It will be a surprise to most Arsenal fans, including me, if Arsene Wenger decides to start with Olivier Giroud in the centre forward position away to Leicester City. They may a so-called lesser club that might normally be expected to sit back and try to defend against Arsenal but I cannot see that happening today.
The Foxes have been playing very open and exciting football and it is working well for them. Hopefully it will work for Theo Walcott as well, suiting the attributes of pace and movement that the England international brings to the table.
Wenger could play both strikers of course, and Theo has been saying that he is happy to play wherever he is needed, but with Giroud struggling for confidence I expect the manager to use him as an impact sub against tiring legs. Hopefully the Gunners will already have the lead by then and Walcott seems confident that a flurry of goals are just around the corner for him and the club in general.
The speedy striker has been telling Arsenal Player about his self confidence and how he feels that every minute he plays up front will help the creative Arsenal players like Ozil and Cazorla to know what he will do and find him with a pass and help him to add to the two he already has in the bag this season.
Theo said, “The goals are coming, which is great. I have always said to the manager that I can always play in a three-man forward line so it is a good option for him.
“At the moment he believes I can do it up front and the more I play up front, the more the players will see the runs I make and what I do on the pitch as well.
“I will be judged on the [number] of goals I score. You can play the best game in the world but if you don’t score it doesn’t mean anything. But I’m very confident I can do a job up front.
“Up front you need to do the different side of the game such as holding it up for your team-mates and trying to play people in. The players with a big build like Olivier Giroud do that tremendously well.
“It is something I will definitely learn and get better at but if I can create more space for other players to come into the game, that is important as well. There are loads of different scenarios that can happen up front so I can play in any one of those three.”
Do you think this will be the game when goals finally start to flow for Arsenal?