ESPN’s feature writer, Freddie Paxton, believes Arsenal will be deadlier on the attack next season when they sign a proper goal-scorer.
The Gunners have just beaten Leeds United 2-1 to keep themselves in a good position to qualify for next season’s Champions League.
They could have scored more goals in that game, especially because Leeds had a man sent off in the first half.
But Mikel Arteta’s side could not break down the 10-men of the Whites. They eventually won the game with two strikes from Eddie Nketiah.
He has become the club’s first-choice striker in recent weeks, but Arsenal will strengthen that spot in the summer.
Paxton believes when they get someone better, they will score more goals as a team.
He tweeted after the game: “I’m excited to see this Arsenal team once it has a real killer in the final 3rd. A proper goal scorer will take us to a new level”
Just Arsenal Opinion
Nketiah has been a great frontman in recent weeks, but we need a more accomplished striker in our team to reach the next level.
We cannot rely on the former England Under21 star to take us to that level, which is why we need to buy a better forward.
Several players have been linked with a move to the Emirates and we should not struggle to sign an accomplished attacker when the transfer market opens.
Nunez/osimhen in for laca,jesus in for nketiah if he turns down new contract,olise in for pepe and diaby in at lw,phillips and grillitsch in for lokonga who should leave on loan and elneny retained,saliba returns and omar rekik/zach awe promoted for cb options,spence in for cedric.
Prefer Osimhen. He plays like Drogba and has attributes suitable for the epl. Will cost a fortune but we can do it. Need a top striker a full back that can play left and right like Tomi so we retire Cedric, and a holding midfielder of Vieira mould.
Can agree with that but we have a lad in the championship doing just as well as Spence in Norton-Cuffy. I’d give him a shot and use the money elsewhere
A “better” front man will make no difference if we dont stop playing the style of football we do. Arteta wants a rigid formation and very little running/overlapping and our build up play suffers because we are too rigid and deliberate, it has little to do with a better front man. We dont move the opposition about quick enough.
I don’t agree, we create enough chances to score many more goals than we do, simply because no one in our team puts them away.
A top forward will do well playing for us, today saka was fairly absent in attack, Martinelli didn’t have he’s shooting boots on, odegarrd should of scored.
I think the sideward passing is more to with a decent forward not be present who will make those runs for the likes of odegarrd to pick them out.
We have won 21 games this season we must be doing something right, so if it’s Arteta tactics are to be rigid ( which every time I see him he’s telling them to get forward) it is working.
If you think about the games where we should of won, we could of been 8 points clear of Chelsea. So trying to pin it on the managers tactics don’t wash with me.
I do agree with your analysis of overlapping and running in behind . It’s bloody frustrating to watch a player to get into an advance position then to kick it back 😬
I dont think we create quality chances enough, yes we have 21 wins but we have 11 losses and struggle to draw games, that we should because we are not creating enough quality.
Our xG is more or less the same as Spurs and Man Utd, yet we’ve scored fewer. That would suggest it’s a finishing, not chance creation problem.
What games do you watch Reggie, firstly our players do overlap but are not as good as our first choice. Even though I don’t rate Soares, he put some excellent crosses in the box against Leeds, in the region of 10 to 15 crosses went in. Which proves your point of noone over laps is wrong. Eddie did not get on the end of a single one of Soares’ crosses when it was evident that Leeds were really poor at defending them. That is why a top strike will indeed take us to the next level.
I get it you don’t like Arteta but your running out of arguments so much that now they have no foundation. There are 3 players key to the said style of play and allow us to transition efficiently. 2 are missing and one is rebuilding his fitness and playing out of position.
We create plenty of opportunities every game but Eddie and Laca are not strikers who are physically suited, cant play in tight spaces, don’t drop off because they prefer playing on the shoulder and turning their defender and can’t play with their back to goal. This is the striker we need and we should be looking at signing in the summer, basically a Giroud with more pace.
Thomas Partey is a massive miss as when at his best his eye for a pass is key to our build up play. Eddie is more like Ian Wright and Lacazette has turned into Bamba Gasgoigne rather than Paul. I think your watching Chelsea or spurs mate cause that’s who you described as rigid and inflexible. Just to remind you the gooners play in red not blue or white
What games do you watch? Obviously not Arsenal ones.
What comeback are you a child
No IQ spared in your reply to the discussion again I see Reggie lol
A proper goals scorer? But is Nkethia who has scored 4 EPL goals for Arsenal in 4 run-in game starts this season not a proper goals scorer for Arsenal? Then what is he if he’s not?
Arsenal can replace Lacazette with a new marquee striker signing in the summer. And still keep Eddie Nkethia in the team if he agrees to stay as one of their duo strikers at the club next season.
Come to think of it and with Arsenal beating Leeds Utd at the Ems today and collected all points at stake in the match. But with this latest success by them today, has that not seen them qualified for the Uefa Europa League Cup competition next season if it comes to the worst. For, the current 6th placed Man Utd can no longer overtake Arsenal on points this season comes what may come.
But certainly, it won’t come to the worst for Arsenal but for the better for them in quest to secure a Champions League spot next season..
We had already qualified for Europa League before today’s game.
Objective complete and that was the clubs goal for this season, not some fans objective of challenging for the league this season and qualifying for the UCL. That is why Arteta was given a new contract, hopefully he will surpass that as well. To think we have done this without a top striker and 3 of our best players missing for the last 5 weeks is excellent.
This squad isn’t ready for champions league football yet imho. Nor will it be ready after the summer, but being in it will make it far easier to assemble that squad than if we were in the Europa league.
On to spurs Thursday now. Lets not forget, yeah spurs drew at Anfield, but 3 days after LFC played a Semi finals of the UCL, spurs had a full week to prepare. Liverpool were 2-0 down away from home having to travel too and from Spain and come back to win which would have taken a huge amount of energy.
Let the spuds think they’re on top of the world because the same happened against City. They won 3-2 after City played a champions league game on a Wednesday and had to play spurs on the Saturday night. Guess what happened the next match, they lost to Burnley.
So fingers crossed for St Totteringhams day on Thursday the on to taking 3rd off Chelsea
Let’s cut Nketiah some slack; we need his energy and intensity for the rest of the season.
An accomplished striker, alone, (IMO), is hardly the reason for our sputtering offence. Our build-up play, especially in the second half, was too slow and narrow. If we get this right on Thursday, the NLD will be a cakewalk.