While the Arsenal fans and Arsene Wenger are all hoping to see the Chile international Alexis Sanchez back in action very soon, with the boss saying before the new year that he could be back for the FA cup game, it will not help Arsenal with that crucial centre forward position that many of us still think the Gunners need to strengthen.
A lot of us are hoping that the boss uses the January transfer window to add to his options up front but despite the Arsenal transfer rumours linking us with the likes of Aubameyang and Chicharito, I do not think we4 should be holding our breaths.
What I do think we need to do is start rotating between Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott in the central striking role and I will give you a couple of reasons why. For one thing I think that the competition for his place brings out the best in our big French forward, as we have already seen earlier this season.
Giroud seems to have just gone off the boil a bit and I think a little nudge from the manager would help to get him scoring again. But I also feel that Walcott is a very good option and should be used more. With Alexis back and with Campbell and Chamberlain fighting for a place, Walcott could easily start up front and I think it would help him to hit top form as well, especially with Mesut Ozil feeding him through balls.
The next two games give Arsenal the ideal chance to do this, as Sunderland at home is well suited to playing Giroud as a target man while Liverpool away is set up for Theo to hit them on the break. There is another big reason for Wenger to give Walcott more time in the centre and it is the upcoming Champions League double header with Barcelona because you know that we will be under the cosh in both of those games and having Walcott in top form could make the difference.
Time to rotate Arsene?
It will be good competition for both of them as well keeping them fresh for the crucial games we have coming up? Coyg!
My suggested team to face Sunderland:
Cech
Debuchy – Chambers – Gabriel – Gibbs
Flamini – Kamara
Ox – Adelaide – Campbell
Iwobi
I actually think it is a good idea to give some starters a rest but……
Starting too many backups is lunacy. You might want to rethink this one or is it possible I cannot recognize the humor in this.
I’d play
_____________Ospina
Bellerin__Gabriel____Koscielny__Gibbs
_______Chambers__Ramsey
Campbell________Ox_________Iwobi
______________Walcott
we keep giving OX all the chances of his Life…….what happens to Adelaide?
Hahaha……… This is new Bob!……… No click baits today?
Admin must have sat u down in his/her office and pulled ur ears with a stern warning!
If it was Ozil that gave that Bournemouth assist for Giroud, we would all have been raving about Ozil’s “vision” up till now.
Thumbs up if you agree
Thumbs down if you don’t agree
Özil has been extremely consistent this year, unlike Giroud. I can’t remember a game where he would’ve put foot wrong. I however do seem to recall several games where Giroud looked like he had a another late night romp at the hotel. And flicks are one of his main strengths and that was his first assist of the season. Besides, we have seen flicks like that from Giroud, often, every season.
And I did see a lot of “raving” or compliments (including me) for Giroud’s fighting spirit against Newcastle.
Can you stop this pit against between the two?
OG has not been consistent? He has been the most consistent striker in the league. Scoring or assisting in almost every game. Not only that but he wins balls in the air each and every game which gives us another 5 -10 possessions each game. Theo doesn’t even bother going for kicks from Cech. Theo should always be on the flanks where his pace can be exploited.
It wasn’t really vision. It was a 1-2. A give-and-go. It was more the quality of the little flick Giroud did and the control and finish by Özil that made the goal.
Giroud – good
Walcott – better
Bendtner – best
You missed Sanogo out mate.
and chamakh and park and eduardo (bit unlucky) and sanogo … bottom line rotating mediocrity will give you a 4th place finish year in year out …want to see a quality attacking option in this window
I agree we should rotate strikers, Ollie is looking tired after leading the line for past weeks.
Next two league games – Liverfool and Stoke are good opportunities. These are 2 tough away games we need not to lose!! Would play Calum Chambers and Flam in front of back four, with Rambo, Ozil and Campbell in MF. Would start Theo in both games with Ollie to come on after 60 mins
COYG
campell should also be.tried up front.
but i guess this time wenger will opt for
a
sanchez giroud walcott front line because
ramsey can no longer play on the wings due to cazorla absence.
but you never know wenger
he may decide to opt for a
sanchez walcott and campbell front line
That would be more ideal with giroud and walcott trading places.
But that should start against barcelona if no one else is fit.
High energy and pace are key
1. Giroud vs. Walcott vs. both.
Many fans like the idea of Giroud and Walcott competing for the front slot by rotating their starts. It sounds fine to me. No objections except……..
If Wenger does this we will then see dueling fan comments forever. Suddenly fan comments will reflect a dissatisfaction with the rotation system “Giroud is a statue – Walcott should start” and “Walcott cannot finish – Giroud should start.” “Wenger is an idiot for starting Walcott vs. W.H.” etc.
I am OK with all that, but there will be much wasted media/pundit/fan comment energy that is for certain
2. Debuchy Departure?
I keep reading about Debuchy departing this month. Unless Wenger has a new RB incoming or Jenks is returning this would be a ridiculous move.
Already Bellerin is starting to show some early signs of fatigue. And what if Bellerin goes out for 3 months? What then? There must be a GOOD backup plan.
Whether it’s a loan deal or a permanent move,
Debuchy is going, during this window and don’t worry about back up for Bellerin… Wenger is good at sticking square pegs in round holes! ?
It will be interesting to see what kind of team,
Wenger puts out against Sunderland in the Fa cup.
I wouldn’t be surprised if he still starts with Ozil,
Even though he talks of resting the player.
Personally, he should rest as many key players as possible, but I doubt that he will.
I’d say only players in our team that have performed to standard this season are Monreal, Coquelin, Ozil, Cech and Giroud. That’s not to say the rest have been bad, just that they aren’t playing as well as they could be, or have done in the past. Özil and Cech have been great. Giroud, Monreal and Coquelin have done everything I expect, though every player has off days.
Bellerin: very good start to the season, but he seemed to lose form at the end of Autumn and hasn’t quite recovered yet.
Mertesacker: below par. Not awful, but not great.
Koscielny: a top quality defender for the most part, though recently he seems to be making a lot of mistakes, particularly with the offside trap we play. Whether that’s his fault of Mertesakcer’s I’m not certain, but it needs sorting out.
Gabriel: He’s been ok, hasn’t really played enough to really judge though.
Gibbs: Decent when he’s come on, but Monreal is certainly first choice now.
Ramsey: Puts a shift in every game, but he’s no where near his 2013/14 form and doesn’t look the same player.
Cazorla: Good, but not as good as last season. Still, we’re missing him now that he’s injured.
Walcott: He’s been reasonably good, but we need more goals from him. He misses a lot of chances.
Ox: Disappointing, what can I say… Needs more playing time I think, but I can’t see him getting it at Arsenal. Perhaps a loan would be best for him at this point, but I can’t see that happening either.
Campbell: Again, needs more playing time. Shown glimpses of quality and he works very hard, but at times he’s very average too.
Oh, and how could I forget Alexis… I’d say he’s been good, but hasn’t quite hit the heights he did last season. After no real rest in the summer, he was clearly fatigued before his injury. Hope he’ll be well rested and ready to fire when he gets back.
Arsenal are heading into the second half of a campaign which is their best shot at a Premier League title in years, but to lift that trophy in May, Arsene Wenger is taking no chances.
The Gunners boss is already closing in on signing Basel’s Mohamed Elneny, but the Frenchman is also coming up fast on the outside for Lille’s highly-rated frontman Sofiane Boufal.
The 22-year-old has long been linked with Liverpool, while Manchester United are also in the mix, but over the festive period it’s Arsenal who seem to be best placed to sign the Frenchman, whose talent is reminding the Lille faithful of a certain Chelsea forward.
Boufal is Lille’s top scorer in Ligue 1 this term with five goals, no mean achievement for a team languishing in eleventh place which has netted a paltry 15 times.
He only signed for Les Dogues from Angiers last summer, but already it seems the time could be right for the Paris-born midfielder to follow in former Lille star Eden Hazard’s steps and hop over to the Premier League.
Six yellow cards and a straight red this season suggests Wenger may have some work to do cooling Boufal’s temperament, but he has unquestionably been a rare shining light in an average Lille side this term.
The French club are unwilling to part with Boufal for less than £18m however, but given his age, Wenger may feel that’s a reasonable fee for such a talented player.
Boufal has really impressed this term, producing dazzling ball-control and skill with both feet, in addition to intelligent link-up play.
Arsenal remain favourites for the Premier League, and coupled with Liverpool and Manchester United’s recent struggles, they seem the most likely destination for the Lille-man.
Lille have a history of off-loading wingers to the Premier League, and took home a cool £32m when Eden Hazard joined Chelsea in 2012.
Boufal’s displays down the wing have been eerily similar to Hazard’s at the Stade Pierre-Mauroy, and the early indications are he can go on to be every bit as good as the Chelsea man.
Arsenal fans will be hoping Boufal’s best days come in the red half of north London.
I like the idea of creating a positional rivalry between Giroud and Walcott. The few times Arsene Wenger has tried it, the club has been the better for it upfront
Secondly, there will clearly be matches where Walcott’s pace will be pivotal and preferable, Arsenal defeat of Bayern Munich at the emirates is a recent case study, however Giroud’s physical presence in the box, height and proficiency with headers not forgetting his hold up play can only be matched or bettered by very few.
In the meantime any addition to the team that will not bring extra quality other than what is already obtainable will be a waste really.
i agree with you so does wenger,but we can only do it when sanchez returns and im pretty sure that,s what wenger is going to do!!!