Alexis behind Giroud could be something special by KJ
It’s been somewhat of a revelation. After Özil’s three month injury, Wenger had to find a solution for the team and with the new formation (4-1-4-1) not working at all, he had to make a decision and it seems like playing Alexis as a no.10 in a somewhat more conventional 4-2-3-1 is his answer in the time being.
Alexis has played in a similar position before at Udinese with Di Natale as his strike partner. But he’s grown as a player and become far more interested in pressing the opposition leaving most position maps after the game of him as the furthest forward player.
The Chilean has been in sensational form as the no.10 with 4 goals in just the two Premier League games. But his overall performance off the ball has also won the fans over. His relentless pressing is causing the opposition centre backs all sorts of problem as they just aren’t used to the strikers pressing them that relentlessly.
But the problem is, I think Welbeck isn’t the best partner in such circumstances and with Giroud reportedly on his way back sooner than expected, I can see Wenger opting for Giroud as the striker with Alexis just off him. This will work simply because the Frenchman loves one touch play with little dinks and Alexis can work with that because he’s interested in pass and move. Welbeck wants to turn or play in wide positions whilst Giroud will be interested in staying central and laying it off for Alexis . This could work very well against the smaller teams at home.
I think things are starting to finally look up and Alexis behind the striker is vital to us moving forwards until January at least. With Giroud coming back soon, it could really be interesting to see tactically how we deploy our two strikers in certain situations to cause the opposition the most problems.