Wenger sees “something special” in Danny Welbeck

Arsene Wenger took a calculated risk against Man United last week when he chose Danny Welbeck up front instead of Olivier Giroud, but he was proved correct when Danny scored the winning goal for Arsenal. Wenger admitted that he had reservations about playing Danny against his old club.

“It’s never simple to deal with that situation mentally because you feel a bit more under scrutiny,” Wenger said on the official Arsenal website. “You feel the eyes on your personal performance a bit more.

“That’s why I think it was a very interesting night for Danny, because he kept it simple, he focused on the game and he scored the winner for us. I’m convinced that he has shown in that occasion that he’s mentally very strong.

“I’ve seen many players fail against their old club. He’s one of the few you’ve seen succeed, and that shows you there’s something special in him.”

“That’s the key for us,” said Wenger. “Hard-working strikers like Welbeck give you the tone, like in a symphony. If that is right, the rest is right.

“I knew Danny superficially and I’m surprised how complete a player he is, how good his mentality is, how ambitious he is as a player and how keen he is to learn, as well as how intelligent he is. I think he has everything in the locker to be a fantastic striker.”

If Wenger feels like this about Danny, does this mean that Giroud will be given more rest like he was against Man United? I guess we’ll find out tomorrow against Monaco….

VIDEO – Wayne Rooney getting knocked out cold at home!

Tags Man United welbeck Wenger

18 Comments

  1. That is a whole lot of praise , but funny enough I agree,
    Not sure how old Danny is right now but I think he can improve…

    If he can become a good finisher I think he would be deadly!
    Because I think he’s got Everything!!

    #sturridge he improved

    1. I see nofin but pace which his not making use of bcos of his poor movement and when he eventually ve a chance..he fluff his lines…I think he will improve though…arsenal is more abt ur 1st touch and wot follows, welbeck will learn that in arsenal cos his 1st touch is poor. Bad he doesn’t ve deft touches like out handsome targetman

  2. OT: Saw the Chelski game. Fab looks a shadow of what he was early this season! The same boos have started with what he had to endure at Barcelona. No comparisons with Ozil’s silky skills or Cazorlas great technique.

    1. I thought the Cesc drop off in the second half of the season was a fabrication until I saw some recent stats – the drop in assist/goal numbers are quite staggering at Arsenal, Barca and Chelsea for the last 8 seasons. I cannot begin to imagine why this happens so predictably.

    2. He started out with great determination to prove Arsenal wrong and make them regret not signing him but time has proved Arsene right again. I’ll take any of Ozil and Carzola before him and i dare say Ramsey is not far from him at all, if only he can be consistent. Bar his time out Injured Ozil would have had more goals/assist than Fabregas this season. Considering we still have Alex Oxlade Chamberlain, Wilshere and Rosicky as playmakers Arsenal indeed need not have signed Fabregas and his age (27?) will do little to justify his case as well. We need to get to the root of our seemingly unending injury crisis to realise the full potential of this Arsenal squad. Who noticed Ramsey now getting in the tackle well in the last two games? Is someone learning from Le Coq’s rise to fame?

  3. I just wish Welbeck had the vision of Cazorla or Ozil. He got into some very good positions at the West Ham game but his final decision just let him down!

    1. That is learned !
      Ox improved
      Bellerin improved
      Le Coq shot out the cannon
      Dat Guy will improve

    1. I would have preferred a draw tbh – but still laughed. I am more keen to see the smirk wiped off Rodger’s face tomorrow though – getting a bit p**&ed off with the re-emergence of the media brown-nosing of BR.

  4. I’ll start by saying that I really hope DW has a fantastic career with us and he is one of my personal favourites. I think he is a very good addition to the squad and offers plenty of options with his versatility. It is almost impossible to dislike him as a person and I hope as fans we reserve judgement on his ability and potential, seen quite a few stick the knife in already – easy to forget he is still young and only been with us for 6 months. I am pretty sure my eyes don’t deceive me and I already see an improved DW – SAF started the project and Wenger probably sees it as his destiny to finish the project. You only have to listen to what SAF said about DW’s drop off in goals scored in the 2012-13 season to get a better appreciation:

    ‘………. he still applies himself really well and still looks to score, still looks to get a chance and with that kind of courage he will eventually become a regular goalscorer. Maybe he doesn’t appreciate us moving him around in various positions and we’ve maybe overused that because he is young. But his value to the club is there because I know he can do a job for me in any of those positions. It’s a fantastic asset when you have a player who is as adaptable as that. But I think he will find his role through the middle once he gets that maturity and gets into a more consistent way of scoring.’

    I also think we need to be very careful when we judge him and his relative lack of goals. He is regularly judged in comparison to regular centre forwards even when he is played wide. You don’t have to look too far to see the effect on goalscoring if someone is played wide or out of position. Lewandoski and Suarez are both suffering “out wide” – and plenty of people will jump to their rescue and offer mitigation. DW has something like 8 in 18 for England when played through the middle and most his 7 Arsenal goals have come when he has been CF. I was also thinking of other industrious wide players in the PL whose reputations haven’t suffered even with abysmal goal returns. Think of Willian at Chelsea – plays wide right in a 3 behind Costa, or Milner at MC (slightly different system granted) – 6 league goals (in 2 seasons) and 9 (in 5 seasons) respectively. Mourinho absolutely loves Willian but he is one of those players I often look at and think “what is the point of him” – especially when I remember what an exciting prospect he looked at Shaktar. And MP is starting to love Milner. I think what I am saying is that there is more to DW than may meet the eye for the casual observer. Work rate certainly trumps flair in Mourinho teams and I wonder if Wenger has looked at this and taken note.

  5. Why Utd gave up Welbeck to get injury prone overrated Falcao I will never know. This kid reminds me so much of a young Henry. Loads of pace, power, agility, and instinct. Henry, I hope you’re watching somewhere because with a little bit of your coaching, DW could end up being the best striker in the EPL in a few seasons.

    1. Danny is just 23 I think, and he can only improve , training and playing with the likes of Santi, Ozil, Sanchez, Ramsey etc. If he can strike up a good partnership with Olivier and improve his first touch we will have a class pair of front men.
      He’s starting to get more game time from AW, so he can also help rotation with Giroud and Alexis. Plus he seems to be an all-round good guy with no chip on his shoulder
      COYG

  6. Can’t agree more with the positive comments about DW. It’s coming together for him and training with the likes of Santi, Ozil, TR7, Alexis and OG must be helping him tremendously.

    A bit off topic but I can’t help wondering similarly how that’s really helped Coquelin develop as a DM when he has to train against some pretty tricky No 10’s.

  7. DANNY HAS IMPROVED AND WILL KEEP IMPROVING IMAGINE TRAINING EVERYDAY WITH PLAYERS LIKE OURS HE,S BOUND TO EVEN MERT DOES TRICKS IN TRAINING THAT HE COULDN,T DO WHEN HE FIRST ARRIVED,SO IF HE CAN THINK OF WELLBECK IN A YEAR,S TIME!!

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