HOW DO WE FIT JAMIE VARDY INTO ARSENAL THE ARSENAL LINE-UP? By NO
Arsenal are about to trigger the release clause for Jamie Vardy is a story that has just broken through. Whereas, a player who has scored 24 goals in the EPL would be great, the question will always be, is Vardy a one season wonder? There are reports that seemed to have been confirmed by no other than his spouse and Leicester coach Claudio Ranieri, that we have actually triggered the release clause. There are reports that Vardy, who previously wanted to stay in Leicester, wants to move to a team that will consistently play at the top.
If it is inevitable that Vardy is coming to Arsenal, how would we avoid getting another underperformer to the side that has enough of such kind of players in its ranks?
Vardy is fast though not quite like Walcott and benefited from long balls and counter attacks. He is good at finishing, holding the ball, and key passes. He likes to dribble, flick on and cross. He is however poor on aerial duels and passing. Vardy too can explore the wings.
So what pattern would be best for a player like Vardy? Vardy is built for directness. He suffers when teams pack their defenses with bodies. That means we need a pattern that disrupts such a setup by stretching the defenders to come out and get the ball, explores the wings, or both.
With the arrival of Vardy we need a super wing attacker much in the mold of Sanchez or better. There certainly have been reports that Arsenal are looking at wingers so perhaps it is in the realization that this will be necessary, however from that we can use the current players in the squad to try and align such a side.
The System I would recommend is 4.3.1.2
————Sanchez, Vardy————
—————–Ozil—————–
——–Cazorla, Xhaka, Wilshere——
Monreal, Koscielny, Gabriel, Bellerin-
—————-Cech——————
Both Pairs of Cazorla and Wilshere as well as Vardy and Sanchez can explore spaces in the wings just as Monreal and Bellerin have shown prowess in attacking from these areas. If I wanted to improve on this setup, we would get Mkhitaryan and release Wilshere. We get an understudy for Monreal as well as Bellerin and another Centre Back.
What do you think is the pattern that can give us best utilization of Jamie Vardy at Arsenal?
Nicholas Oyoo