Do Arsenal actually need a new striker? (or Draxler?)

Maybe Arsenal don’t need a striker? By Twig‏

It’s probably to the pleasant surprise of most Arsenal and France fans that Giroud is one of the standout players of this Euros! With a direct involvement in 5 goals, Olivier Giroud is only second behind Antoinne Griezmann and is in a good position to finish as the top scorer of the competition. It is clear that one of Wenger’s priorities this summer is to get a new striker: after all we only signed Japanese prospect Asano, and made a very public chase of Jamie Vardy, which was eventually snubbed.

Looking around it seems there aren’t too many strikers around that we could sign. Recently, the Daily Express reported that Everton had slapped a £75M price tag on Lukaku. But England will sooner win this year’s Euros than Arsenal would pay that amount on a player who’s clearly not the finished product. You also have the likes of Antoine Griezmann who only signed a new Atletico contract about a week ago. And in any case, given his Euros exploits it’s unlikely we’ll be able to afford him anyway. The situation has become so desperate that a new story has come up, sensationally linking ex-Arsenal favourite Robin van Persie with a return to the Emirates! The striker all Arsenal fans want to sign is Aubameyang, but it doesn’t appear Arsenal or the EPL for that matter is first choice on the striker’s list. It seems we really are scrapping the bottom of the barrel as far as strikers are concerned.

So maybe we should just stick with Giroud? As a striker, there are few players that play the target man as well as he does. It’s not really the goals that Giroud scores (he doesn’t score too many) that are important to the way Arsenal plays, it is in the little lay offs that he provides to the more rapid players around him. Looking at the France setup, the combination of Giroud and Griezmann has been a delight to watch, with either player assisting the other in their impressive win yesterday night. If we fail to sign an A-list striker, which really look like being the case, sadly, then I believe we should go all out for a player in the mold of Draxler or Marco Reus. Draxler is a player whose stock is only going to rise given his undoubted talent and his newly acquired first-team status with Germany. If we don’t sign him now, then we probably never will. He is also a player that Arsene Wenger definitely has a keen interest in. (Probably the longest Arsenal transfer saga of all time is Wenger wanting to sign Draxler to convert him into a striker as he did with RVP).

Marco Reus is another interesting player, he not only scores but assists a lot, and will definitely take off some of the creative burden from the likes of Ozil. My hunch is that since Reus is a little bit out of the limelight at the moment (having missed out on the Euros), he might be the easier of the two players to sign at the moment. We could just carry out a silent operation at Dortmund while everyone else is engrossed with the Euros and is too busy to notice :-). However, Draxler is younger and seems to suffer less injuries compared to Reus so he might be the more reliable option. With Draxler (or Reus) and Sanchez either side of Giroud, and a more stable midfield as a result of the Xhaka signing, Arsenal might perhaps give Gooners less heartache in the coming season.

_____________Giroud
________Draxler Ozil Sanchez
__________Xhaka Cazorla
Monreal Koscielny Mertesacker Bellerin
_____________Cech

Twig

35 Comments

  1. Draxler is the best option partly because it’s the most realistic one but also because he’s regained his 2012 form. Has pace, very skill full player that likes to take on defenders and always plays with intent when he has the ball at his feet. I can see him developing good chemistry with Ozil and Sanchez and he can also be moulded into a CF, he has a similar style to RVP.

    1. No need for similar styles as the man himself could make a surprise comeback on the cheap! ?… I hope not… but this rumour is growing…. In God we trust!

      1. Why not? why are we so hung up on loyalty? The man wanted to win – he did everything he could. His 30+ goals were not good enough and he realized that even the season next it will not be good enough. Remember Arsenal was a selling club then. Very few people in this world are loyal like Wenger and it’s unfair to expect the same from everyone. Do you think the current lot (Sanchez and Ozil ) will stick around if we don’t win anything soon. Everyone wants titles- a professional player lives for titles and a team cannot give titles the best players are bound to leave.

        We should exploit the situation- get him on cheap; pay him exactly the wages he got when we was here and offer him game time. Van persie is a wounded tiger; he has something to prove to the EPL. There is a small chance that he may rediscover his touch and fill that void for us.

        1. RVP has had a very unhappy 2015/16 season at Fenerbache, which serves him right. However he still scored 16 goals in his league, 3 of which were penalties having been used as a substitute a lot and only played 1767 minutes. That is 136 minutes per non penalty goal. That is aguerro standard, albeit in a lesser league.

          I think we should be calculating here, yes he let us fans down but the reason he left was because arsenal were not showing ambition, which is what us fans complain about. If RVP is fit and able to do a job for us we should take him. A couple of match winning goals and the past would soon be forgotten. Remember his hat trick agsinst chelsea at stamford bridge, he is a class act as long as he is fit and not too old now.

    2. This is Insane…. How long do we have to go thru the same question …..window to window??????

    3. Same players 4-4-2 diamond,

      _______Sanchez__Giroud________

      _____________Ozil_______________

      ___Draxler_________Cazorla/elneny/Rambo

      ___________Xhaka_______________

      NM____Boss____?????______Bellarin

  2. the reason why arsenal did not win the league isn’t because of giroud.it was lack of goals from left wing. ozil Sanchez . on other players. at Critical time during the league.look at Leicester City other players chip in with important go

    1. Don’t blame Ozil and Sanchez, Alexis has been carrying Arsenal since the day he was signed and then got injured for 2 months while Ozil was creating countless goal scoring chances for our forwards to finish. If anyone is to blame it’s Giroud and Walcott for not being consistent when we needed them the most. In fact, Theo is the one that should’ve stepped up for Giroud as he claimed CF was his best position but he ended up failing miserably this season. The truth is we need another forward to complement Sanchez and Ozil that can play on the wing because Walcott has proven he’s not good enough. A goal scoring winger would be the best option since Wenger doesn’t intend on making Giroud a back up striker.

      1. Bang on ! Theo missed the opportunity of a lifetime. How we still have him with the ridiculous high wages is beyond me.

        1. Remember bentdner, we could not sell him because he would not agree terms which were less than he was receiving at arsenal. Probably the same applies with walcott, he is still with us because he is overpaid.

    2. You have a point. Since Arshavin left (and it’s not as if Arshavin played the role perfectly), we haven’t found a solution for the left wing.

  3. Draxler is more than likely to cost twice as much as Mahrez!
    Given the choice, I would go for Mahrez instead.

    Dream on mate, As our nightmares are more closer to reality than all these fantasy signings of the Draxler’s and like.
    The writing was already on the wall, when there was a pause after the Xhaka signing… This is way beyond a joke.

    1. Wolfsburg does not need to sell and he is their main man. Something extraordinary has to happen for us to get him. Mahrez would be easier.

      Mahrez + Van Persie (on a 1 year contract) + 1 CB will be my choice

  4. Oh! boy just when I thought we had learnt our lessons.If he even decides to buy Draxler and places him on the wing and does not go for a striker then it will be de ja vu again.I said it here first.Just remember not to criticize him though as you guys were in support of that.Year after year we have to put up with this.I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired.I will love my team no matter what but I know this aint gonna work.

  5. This is a player we ae really gonna suffer to sell.People come here and make it look like he is better than so many strikers.But to be honest when I watch him on TV I just try to find something positive or something which wows me in his game but i just can’t.There are lot of average strikers who in that 2012 we signed him could have done equally what he has done or even better.There is a reason why no club wants him.We wont miss him when we sell and i just hope we get what we need.I’m tired of criticizing someone who is playing to his max potential and is still very average.I’m sick and tired of being sick and tired I tell ya.

    1. Did you not see him in Germany vs. Slovakia? He was MoMT with a great assist (took on a defender with some skill) and a nice goal as well. He’s also still pretty young at 22, so forgive him for not being up to world class standards yet.

      1. Exactly, if he wasn’t so good he wouldn’t be selected for Germany team and trusted to replace Reus.

    2. Hahaha ? Well said man and Welcome to the sick and tired of being sick tired World! ???

    3. @Shah of Arsenal am actually talking about Mr. Average.You already know him I guess.I feel sorry for him because he’s playing to his max and will still be Mr. Average in my eyes forevermore

      1. We should in all honesty give the Giroud topic a break. Let’s not bash him. The guy is doing what a second choice striker is expected to do. He cost us 11 Mn remember. If we don’t have a first choice striker it is our fault and not his. Every summer Giroud says he will welcome competition (remember how he started banging in goals once he was on the verge of getting replaced by Theo). The guy needs competition. Clearly Wenger thinks otherwise.

  6. A decent cb, mahrez and Javier hernandez and we should still have change left over! With xhaka that would make 4 signings though, make you nervous Arsene? Oh if we got mahrez we can try to sell Walcott, gnabry or Campbell in that order of preference. Chicarito a poor man’s griezman!

  7. Great article Twig. Couldn’t agree more. It is never only about goals with a target that plays with back to goal. OG is the best set piece player in the league and creates chances with his knockdowns to players. The thing is once you play with a target it is very hard to switch to a Walcott type as you are expecting the target to show and create.
    OG only suffered a freak injury but for all the battling he does its amazing he doesn’t get injured. I think he will have another great season for us and hope that both players on each side of him can contribute to the attack. I know Sanchez will but the missing link is who plays the other. Draxler would be an immense signing however I think Theo would have to be sold.

  8. I would like to see Arsenal
    run two teams in rotation.
    I really want to see how the home
    grown players go when
    given regular football.
    Martinez Jenkinson Hayden Chambers Gibbs
    Coquelin Ramsey Wilshere Chamberlain Iwobi. Walcott
    Play the overseas players in the other team.
    Cech Bellerin Kos Gabriel Monreal
    Xhaka Cazorla Sanchez Ozil Campbell Giroud.
    Reserves for both teams.
    Macey Bielik Elneny Adelaide Zelalem Asano. (Wellbeck injured)
    I think it would be a real eye opener and just might work.

  9. OT: The strange case of Mr Smalling (ManU) in Bali, Indonesia.
    1. He had an accident whilst surfing. Retract from this:
    2. He fell down. Retract from this
    3. He fainted with food poisoning
    Ha Ha Ha….so funny!

  10. Are we not forgetting Iwobi!

    Had a stunning 1st season. Provided genuine creativity and good link play. His strong, good touch, and has a good eye for goal-

    Expecting (and hoping) has a great season for us.

    We also have great backup in Cambell (most underrated Arsenal player) –

    So whilst I’d be excited to get Drexler – I can’t see it happening, and not top priority.

    As we all know, striker (2 needed min (1 already purchased)), and Gabriel/Mertesacker competition at CB much higher priority

    1. Iwobi is probably the reason we aren’t looking at any wingers atm, Ozil can play left, Alexis can play right and Alex was a refreshing addition to our mid last season quick of foot and mind, creative and commited. He looks a player

  11. If Arsenal don’t buy CB- like to see Chsmbers played more. He was superb against Man City- and think he has chance to become outstanding solution

    Please don’t mistake his rb performances with his CB – he really has been very good when played there

  12. Can’t we just renegotiate Walcott’s contract and reduce his wages. Will be hard to sell him with his current .I’ve lost all hopes on him.

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