When the injury induced absence of Danny Welbeck was announced by Arsenal, the most notable sigh must have come from Roy Hodgson. The England international team manager rates the forward very high and believes he is a vital element of his attack.
Welbeck too, somewhat surprisingly, plays well for the ‘Three Lions’ irrespective of his club form. Even when he was at Manchester United, Welbeck used to somehow find his scoring boots while on national duty. This is one of the reasons why Hodgson feels that he is an asset for him.
Hodgson saw his team become the first nation to qualify for the European Championship finals next summer. After a routine 6-0 victory over minnows San Marino, the focus shifted on the preparation for the big tournament ahead.
The England manager will now have to consider his final 23-player selection for France. With the remaining qualifiers coming up and some friendlies lined up, there could be some experimentation to see the best options available to him.
This is where the problem is for Welbeck and Hodgson. Those matches will come too soon for the 24-year-old Arsenal forward. It was only last week that the club announced that the striker would be out for a “period of months” after undergoing surgery, but Hodgson believes it will be even longer.
Welbeck hasn’t played for Arsenal since April and was penciled for a return in this month. But, with his latest injury setback, the return now looks to be not until after Christmas. However, Hodgson fears that the time frame could be far worse.
“Well, Welbeck bothers me now,” the England manager said. “He has already been out for me since March and for Arsenal since April, so that’s over four months, isn’t it? And now I hear it’s another six months, so I can only hope that Danny recovers a bit quicker and then hits the ground running”
Saying so, Hodgson has all but ruled the forward out of his plans. With Daniel Sturridge also out injured, the England manager may look to another Arsenal forward Theo Walcott to nail a starting place.
The loss of Welbeck could be Walcott’s gain as the clock is ticking on the Euro hopefuls. For Welbeck, this could be a blessing in disguise because he can plan his return with no strings attached.
Welbeck is yet to prove his worth for Arsenal fans but is always at the top of Hodgson’s plans. But injuries seem to rule him out of the Euro squad. Could this be good news for Walcott? Only time will tell.
Sridhar
Real headache for Hodgson, if you have to rely on Welback or Walcott to score for England.
and in other interview
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OziL says
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He Loves to pass more often than scoring
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Boy!
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Who’s gonna put all that in the net?
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Haha!
No wonder Ozil finds a hard time at Arsenal.
Ha-ha.
Don’t understand what ppl mean by “Giroud is in his prime”…….to me, he’s getting older, slower and it can only get worse same goes with per … LoooL
What’s with the lol at the end? I don’t get it are you a girl or 12 years old?
@Goonsquad8……… Wanna study me?……..u ain’t gonna graduate man! L()L
I don’t get it again……
In other news of great concern ,normal services resumed.
GIROUD MISSED 3 SITTERS ON INTERNATIONAL DUTY FOR FRANCE .
SUBSTITUTED AND BOOED OFF THE PITCH
And then thank god Benzema came on for a second half hat-trick!!
Oh… Wait….
Should not miss that many chances for a world class striker.
No wonder fans calling for a new striker all day long.
I love how you guys b*tch and moan about how giroud misses chances but then you guys thought that benzema would be our savior which is hilarious . Do you know how many sitters and chances that guy misses do you know how many dry spells he has each season do you know how many times he’s been whistled and jeered at by Madrid fans? It’s just so funny some of the stuff that is said on here
Calling for a new striker does not mean Benzema.
I only know Giroud missed many chances that he should have scored as an arsenal fan.
That’s it.
The thing is though, we know he can get the finishing part down correctly as he has showed when playing in Ligue 1. The problem I believed was that he would find his chances limited in England as it’s a step up, but he has been getting his opportunities but missing too many. Their are better keepers in prem but I feel it’s more a pressure thing, so getting booed certainly won’t help.
France must be proud of giroud and that he’s 1st choice at the mighty Arsenal!………LooooooooL
Which part do you find funny, the mighty Arsenal bit, the first choice but, or the French being proud bit. Well first off Arsenal are a mighty great club, the greatest if you haven’t heard. Secondly, Giroud is first choice because he is our best striker. Lastly, the French, sure when are they never not proud.
That got me to thinking on Nevilles arrogance statement, French just have a way of coming across that way. No offence but it is true, they are a very confident assured speaking bunch.
And there was Wenger saying that Welbeck will be back after the international duties lol
To be fair … He didn’t say which one’s ?
I think Wenger should use Sanchez as our main striker. He can be our Suarez.
Walcott is not a striker and hodgson will be retarded to play him in that position.
I wonder if wenger watched his giroud against serbia last night hahaha. Don’t worry arsene he will score 20 league goals and win us the premier league and champions league
And get a hat-trick……(all missed) as well….
I think this is actually bad news for walcott if anything now we only have 1 recognizable CF in Giroud so now walcott will probably be solely used as a back up CF instead of getting chances out wide.
I think the injury to welbeck is better for the Ox and Campbell
Let’s hope Walcott will leave up to his words and the expectations of people and me that tourted him as 1 of 3 strikers of Giroud, Welbeck and himself for Arsenal. Welbeck is off till maybe after Christmas before he may return. Thus leaving Giroud & Walcott to alternately manned the Gunners center forward position. Walcott was not convincing the last time he manned the CF at Newcastle. And afterwards started entertaining doubts in his ability to play as CF for Arsenal with his sayings, “I can play in any position I’m asked to play in”. In any position he’s asked to play in? I thought he is a forward player. Olivier Giroud has stuttered in a recent friendly for France as he missed sitters and got booed off by the French fans. Charity begins at homes. This is the flaw Giroud has allowed to bed in into his game this season and now he’s taken it to French national team. We will know more about how reliable Walcott can be as Arsenal and England CF after today’s and Saturday’s games with Switzerland and Stoke if he’s played as CF. By and large, Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott must sort out their lack of goal scoring depth for Arsenal so far this season. Giroud needs to overcome the fear factor in front of goal. He should allow goal scoring confidence to build into his strikes in front of goal and not be entertaining doubts if the goalee will save his strike. Or am I going to score this chance or not? Once he’s entertaining fears or doubt, he will be missing his chances.
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Welbeck was the main man for England so it is a huge loss for them. I liked how he brought allot of enthusiasm to our forward play and is a very unpredictable player. Would be better to still have him fit and pit him against Giroud and Theo to see if one emerges victoriously.
Welbeck is out for 6 months which corresponds to “until the end of the season” at Arsenal, we all know that, sadly…!
Walcott is not a striker and never, never, never will be.
If it was the “condition” for him to sign a new contract, he just f*cked himself up…
As usual, Wenger will state around December/January that “we are short” or “unlucky” and we “will try” to find a “spectacular” player in January.
Same old thing, same results…
Wenger does not expect something different because he works toward getting the same “type” of results. He cannot do better because he does not have the tactical attributes, the tools (his own doing) and the Football knowledge…
Top club?
May be with the purse, because other than that we don’t have the football weight…
Wenger does not mind being humiliated by Mourinho because he knows he cannot discuss “football matters” with him.