I know all us Arsenal fans are upset with the lack of goals from Olivier Giroud, Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez at the moment, but everyone is now treating Danny Welback as the returning Messiah after he popped up with the winning goal against Leicester.
The weight of expectation is heavy on his shoulders, but the facts don’t quite add up to wishes of the fans. When Welbeck arrived everyone wanted him to supplement Olivier Giroud’s steady goalscoring, but in his first season he scored 8 goals in 27 games plus 7 subs appearances, only 4 of them coming in the Premier League.
So now we are hoping he has suddenly matured after being in the treatment room for nearly a year? That sounds like a very big hope to me! As Wenger explained he will need time to find his feet again after such a long time out. “Let’s not be too quick as well as let’s not forget that he has been out for ten months,” Le Prof said. “You can’t switch it on like that. It will take him two or three months to be in a bit in and out and come back completely to sharpness.
“I will prepare him for you for the European Championships!”
Wenger, though, is hopeful that Welbeck will improve in the future, but he is just warning us to be patient. “Danny can get a lot better,” said Wenger. “He is 25-years-old, physically he’s back to his best and I believe the best is to come.”
Well he won’t have to improve too much on his previous figures to have his best season ever, but maybe we should let him come back slowly and not risk him breaking down again after such a long time on the sidelines?
I am going to be insistent on this stance.
The thing is if we want goals we need to bench giroud and start walcott upfront.
He is capable of anticipating ozil passes and use his sublime movement to open up defences.
Wah if he fails to bury the chances?
walcott can open spaces and allow others to move into the centre by rotating with others.
He is also a great passer of the ball and can find his teammates.
He is also capable of setting up play wherever he positions himself on the pitch.
Everything that giroud cant do
I think he is better at passing when he plays on right side although he gave Ozil a great ball last time playing this lot. Walcott was tops that day would love to see him repeat it. Also what about last time Danny faced these too, all I can remember is the goal but what a crucial goal it was.
Going back to watch some clips of Santi’s early season performances this year, reminded me of how well Walcott was playing in the CF position earlier in the season. He made our attack a joy to watch. He was a major outlet for Ozil and Cazorla especially… if he wasn’t at the end of those chances, his diagonal runs to the left side of the pitch was creating space for others and Sanchez to come in on goal. And he was scoring at a far better rate.
I don’t know what changed. Was it because Giroud rediscovered goal-scoring form and so Wenger had move Theo off the CF position so Giroud can play? Or was it because his form was interrupeted by that injury in the cup game? Or can we put it down to us losing an extra creative force in Santi Cazorla to injury? I don’t know.
Seeing that Giroud isn’t exactly performing at CF either, I am with you in suggesting that Arsene give Walcott another decent amount of playing time at CF. It worked perfectly well a few weeks ago!
I put it down to Theo covering the left wing during Alexis injury and we had no real depth for backup.
Theo performed very poor on the left.
Another plus about Theo playing CF is that Giroud seems to improve, he wants to start and when given a chance he tends to score after a rest, it could be a win/win move.
“I put it down to Theo covering the left wing during Alexis injury”
Yeah, I thought about that one too. It is a shame really, because it wasn’t his fault that he was the most experienced winger then avialable to occupy that position… and he was coming straight out of enjoying time in the CF position.
“Another plus about Theo playing CF is that Giroud seems to improve..”
Your’e 110% right about that one. Giroud is that kind of striker.
I agree, it’s a good spot. He lost his confidence out there and once that goes you’re bollixed. Never really thought about it til now.
I agree, Theo is more about his movement then his strength to hold up the ball or win headers by bullying the defense.
Giroud is a good player and I do like him but I also recognize that Giroud doesn’t move as well as Theo into the channels and as such the box always gets over crowded when the rest of the team try to play as well.
Against a Tony Pulis side then I would prefer Giroud.
Against a team who will not park 2 buses infront of the goal then I would choose Theo.
I was rewatching our game against Barca, and then I noticed something about the movement of Giroud when we attacked.. His movement was either too linear or too static.
When your Center Forward moves in a way that is too linear or static, it is almost impossible to open up spaces with combination play (I’m not talking just knock downs and flicks here and there), because your front three aren’t as fluid in their movement. The alternative to this is lumping crosses into the box hoping that your CF will connect to it properly -Giroud did connect to one, but missed it unfortunately.
When Welbeck came on, he was quicker in running the channels.. his runs created a bit more space for Ramsey and Sanchez and we threatening Barca goal even more. Theo wasn’t his best in that game. But we know and we have seen what a player like Theo can do.. and most importantly what he can make our entire attack do, when his played in that position.
What I noticed is that after Kos OG was our best defender, wonder what is he doing defending when he is paid to score goals
Why take off your best goal scorer and outlet for throw ins and goal kicks off the pitch. His two knockdowns to Theo and Mesut for 2 big assists are big reasons the last two league wins in which we are in 2nd in the league.
You also have a strong point there @Jim A.
Little wonder many of us are desperate for Danny Welbeck to come good, because he can offer the best of both worlds, potentially.
Giroud wasn’t doing it in that game and I do think we should of swapped him sooner, Barca had Giroud covered and kept him quiet most the time, credit to them as Barca played very well.
We wasn’t beating Barca back enough to make the most out of Giroud, we dominated the foxes in comparison and I think that is where Girouds biggest flaw is.
I don’t blame Giroud for not having the same movement ability as Theo, I blame Wenger for not playing a more agile CF against a team which was going to dominate us in possession.
Alot of deLuded folks including Wenger, must be expecting 5 goals to fall from heaven…
@Dennis………Hahaha……mad at me for touching u with a stethoscope in the previous article?? ….. Silly willy
He is offside more often than no, lacks awareness. You have to play the ball right in front of goal for him to shoot. Dribbling is poor. Only attempts to dribble against poorer teams. What sublime movement does Walcott have?
What did he do against Barca this week, one dribble no not even that, just one header and one interception as his contribution.
Welbeck is the one that should be starting upfront. His finishing is still questionable but he is better than Walcott in more departments, on or off the ball.
Lacks awareness?
Theo has a great footballing mind when it comes to movement, he drags and pulls CB out of pos all the time and it is his teammates who benefit, no-one seems to say “Well done Theo for your off the ball movements” instead it is all “Wow look at XXXX who scored” or “Look at Ozils amazing assist”….
Theo may not be a dribbler of the ball but that isn’t his game!
Theo is about movement.
Drop off into the channels and allow a wide attacker to burst through, Alexis has taken advantage of that more than once, just like Pires use to do when TH14 dropped off to the left.
Welbeck fights to get the ball back much better and is a better dribbler of the ball, he is ideal to start on the right while he finds his goalscoring boots.
OMG, some people just can’t think for themselves.
What happened to Arsene? I remember it was
early September someone to amend me when
when the coach promised goals after a long run
with Giroud failed to show consistent upfront,
the manager decided to plug walcot upfront
and sudenly, the goals were flowing. Walcot
made ozil and Sanchez enjoyed their game, he
has’nt scored many goals but his movement
paid.
Giroud coming from the bench with tired
defenders and with his physical ability it was
simple for him to score. But some fans thought
that Giroud has rediscovered his boot and
pressurized the manager to start with Giroud
and drop Walcot they have even forgotten that
Man had Oleguna Solsherwho was the best
scorer but he was often coming from the
bench. Arsene need to be strong with his
decision he should not be influenced with fans
who have no football brain.
@Fab…….. I agreed with everything u said…….until u messed it up half way by blaming it on fans suggestion
u talked Like Wenger ever Listens to fans contributive ideas
Seriously ? No, just no ! 2 goals in 17 games means he does NOT deserve to start up front. The guy panics whenever he’s 1v1 against a defender or a striker and only produces magic once every 10 games. A striker should be able to score from either wing as well as the centre, Walcott can only score from the middle as he seems to have forgotten how to play in the right, he isn’t fit to be our starting striker. Alexis would be a better option up front than either of them but we have no winger of his quality that can play LW.
I agree, whether people like it or not Danny was managed by a greater manager as AW before and he couldn’t get him to consistently perform. Danny is not the probable answer our prayers and e has never ever performed at as high a level as Giroud or Theo.
i think campbell should get a little run out as stricker
It isn’t surprising that Wenger is sounding out warnings to the fans as regards Danny ‘Dat Guy’ Welbeck.
I did the same in my comment on here yesterday.. but it seemed like few people agree. The huge surge in expectations from the fans as regards Welbeck is understandable, but at the same time it can be counter-productive.
“Understandable” because usually football fans do have short memory span. They also tend to love fairy tales and fantasies.
Welbecks goal against Leicester was definitely fairy tale stuff. And if we do go on to win the title come season end, many will point to Welbecks fairy tale return to the team. However, is it fantasy to think that Welbeck is the “messiah” (as the author of this article puts it) and that he will come and rescue us from this goal drought with his many goals? Well, time will tell.
But evidences on ground suggests that it is indeed pure fantasy. And this where it can turn counterproductive for the fans, the manager and the player himself if he fails to perform to the huge expectations of the fans.
I’d be honest here by saying that except we decide again to take the slow-burn approach by hoping Welbeck does a “Vardy” or Chamberlain does a “Mahrez”.. we need to go out and get a goal-scorer for next season regardless of how we finish this season.
Having a goal-scorer like that… star player in the class of Ozil and Sanchez, will mean we are indeed building a team to catch-up with the rest of the big guys in Europe. Also it will ease us of the frequent headaches about us not converting chances at a consistent rate during the season.
Doesn’t have to be a striker or CF. He can be a midfielder or winger e.g Thomas Muller.
Yeah and we all know what normally happen’s when we have high expectations! ?
At the end of the day, Danny is our last roll of the dice!
what with our goal drought.
But by the sounds of it, Wenger isn’t going to play him much,
Quote ” I will prepare him for you for the European championship” …
I’m not being funny, but XXXX the Euro’s, we need Danny playing for Arsenal now!… If as Wenger says that “Welbeck is physically back to his best” then what’s the problem?
Danny looked sharp and ready to go when he came on against Barcelona.
Mr chips claims that Arsenal have £159 million in the bank!
So what happened to the other £41 million ?
And also that our annual finance is at a loss of £3.4 million ?
That’s roughly the amount silent stan takes out each year,
With his mickey mouse company.
It’s high time now that we had new management at Arsenal a new start if you will. AW keeps making the wrong decisions and I’m sure this weekend we will see it again. We are the fans that keep the club where it is we pay for TV for games for out kits and so on and we are being let down year after year. We have bold as number 2? My god he sits there doing or saying nothing. Man U can’t buy a game at the mo and they have injured plays all over the park but I bet they pull it out of the bag and then we will need to listen to AW blaming different things. We are a big club that has oaps in the team with no fresh blood. O G can’t take Arsenal foward because he is not good enough and has chance after chance. I’m just fed up with it all. He could have got players in January to nit in the team for next season but again nothing. We just live in hope that Arsenal can make tbe decision and replace AW with a young manager who understands the modern game
I feel your pain.
Not long now I feel.
Although, who will replace him and will they be any better?
What happened to Arsene? I remember it was early September someone to amend me when when the coach promised goals after a long run with Giroud failed to show consistent upfront, the manager decided to plug walcot upfront and sudenly, the goals were flowing. Walcot made ozil and Sanchez enjoyed their game, he has’nt scored many goals but his movement paid.
Giroud coming from the bench with tired defenders and with his physical ability it was simple for him to score. But some fans thought that Giroud has rediscovered his boot and pressurized the manager to start with Giroud and drop Walcot they have even forgotten that Man had Oleguna Solsherwho was the best scorer but he was often coming from the bench. Arsene need to be strong with his decision he should not be influenced with fans who have no football brain.
Wellbeck?, the Messiah?
Yeh maybe he will surpass the hefty tally of 5 league goals he scored since he signed in 2014?
#insaneInTheMembrane
Working progress.
Eternally.
I do think dropping OG and playing TW up front is best because he links up so well with our little man. And Ozill not the fastest on the park but his football brain is super fast and he can pick a pin out from a crowd. Who can play on the other side now JC or give CC a game at right back and push HB up filed
No worries I don’t expect Miracles from WENGER much less from Danny Boy
No one is expecting miracles from him…but he played like a man on a mission last time he played United & will probably be in the same mental state this time too : if not to show that team that they shouldn’t have passed on him than more to forget those 10 months away. The same make up as when he came against Leicester. Anyway with the lack of scoring from our strikers it’s worth a shot either to play him centrally or from the wing with Giroud/Walcott up top!!
This guy is the closest thing to a complete striker (since Henry left) pending he starts being clinical so yeah we have a lot of expectations for him if not this season than the next one because if not it’s just another player with lots of talent/ability to play the way AFC like with work rate and occasional goal but nothing else…
Welbeck looks like he knows full well this is the now or never moment in season. He was in utds squad long enough to know that everything must be giving to drag our way up to the top. He looks pumped, already looks confident even though he hasn’t been playing. Maybe we shouldn’t expect too much but we know he has all the attributes to become a force if he can just get his head right. Scoring that goal with last kick of game is a great start, easily could have gotten too much on it but he made sure of it thank goodness. If he just keeps giving more of the same then he could become an ace/wild card in this title race. More of the same desire and attitude since coming back ..good stuff Danny.