Can Arsenal give Alexis a break if Welbeck is back?

The Arsenal and England international forward Danny Welbeck already seemed to be struggling a little for form when he picked up his thigh injury in the win over West Ham on the Sunday after christmas. The former United man did score in that game but had gone six games previously without finding the net.

But we always knew that it might take Welbeck a bit of time to get used to his new club and often a new position, so seven Arsenal goals so far is pretty good in my opinion, especially as his pace, work rate and link up play offers the team a lot more beside goals.

Arsene Wenger today revealed that he did not expect his 24-year old striker back for two more games, which is a bit of a shame because it also looks like the perpetual motion machine that is Alexis Sanchez could finally be running out of steam a little bit. But with Giroud and a fit Walcott, Welbeck would still allow the Gunners to field a very strong front three.

I know that the Chilean international wants to play every minute of every game, but it is Wenger’s job to see if he is getting tired and rest him accordingly and the return of Welbeck would surely make that a lot easier to do. Our next two games are away to Brighton in the FA cup and at home to Aston Villa in the Premier League. After that is the short trip to White Hart Lane for the north London derby and I am sure that the manager has no intention of dropping Alexis for that crucial clash with the spuds.

Three days after that, however, we have a home game with Leicester and hopefully the 5th round of the cup. Would this be the ideal time to give Alexis a well earned rest? Because we will need our star man on top form after that, with the Champions League and a hugely important race for the top four. What would you do with Sanchez, risk an injury or burn out or risk dropping points without him?

Tags Giroud Walcott Wenger

58 Comments

    1. What does welbeck offer in comparison to Sanchez….running on the pitch like a headless chicken(welbeck shouldn’t even be in our squad)

  1. my girlfriend was just saying how impressed she was with sanchez’s stamina.
    naturally she meant in football terms….
    yeah thats what she meant….

        1. saw her in the earl of camden pub after stoke match, boobs burstin out of an old jvc arsenal kit- if i didnt someone was going to.
          there was vultures surrounding her looking for the kill

          i was a defensive mid that night πŸ™‚

            1. We need u muff! To play in a double pivot with Coquelin! You can take Diaby’s wages to save cash on hospital fees!

              1. Not good having Muff around the Emirates… I fear for the Arsenal ladies, don’t want their career to end with a stroke of muff

    1. Im sure the mental stamina required to support arsenal is more tiring than running around as much as sanchez

  2. Right now alexis is our “workhorse” and a key man apart from santi on the field for us! He is too valuable a player, to be rested unless someone steps up really “big time” and replicate his awesome form to justify this move!

      1. At the start of the season, when Alexis was settling, Ramsey was banging in a few goal until he got injured. Welbeck had a few good games after that. Sanchez has been scoring since then. Giroud has been a revelation on his return. Much more clinical. He has averaged 2 less shots per goal this season. Cazorla has also played very well and Koscielny has stabilsed the defence. Monreal has looked like a totally new player this season and Coquelin has finally emerged. Oxlade-Chamberlain has also been outstanding. I disagree that Alexis has been carrying us. He has just been our main goalthreat. If you took Koscielny, Ramsey or Giroud put of the team then Arsenal lose something. Look at our record with and without Koscielny. Mertesacker needs a fast partner. That’s why we are close to Paulista who is a top La Liga defender.

        1. Go back 2 or 3 months, and Alexis was almost the only player performing. What he did (apart from goals and assists) was show great stamina, fight, commitment and a never-say-die attitude. Now we see one-by-one other members of the team giving the same effort, culminating in the win over City. Now Sanchez is one of the team not an isolated stand-out.
          How many of the players have gone public saying he sets a great example for them to follow
          COYG

    1. Just hope this won’t be a case of “One Last Mission”, until Alexis collapses on the pitch.

      He’s been great for us, but a game or two off might help.

        1. tell me about it!!
          i like the fact u used euros aswell!!
          do u realise mertesacker cost us 500 billion trillion yen!

          wenger…daddy warbucks

          1. The Euro is very unstable. The Euro is weaker than is was at the time, meaning that we have a strong pound. In a nutshell, a pound gets you alot more in europe than it did a year ago. At the time Mertesacker was bought he was bought for 10 million euro aka 8.5 million pounds. One example is that a feq years ago, Barca paid 40 million euro for David Villa. That was worth 35 million pound. That’s now worth only 30 million pound today

            1. All the currencies have their weak years. Some years back it was Dollar, then Sterling and now Euro. It’s not like the currencies are getting stronger but other currencies are weakening.

  3. Shaw 19yo 160k per week

    Odegaard 16yo 40k per week

    looks like we have been under paying our players …

    1. Luke Shaw is on only 100k a week. Other players are just underpaid. Koscielny, Mertesacker, Ramsey, Ozil, Cazorla, Walcott, Podolski and Welbeck all earn 100k and upwards.

  4. Cazorla and Sanchez both need a rest
    so I have no doubt Wenger will rest both
    for Brighton. Arsene always makes sure
    we have a deep squad so we always
    have ten fresh players available to rotate.
    Giroud Ox Ozil Rosicky Ramsey Coque
    can beat Brighton?
    And we have the ever available Diaby+ Ryo+ Jenkinson
    + Podolski +Sanogo +Wilshere +Debuchy and remember
    we bought back Fabregas + Song plus the two new CB’s we bought in July.
    We have 25 players fit and ready for every game thanks to le Prof.
    That’s why we lead the Premier league by six points as usual
    and are surging to our 3rd EPL,FA cup ECL treble in a row.
    Megan Trainor comes to mind. “We’re all about the bass, the base no treble” πŸ™‚

    1. I am not sure that wenger will rest players that “are in the form of their lives”

      The time to “rest” players is when they are struggling, either with form, fitness or risking burnout.

      Wenger knows he needs a trophy and at least 3rd place to improve on last season. He will drop players and rest them when he knows the time is right.

  5. He has played A LOT and conistently like a work horse all season. The Brighton game will be a rare opportunity to rest him.

    Sanchez as well as a few other players require rest. Even if Sanchez doesn’t want rest,it’s a necessity to avoid overload, burn-out, long-term injuries etc

    We can beat Brighton without him. If we cant beat them without Alexis, we don’t deserve to be in the top 4.

    At least keep him on the Bench and see how it goes. That’s reasonable isn’t it.

    I’m sure the likes of Szczesny, Chambers, Gibbs, Ramsey, Flamini, Ozil, Walcott, Campbell, Giroud akbd others can secure a win. I’m not saying Brighton is a bad team, nor am I saying it’s impossible for them to beat them, but we have enough quality to beat them. Sanchez will def be needed against Villa.

    Sometimes we need to worry about players health too. If we rest Sanchez (and older perhaps Mertsacker, Cazorla and a couple of others) at Brighton they will have 2 weeks rest and be healthy, bright eyed and bushy tailed for Aston Villa

      1. C’mon, Muff!!! He’s just 17, what’s he gonna do with luv??? Eh??? I mean, when I was his age, I never knew where babies come from.

      2. The first thing Arsene Wenger will do is bulk him up. That’s what we did to players like Viera, Henry, Chambo, Koscielny etc.

        1. “That’s what WE did”????? “ETC”???? How u know all that and “etc”???

          Man, u sound like u are one of the cooks/staff at the club. Hmm, must be an AKB.

          1. You are clueless. I have read biographies about various Arsenal managers from Herbert Chapman to Arsene Wenger. I am a fans of Arsene Wenger, the vast majority of players and the club. Arsene Wenger was the first sporting coach on earth to introduce nutritious club meals, promote a healthy lifestyle for players and introduce muscle strengthening excercises such as plyometrics and isometrics. This is why his teams were physically dominant. If he hadn’t come into the world of sport, half the sportsmen on earth would be overweight alcoholics. There wouldn’t be a Usain Bolt.

  6. If I was in desperate need of a part for my car and that if I didn’t buy the said part then another part would cease to work effectively in a few weeks..
    If I said “pass me that coin while I flip it to see if I should or should not buy the part” – most if not all people would say I was irresponsible and careless as eventually my car would cease to work and eventually conk out!
    Wenger has said that we are desperate for a defender but only rates signing paulista at 50/50 or the toss of a coin..
    Call me hafiz Rahman but why the FUK doesn’t Wenger go for a player that we can actually sign instead of pissing about with someone we may or may not get.. Fuk sake it’s another suarez scenario.. !
    “We try very hard each day, we have scouts all over the world trying to sign exceptional players that will improve our squad”
    What is it with Arsene and his inability to actually sign a quality player we are desperate for..we all know how fragile our defence is.. And Wengers tossing a coin with the outcome……????
    I still have faith that we will get a player and if paulista is worth the wait then I’m all for it.. But surely a multi billion pound organisation that is arsenal would not be dithering on the knowledge of whether we can obtain a work permit and why has it taken 2 weeks to work this out..????

    Please bring back Dein – we wouldn’t be going through this fiasco..

    1. Y’all calling for Dein, I got a feeling Wenger stabbed David in the back just so he’d be the all-controlling dictatorial boss.

      Ok…..

      Comment hidden due to low ratings.

      1. A few months ago, David Dein was talking about how he misses the relationship he had with Arsene Wenger. That completely contradicts your theory. David Dein brought Wenger to Arsenal and backed him. David Dein bought whoever Wenger wanted, meaning that your comment makes no sense whatsoever. David Dein was a top quality vice-chairman though.

  7. Yea and hopefully we will. It makes me proud to be a gunner with players like Sanchez wanting to play every game as hard he can. But I’m sorry I’d be more shattered he got injured in first half of a game vs a non premier league team. I’d rather him come off the bench and truly torment the team when they’re tired and maybe not as anxious to make a big play or tackle on him….

    Ps couple things I think to watch for. if Campbell plays or not. Maybe the answer of if he staying or not? Z-Man (Zelalem) getting a start? Giroud made comments about him leading me to think he might of caught a sneak peak of lineup for the weekend.

  8. I would give him a rest specifically this weekend. I think we can get the result without him or with a quick cameo. COYG!

  9. Off-topic

    Wenger admitted today that he failed to sign Di Maria nine years ago due to failure to get a work permit. Hope the same doesn’t happen to Paulista

    1. I do not understand how a player can get a work permit for Spain but not UK. Both countries are in the EU which is meant to ensure fair competition. For example, Arsenal play Real Madrid in the champions league. Real Madrid can sign young players from non EU countries and get a work permit, Arsenal cannot. Does not seem like fair competition to me. Still I suppose it shows that UK can still make decisions which are different to the rest of Europe.

  10. Wenger has confirmed Ozil and Walcott will start against Brighton and possibly Akpom

    Where should Wenger play Ozil for this game?

    If Sanchez, Campbell or Welbeck starts then I would keep him in the middle. Otherwise, he could put him on the left (which I detest) and put Cazorla or Rosicky in the middle.

    I think I would prefer Welbeck up front rather than Akpom (if Welbeck is fit), if he isn’t fit there is not much choice (Campbell is not a natural striker, Podolski and Sanogo on loan). I guess Sanchez if he isn’t rested.

    Anyway we will WIN

    COYG πŸ™‚

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