little doubt that the signing of a better striker than (say) Giroud WOULD improve the squad. But this could equally apply to probably every position on the field.
   The real problem today (as Arsene Wenger knows only too well) is the curse of the bi-annual Transfer Windows. Fees sky-rocket, panic buying ensues and there are quite ridiculous rumours and fairy stories circulating about deals and counter-deals. And it is then that the records of players are laid bare for all to examine in minute detail. Dissatisfaction with the quality of the present playing staff of every football club reigns supreme in the minds of every fan.
   It would calm things down if the Transfer Windows were abandoned and the movement of players proceeded in an atmosphere of relative calm and quiet throughout each season.

6. dude,

   Psychological impact among the players should not be mistaken with the joy of meeting a new team and the “increase in squad” feeling when a new player is signed. I believe the greater positive psychological impact on the team with a new signing is often linked to the quality of the player when in training or in matches.

   Ozil’s signing was a big signing, a huge improvement in the attacking midfield area and surely had great positive psychological impact on team.

   Sanchez’s signing was another big signing, a huge improvement in the wings and forward positions and again had great positive psychological impact.

   The signing of Bergkamp in 1995 is further evidence of such positive psychological impact on the team related to quality. After his first season at Arsenal, many players in the Arsenal squad commented and heaped praise upon Bergkamp as that he was on a totally different in terms ball control, technique, finishing and other such quality related elements.

   Players like Wright Platt, Merson, Dixon, Seaman, etc still mention to this date how huge was the improvement and how the attacking football at Arsenal came to life with signing of Bergkamp.

7. While goals usually result from shots, I think classifying strikers just on shots and goals is missing information. And some of that information is not easily available.

   There are some instances of crossing the ball that appear to be shots, possibly even scoring. Some of those incidents are due to mishitting the ball, and some due to wind. And I think there was an instance of a ball in flight hitting some inflatable balloon in flight.

   There are own goals which are the result of shots (off target) being deflected on target, and of non-shots being redirected on target.

   An attacker getting to the byline ahead of the defenders often cross the ball “backwards” (further away from the goal line than where the kick was made). It may be that the attacker crossing the ball can see that he has no support. He is purposely putting the ball into a place where a defender may redirect the ball into his own goal. I believe that often gets called an own goal, to me it is a bank shot.

   Let’s get to “true shots”. An attacker shoots the ball nominally towards the net. The first concern, is does the ball get blocked on the way to the net. The ball can be blocked by a defender, or by an attacker. The act of blocking may be deliberate or accidental. In terms of a good striker, one should probably assume any block is the result of either not being accurate enough, or a poor decision to shoot. What is seldom known, is how many players (attackers and defenders) are within the triangle defined by the shooter and the two goal posts. Lots of bodies leads to lots of opportunity for blockage. If the ball is being kicked hard from a close range, there is little time for a deliberate attempt at blocking to be made. A ball from a long way away may see lots of time for a defender to attempt to block the ball.

   If the ball is not blocked, it may be saved. Shots from close range are difficult to save, except when the shooter directs the ball at the goaltender. A good striker is usually not directing the shot at the goaltender.

   If the ball is not blocked or saved, is it on target? If it is off target, how close was it to target. A good striker seldom has wild shots. They probably have a lot of shots that are close, or that hit the crossbar or uprights.

   Hence, I think we need to get a body count of people in the triangle when the shot is taken, as well as some measure of how close the shot trajectory is to the goalkeeper.

8. Every position in the Arsenal squad is adequately covered EXCEPT up front and DM.

   Therefore there IS a need for another striker (as well as the other position). Whether or not it would be a WC forward is up for debate.

   I like Giroud, he has developed well, but could we get a better striker? Probably. Henry thinks so too and he isn’t a bad judge.

   Cue Pete chiming in asking for names and transfer fees…

   Not sure how we can include Welbeck in any list of our forwards seeing as he wont be seen until 2016.

9. While a world class striker may be pie in the sky (what does that even mean – I can think of about 3 or 4 – and they are way out of our league), I do think that we need another striker who is a better finisher than Giroud with more pace. Welbeck (if he could finish) would be ideal as he has the frame and the pace, but not the finish – well at least last season he didn’t have it.

   Giroud is a normal target man who offers something different to our attack, but if we got the mobile striker who is robust, that could be even better. Not saying that he is the worst, but thinking of all the Arsenal strikers over the past 20 years or so and he really isn’t up to scratch against many of those. Granted, we were blessed with genuine quality, but most of those were developed. Why didn’t we go for something like that early in the window?

   I really thought that when we bought Sanchez that he would be the option, but he never got a run of games. I thought that experiment ended too quickly against Everton.

   Walcott isn’t a striker. He doesn’t offer genuine hold-up or link-up play which someone who leads the line must do. He could play in a two pronged attack, but I can’t see it on his own. I hope that he proves me wrong.

   Overall, we are short of options this year and three of our four strikers are unproven in the Premier League. That is grounds for worry.

10. I am an advocate of Arsenal don’t need to sign a striker this season as they have 3 strikers in the players of: Olivier Giroud, Theo’ Walcott and Danny Welbeck who can all play through the center for Arsenal. But Arsenal need to sign a top quality left back & a top quality right winger. Those are my words and belief and am still sticking by it. In the belief of developing our own talents and not visiting the transfer market to buy always, I thought the Boss will promote one of the academy player like Alex Iwobi to the right wing or buy one outrightly from the market. I saw the problem of the constant unavailability of Jack Wilshere and Danny Welbeck who are not natural right wingers but are adaptable to play wide to right than Ramsey is. And to avoid any friction in the Gunners attacking line, I suggested to the Boss to buy or promote a natural RW for that position. But if this is to fulfil the need, the Boss has included Campbell into his 25 man team, that’s okay if Cambpell will give the needed service. I thought of a possible weakness happening at the Gunners left back if Monreal is not available as Gibbs looks to be converted as a Gunners base holding midfielder than being a LB. Moreso as his left back defensive status is not that steady and trusted. I don’t want to see the Gunners dropping points as a result of these 2 lackings, hence my regular agitation to the Boss to resolve the issues. Arsenal need to sign goal scoring players for any position in the team. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a striker. Let him be a striker, a winger, a midfielder or even a defender. Arsenal need many goals to win titles. And whoever can give us the goals should be promoted from the academy school to the senior team or be bought from the market to do the job. The buying ofcourse will be subject to certain criteria. Oliver Giroud has a chance on Saturday to start rediscovering his consistent goal scoring form for Arsenal as the Gunners entertain the Potters in a match Giroud knows, profigacy in front of the Stoke’s goal is not a substitute for the collection of all the 3 points that are going to be at stake.

11. À lot of persons have commented on the need to develop players due to the insane prices of top quality players in the market irrespective of the position. Imagine Martial for £36m (with add-ons to over £50m) or De Gea for €40m Navas (with just a remaining year in his contract which means that if he has up to 3 years left in his contract, he will be probably be prices at £70m)

    The same need to develop quality players seems to be what the FA is preaching hence trying to increase the home grown quota (even if they are going about it the wrong way).

    However during every transfer window, this need to develop players and bring them through the academy greatly overshadowed by big money transfer news in the media. The rate at which transfer stories are paddled make it impossible for people to remember that clubs have academies that produce players and until the orientation changes, prices of players irrespective of the perceived quality will continue to increase and so will the shortage of top class players in all position.

12. The thing with Giroud, people judge him on what he cannot do rather than what he can, he is a fine player and very important to the team.
    Some have put forward the likes of Jackson Martinez, Icardi and Lacazette as possible signings. Not convinced the two latter players make us stronger, but no expert on either. Martinez seems to get a few goals, though not sure on his stats, but significantly, he works with Jorge Mendes….for whatever reason, the club seem to steer clear of this agent…..

13. Gord, I think what I was trying to highlight was a trend that already exists, statistically. The best strikers consistently take more shots. I’ve already highlighted how Ronaldo and Messi consistently take a high number of shots. Luiz Suarez when he was at Liverpool in his last 2 seasons ended up taking over 180 shots and he scored 23 and 31 goals respectively. Also, it does not matter if a shot is blocked or hits a balloon. It’s just probability. The more shots you take, the more goals you score. It is not a mere fluke that Ronaldo takes 200 shots every season. Yes, some of them hit balloons, others are blocked but the intent by the player is clear. He is going to take more shots. Try it yourself, pull up players who have scored over 160 shots per season and you will almost certainly see a top quality striker.

14. I would suggest we ought to look sometimes at the effect of players in combination.

    Giroud is a target man who, as we saw against Palace, can pick out a goal in a way that many players can’t. Watch the film and you see he waves to Ozil to show where he is, Ozil delivers and he delivers.

    Because of this, he gets marked, and he drags defenders around, which is exactly what you need with Alexis wandering here and there, and Ramsey turning up when least expected.

    If you bring in a bigger stronger centre forward who demands the ball for himself to score, then fewer balls get to Alexis. The new centre forward is the focus, and he is not one to draw defenders out of the way to let Alexis move forwards.

    Win some bits, lose other bits.

15. Pete, you make a valid point about the age, which is why I feel Wenger did not go for Benzema, Cavani or Higuain. All are on the wrong side of 25 and approaching 30. Also, Wenger spent heavily or Ozil and Sanchez purely because of their age. Doubt if he would have spent so much if they were closer to 30.

16. Simple exercise anyone debating this should attempt is naming the top ten strikers/attackers in the world.

    Here’s mine ;Messi, Neymar, Suarez, Lewandowski, Aguero,, Ronaldo, Bale, Benzema, Cavani, Ibrahimovic.

    Contenders/ Next tier (11-20, if you like) : Higuain, Rooney, Aubameyang, Fal…hmm, maybe not; erm, Giroud, Martinez (Col), Lacazette, Benteke, Lukaku, Morata, Dzeko.

    Other candidates/controversial omissions : Kane (should prob be in 11-20 but still hanging onto hope last year was a freak one); Tevez; Sanchez/ Walcott (personally see both as predominantly wide-attackers); Martial (suppose we have to now); De Bruyne (again, not quite strikers enough for inclusion); Remy; Mandzukic, Vietto, Bacca Pelle, Griezmann (the not quite a striker thing again)

    You can argue the toss with a couple of the top ten; likewise, and a little more so, the next bracket, but still a few things are clear :

    1. the top ten are overall, a long way ahead of the next ten
    2. All of the top ten are already with huge clubs (Barca and Real happen to have three each ; PSG have two
    3. The clubs represented in the top ten are all-oh,oh- a lot richer than Arsenal

    Additional information about the market: More wealth in football than at any previous time : Modest clubs (all the premier league clubs for instance) have quite a lot (15-30 million); rich clubs, including Arsenal, have lots (20-60); a group of super rich clubs , not including Arsenal, have more again (50-???)

    More money than ever before, more clubs with decent amounts to spend than ever before…up until that group of super rich clubs, who are clearly separate from the rest, and have more than the richest clubs at any previous time have ever had to spend. So, among other things, a seller’s market- to a degree never before seen in football.

    Across the board, at nearly all clubs, the incentive to sell your better players is weak, all clubs can drive a hard bargain, all can hold out until they receive f u money.

    To buy anyone from the top bracket, outrageous sums need to be offered, which probably still won’t be accepted. Sums which only the very richest- that group Arsenal are directly behind yet much less wealthy than- are likely to be able to afford.

    if there are any great players in the bracket below, or those on the verge of greatness, the clubs from that top bracket are favourites to secure those players. Because of the money they can offer. To persuade a club to part with one of those players from the bracket immediately behind the top ten, you again need to offer a huge fee. The selling club is likely to have big ambitions themselves, doesn’t need money, and knows buying a replacement player will be very difficult.

    Well, that’s the theory. Does the market this summer support it? Yep. No movement of the top ten players, little movement below it.

    What movement there was ; Benteke (32 million); Dzeko (loan- to a club very unlikely to reach latter stages of CL and, obviously, outside City’s league); Mandzukic (19 million Euros); Bacca (€30), Vietto (£15 mill approx) De Bruyne (£phhhh), Martial (£shiiiiit)

    That’s far and away the best guide available to theoretical costs (of transfers which don’t happen). If you like you can take the price of any and all transfers and say,well, we should have done that- Dzeko being a good one.

    This ignores the likelihood/certainty that clubs are discriminating sometimes about who they sell to. The tempting one on the list for me is Vietto, based purely on being very impressed the couple of times I watched him. Again,though, that ignores the possibility that the market isn’t quite like a notional perfect open market- specifically Mendes and others like him might have certain designs about looking out for clubs and people in the game they work extensively with, or, as the official literature describing Mendes/Kenyon’s relationship with Athletico has it, are partners with.

    Anyway, asking the unhappiest to pick players and come up with a price hasn’t been much of a success, so maybe that there list of mine can help.

    Who was it we should have got again, at what sort of price?

17. Sorry, off topic, but good to see Maitland Niles score a bit of a stunner for England against Germany U19s…..looks liked he has learned a few tricks from our first teamers

18. Good point. Giroud is a goal scorer but also a team player. And a battler, an important feature in the EPL.

    It is true a great new player can galvanise the team and we have seen that with all our last three big signings. But if a striker had been signed who had not been great, what message would that have sent to Giroud? There is a danger that it could have demoralised him. He could have felt undervalued. This is surely one of the problems with the obsession with signing new players for the sake of it. Another reason to be grateful that Arsene Wenger does not do it.

19. Let’s see if I can write better comments.

    Metalhead (any particular metal? Mo-Rh?)

    You wrote in the article.

    For example, Charlie Austin has a better shot accuracy (67%) than Messi (64%), …

    and in a reply:

    Gord, I think what I was trying to highlight was a trend that already exists, statistically.

    Just off the top of my head, I am going to suggest that Austin’s shooting accuracy is probably not statistically different from Messi’s.

    But, the point of making this comment is not to berate you as a statistician, but rather to explore how to better write comments since Tony is adjusting the configuration of the blog.

20. Do we need a WC striker?

    Yes.

    DO we have one ?

    No.

    Will our current forward line score enough to secure a league win ?

    Probably not

    Should we have supplemented our options

    Yes.

21. Talking to myself (and Tony).

    I don’t see the point of allowing the cite attribute in the blockquote’s above, as what is in the comment doesn’t seem to contain the content of the cite attribute (which in these instances were URLs).

22. ‘And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music.’
    Friedrich Nietzsche

23. The biggest criticism of Giroud I’ve come across so far is that ‘he cannot create a chance for himself. Unlike Aguero…’

    Giroud may not have the capacity to or the skill set required to do that. But he can take the battering from the ‘big english center backs’and still end the game on 2 legs. He can hold the ball up better than most. He can bring his teammates into the game by sublime touches in and around the penalty box. Is this not a good quality to have for a striker. If Giroud scores around 15 goals and creates another 10 goals, ie contributing to 25 odd goals, is it not good enough for a striker? I think it is. I prefer this plus his near post clearances from corners to the striker scoring 25 goals and literally doing nothing.

    Can somebody please tell me Why is ‘creating a chance for himself’ better than ‘creating chances for his teammates’??

24. @ ARSENAL 13 -September 9, 2015 at 6:17 am – No matter what Giroud does , and no matter how much he contributes to the team , the naysayers will still find fault . I for one am always happy to see him start , and love his overall contribution.
    Even if he were to score 30 goals , he’ll probably be vilified for not passing to others and trying to be the prima donna , or playing to the gallery !

25. Metalhead. Thanks for a very interesting article and a great use of numbers..It does make you think about the value of some players. And helps us appreciate a little more what our existing strikers contribute.

    cheers.

26. Giroud all the way…don’t like him go support costa(and his coach)-two wrong nuts.

27. We certainly need more goals, and if the team as a unit cannot supply them ( as is the current situation ) then we will require an import or two to remedy this.
    My money was always on Welbeck becoming our new Henry, but that’s on hold for a few months now, so we’ll have to make do with what we have which served us well enough last season, but isn’t yet up to speed.
    Maybe against Stoke on Saturday………

28. Dex – 🙂

    I keep asking the question but am not getting answers. Ditto to Porter. Names please!

    Rich’s comment is excellent – food for thought.

    Lacazette has great stats and maybe an option. Not quite sure why he stayed at Lyon as certainly interest would have been expressed. I would be hopeful that we could secure him for an acceptable price – and he is young. Is he better than Giroud now? Not sure. In 3 years – probably.

    As someone else wrote; to buy an established striker as a squad player (e.g. Austin) will be very hard. Who wants to come to sit on the bench – or not even that close to the team?

29. Lacazette seems to have the pedigree , however if you want more I suggest you ask Dick Law and the rest of his team that worked 25 hours a day 8 days a week apparently.

30. Stop the silly comparison between Giroud and Benzema. Yes the goals are comparable but Giroud is the target man in his side. RONALDO (40+) is the target man in Benzema’s Real side, not Benzema. Suarez scored 30+ goals for Liverpool in the middle, 16 in the middle next to Messi (40+). I’d like a better return from the target man with the likes of Ozil, Cazorla and Sanchez providing the passes. And feel like there would be with a more efficient striker. But, I don’t think a so called ‘world class striker’ was available to Arsenal in this window. Certainly Giroud is the best on hand.

31. ” Its very easy to give an example , but its very difficult to BECOME an example .”

32. AN OLD WOMAN WALKED UP AND TIED HER OLD MULE TO THE HITCHING POST.
    AS SHE STOOD THERE, BRUSHING SOME OF THE DUST FROM HER FACE AND CLOTHES, A YOUNG GUNSLINGER STEPPED OUT OF THE SALOON WITH A GUN IN ONE HAND AND A BOTTLE OF WHISKEY IN THE OTHER. THE YOUNG GUNSLINGER LOOKED AT THE OLD WOMAN AND LAUGHED, “HEY OLD WOMAN, HAVE YOU EVER DANCED?”

    THE OLD WOMAN LOOKED UP AT THE GUNSLINGER AND SAID, “NO,… I NEVER DID DANCE… NEVER REALLY WANTED TO.”

    A CROWD HAD GATHERED AS THE GUNSLINGER GRINNED AND SAID “WELL, YOU OLD BAG, YOU’RE GONNA DANCE NOW,” AND STARTED SHOOTING AT THE OLD WOMAN’S FEET.

    THE OLD WOMAN PROSPECTOR — NOT WANTING TO GET HER TOE BLOWN OFF –STARTED HOPPING AROUND. EVERYBODY WAS LAUGHING. WHEN HIS LAST BULLET HAD BEEN FIRED, THE YOUNG GUNSLINGER, STILL LAUGHING, HOLSTERED HIS GUN AND TURNED AROUND TO GO BACK INTO THE SALOON.

    THE OLD WOMAN TURNED TO HER PACK MULE, PULLED OUT A DOUBLE-BARRELED SHOTGUN, AND COCKED BOTH HAMMERS.
    THE LOUD CLICKS CARRIED CLEARLY THROUGH THE DESERT AIR, AND THE CROWD STOPPED LAUGHING IMMEDIATELY.

    THE YOUNG GUNSLINGER HEARD THE SOUNDS, TOO, AND HE TURNED AROUND VERY SLOWLY. THE SILENCE WAS ALMOST DEAFENING. THE CROWD WATCHED AS THE YOUNG GUNMAN STARED AT THE OLD WOMAN AND THE LARGE GAPING HOLES OF THOSE TWIN BARRELS.

    THE BARRELS OF THE SHOTGUN NEVER WAVERED IN THE OLD WOMAN’S HANDS, AS SHE QUIETLY SAID, “SON, HAVE YOU EVER KISSED A MULE’S ASS?”

    THE GUNSLINGER SWALLOWED HARD AND SAID, “NO M’AM… BUT I’VE ALWAYS WANTED TO.

    THERE ARE FIVE LESSONS HERE FOR ALL OF US:

    1 – Never be arrogant.
    2 – Don’t waste ammunition.
    3 – Whiskey makes you think you’re smarter than you are.
    4 – Always make sure you know who has the power.
    5 – Don’t mess with old people; they didn’t get old by being stupid.

33. Passion and belief makes a fine tune .

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fW1dUnBhwL8

34. The above link is for Hotel California – Cubanos Acapella on youtube.

35. It’s amazing when we say Walcott isn’t a striker as his hold up and link play isn’t good enough, but in the same sentence say Giroud isn’t a top striker as isn’t mobile enough, so what we want is someone who is amazing at everything? But yet it is Arsene’s fault when this magical player doesn’t exist, especially at the right age and for the right price…

36. Yes, there are many strikers who have better goals scoring record, better assists record, better shots per match record and blah blah blah than Giroud. But no one is a better team player than Giroud. And for a £10M purchase, he has done an excellent job. His strength, intelligent, heading, passing, goals and selflessness as a combo is unparalleled in EPL. It always take two defenders, never one to bully him. That has opened up a lot of space for his teammates. It’s a common sight whenever Arsenal defend a corner, Giroud running back to cover. And I think he has scored a lot of goals from corners and crosses as well. I admit he’s not the best striker out there but I think not many are mentally strong to do what he does