Why Arsenal Can Really Benefit From Old-School Wing-Play! by AT
You wouldn’t be very surprised to know that Arsenal have three of the best wingers in the Premier League in Theo Walcott, Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain and of course, Alexis Sanchez. The trio, in my opinion, give the Gunners the advantage of being the team with the most potent wide-forwards. But whilst we may have three of the best wingers, the wing-play that Arsene Wenger employs in the side doesn’t really live up to expectation.
How often have we seen one of these players driving towards the byline and delivering a peach of a ball to Olivier Giroud or Danny Welbeck? It’s happened on very rare occasions. Personally, I feel Arsenal’s wing-play is too predictable. When a wide man receives the ball, he is going to cut inwards 9 of 10 times and look for a defence-splitting ball or simply square the ball to a midfielder. While that tactic may be quite effective, there are occasions where the best things to do is to use the width of the field and run at full-backs.
Now I am in no way criticizing the performances of Sanchez or the Ox, they have been two of our best players. All I’m saying is for a squad which boasts of having three of the best wingers in the Premier League, there should really be more reliance on old-school wing-play. In Giroud, Welbeck and even Sanogo, Arsenal have three strikers with good physical presence and I believe that the North London side can really benefit from adding this different dimension to their attack.
To those that pay close attention, most of Arsenal’s old-school wing-play comes from the full-backs, especially when Kieran Gibbs and Callum Chambers are in those positions. With Arsenal possessing so much wide talent, surely Arsene Wenger can place a lot more emphasis on the wing-play and wide attacks.
Anurag