There is no disguising the fact that Bukayo Saka would be one of the first names on a list of players we wouldn’t want to be injured.
Every team has a core group of talent so good that they can’t be replaced.
The 23-year-old tore his hamstring at Selhurst Park and Mikel Arteta says it will take him weeks to recover. Tactically, so much of our attack comes from the right side it’s hard to argue that we have not become over reliant on the Star Boy.
Our manager knows whoever he picks as his replacement the quality will reduce. That’s why the Spaniard is spending this Xmas being creative. He claims he’s got a few ideas up his sleeve and will discuss them with his squad.
No one is pretending this isn’t a serious blow to our title bid where we have zero room for error.
Yet it’s an opportunity for someone to shine ….
We know it won’t be Sterling. He’s got his own fitness concerns. A knee issue means he’s out for weeks adding to his frustrating time in North London.
Martinelli on the right?
Saka doesn’t miss many games. When he was unavailable for our final fixture of last season, he asked Martinelli to switch sides.
It’s worth pointing out that was the switch he made when Saka was subbed off on Saturday.
Many feel the Brazilian looked more comfortable on the right where he could cross first time with his favoured foot. Our boss’s preference is having a right-footed option on the left but is this another example of the Spaniard over-complicating his tactics?
It’s long been felt that Martinelli has regressed in the last year, so a change of position might benefit him.
While the 23-year-old has to take responsibility for his own form there is a theory he’s been over coached. When he first broke on the scene, he was so direct at times the one player you could guarantee would take on his man. One of the first things the new regime did was teach the youngster when to time his runs to preserve his energy. Has he been micromanaged too much?
Jesus on the right
This would be my pick.
The Gunners have become so reliant on Saka our attack is predictable.
The opposition doubled up on Saka knowing we would build attacks on the right and hope he produces some magic. We rarely even have an overlapping full back anymore.
This goes against Arsenal identity. For years we were known around the world for having players who had footballing intelligence to the point they wouldn’t stay in one position. Players would move around making it impossible for defenders to mark them.
Jesus is one of the best at this even when he was having a goal drought.
The Brazilian’s close control and work rate means even when not confident he can make something happen out of nothing.
So, this isn’t asking a striker to play out of position. When in possession I trust him to time when to join Havertz up front. I don’t trust the German to do that the other way around.
Trossard On the Right
Trossard is another player who has the footballing intelligence to not stay in one position, timing when to move around and switch roles with others.
It’s whether the Belgian can be trusted to take the baton and run with it?
The perception of the 30-year-old is he’s always been more comfortable as an impact sub.
He did find his mojo in the title run in the last campaign and you can argue he’s the best natural finisher at the club.
Could start him on either side or as a false nine.
Nwaneri
It was Arteta who himself name checked the teenager as an alternative for our right side.
It’s worth pointing out though that our manager resisted trusting the teenager when Odegaard was injured and attacking midfield would be Nwaneri’s preference position.
It would seem odd to now have faith in the 17-year-old in not his natural role.
In a sub appearance against Everton and the first half of the Carabao QFinals the youngster did little to show he needed to be rushed into the first team.
Long term that might help his development as unrealistic expectation was placed on his youthful shoulders simply because Gooners want to believe he’s the next Fabregas.
In reality he’s done very little to earn that opinion, yet to start a league fixture for the senior side.
If he did start in Saka’s place, we couldn’t play just on the right as it would foolishly be putting pressure on a kid.
January
If the plan is to spend money in January, then there’s a chance we only have to get through Ipswich at home with our current squad.
Yet it’s unlikely the Kroenke Family will release funds next month. Whether that’s our owners being unable or unwilling is debatable.
FFP restrictions means clubs can’t spend endless amounts of money even if they wanted to. That’s why the last Winter Window was quiet.
Even with those sensitive rules I’m still not sure if Arteta’s employers would ever demand to know what’s needed to be Champions and make it happen. For example, they could have demanded by now that staff had scouted and shortlisted the striker we clearly need.
The fact in the last hour of the summer we were loaning Sterling proves the priority remains finding value.
It’s more likely we make money in January than spend it.
Dan
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Nice article, Dan.
I am in agreement that Jesus would be the best option, so we can unanimously agree right now that is exactly what Arteta won’t do!
It was Jesus position at City and one he thrived in and scored the majority of his goals from. As you point out, his close control and ability to evade defenders even when he is going through a goal drought will most closely replicate Saka’s influence from the options available. Jesus, for all his faults as an attacker, can also be relied upon to do probably more than his fair share of defending.
My second and only other choice would be Nwaneri. It will provide the younger with much needed game and provide consistency in the form of a left footer at RW. However, playing Nwaneri there places a lot more pressure on Timber to get up and support him and provide overlapping runs, so that he isn’t just doubled-up on or shown down the flank onto his right foot.
An injured Saka is a huge loss
Nobody we have can replace him but we need to do our best with the forwards that we have. Hopefully players will step up and produce
It’s not the end of the world that some think. Saka will be replaced by a worthy forward (probably Jesus) and Arsenal will continue to win some, draw some, and challenge for the Premier League title. And with the number of upcoming cup games Saka would probably have been rotated anyway.
This is why we have a quality squad!
Not sure who another commenter is referring to here, but I’d like to emphasize that I said Jesus would “probably” replace Saka, and that is who I think Arteta will choose, although I’d prefer Martinelli, but personally, I don’t care, I’m not paid for this.
Jesus seems to have rediscovered his goal-scoring touch from playing centrally and you want to shift him to the right? Thank God you are not our coach!
My pick (and I believe Arteta’s as well) is Martinelli on the right for starters. You (author of the article) gave all the right reasons for this option. So no need to change a winning team
We still have plenty of options and opportunities to utilise players until Saka returns.
Similar in style to our legendary French striker, who likes to cut inside from the wings , the Brazilian no doubt is the perfect replacement but he’s on fire now playing in a slightly different role.
Maybe Jesus should be allowed to interchanges playing both as a striker and winger, that element of unpredictability, could just be what he needs to become that twenty goal striker
Jesus on the right is also the best option for me. He and Havertz could play off each other when drifts inside to create chaos in the box. They are ideal for each other as Jesus is great at causing chaos with the ball with his superior dribbling and agility while Havertz positioning intelligence means he creates chaos off the ball.
I always thought Arteta original plan when buying Havertz was to play Jesus as a 9 who would drop back to get involved in the build up(which he naturally does) and Havertz would push ahead either giving an outlet for long passes or makes runs in behind catching opponent off guard.
Jesus scored a handful of goals against Crystal Palace, I’m not sure this constitutes as ‘rediscovering his ‘scoring touch’. If you knew football you would know that Jesus has historically and statistically produced his best and most consistent football, and scoring, playing at RW, albeit for City.
Jesus isn’t a striker. He’s never going to be a striker. And there is no reason why he can’t continue his current ‘scoring touch’ playing RW. It’s not like wingers are really wingers anymore, they are expected to be scorers as much as they are providers.
I would add that in our current system the responsible to score is more on the wingers than with our striker.
*responsibility