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?