Wenger to follow France in use of Arsenal strikers? For now…

The fact that the next game up for Arsenal is against AFC Bournemouth, one of just four clubs currently below the Gunners in the Premier League table, and will be played in front of our own crowd at the Emirates stadium should make it easy to predict the shape of the game.

Whether Arsenal win it or not is another matter, but after just three points from the first three EPL games the need is great and we all expect Arsenal to dominate the match, in terms of ball possession at least. That is one reason why Arsene Wenger will be tempted to start with Olivier Giroud in the centre forward role against the Cherries on Saturday.

Even though the boss broke the club’s transfer record to sign Alexandre Lacazette from the French club Lyon this summer, it does not mean he should automatically start and perhaps Wenger will take a page out of the France national team’s tactics in this respect.

Didier Deschamps regularly selects Giroud and then brings Lacazette off the bench and I reckon this could be the way forward for Arsenal, for now at least while the new striker settles in to English football and finds his feet in the Arsenal team.

Giroud’s presence, aerial ability and link up play, plus the fact he is looking sharp and has already won us our only EPL points off the bench against Leicester, could be vital against a Bournemouth likely to defend deep and restrict space.

Then we use the pace, footwork and movement of Lacazette when the opponents legs are tiring. Should Wenger follow the French in his use of these two Arsenal forwards this weekend and maybe on a more regular basis for now?

Bob.

31 Comments

  1. What has Lacazette done to be dropped? Wenger dropped him against Liverpool and now you want to drop him. Insanity. What are you wanting…..another Perez. Lacazette has looked good. Play our best players. Don’t put forward a plan to ruin his confidence and career.

    1. Could not agree more. If Wenger was to bench him again Lacazette must be starting to wonder what is going on. It can not build a lot of confidence in a new striker who knows he was bought for a club record if you are not being trusted in the biggest game of the season or even after the biggest loss which you were not really a part of.

  2. Well, the French philosophy may be the way to go but they`re not footing the bill.
    Myself, I think the entire transfer window was (for some reason) was a bit of a disaster
    and , as usual, Wenger was left wanting at the post. He dithers too much and it`s getting worse. Best consider a new set of golf clubs Arsene.

        1. As we say in Australia; too bad they don’t hump their swag and disappear into the wilderness!

    1. We don’t have the talent of France. It is silly to think we can emulate them. We might as well go back and follow the Barca philosophy.

      Lacazette should get used to the PL as soon as possible and that is not going to happen sitting on the bench.

      Besides France is an up and down team as well. They could not beat Luxembourg in their last game, nor did they manage to win the Euro’s in their own country and lost to a technically inferior team in the finals.

      We should play to our own strengths and not to the method of the France national team.
      Both Laca and Kolasinac should start in their preferred positions. (ie not as CD and winger).

  3. Agree with Arsenal-Steve. You cant copy another teams system unless you have the exact same players.

    Play Lacazette as he was brought to be first choice and bring Giroud on to change it up after an hour if we need change. The only way to get Lacazette settled is to give him the opportunity to score goals.

  4. I think opposite bob, start with Laca and Welbz to run them ragged then bring on Goroud and Theo to finish them off.
    By the way, Ox got 4/10 from the BBC, oops!

    1. What if Ox was sold to Liverpool as a Trojan horse, to bring some lethargy into their team so we can beat them to 4th place… ?

  5. A smaller and more skillful forward would work better if playing behind or along a taller and stronger striker. Especially if their mother tongue is the same, they could communicate better.

    France also played a smaller and more skillful forward (Mbappe) with Giroud, when they were agains Luxembourg. Griezmann played behind them to help and link up the midfield:

    Lloris
    Kurzawa Koscielny Umtiti Sidibe
    Kante Pogba Lemar
    Griezmann
    Giroud Mbappe

    Actually Arsenal do not have to follow France, but they to maximize the work rate and the skills of their attackers. I would like to see the formation below in Arsenal’s next game:

    Cech
    Koscielny Mertesacker Mustafi
    Bellerin Coquelin Elneny Kolasinac
    Iwobi Sanchez(Welbeck)
    Lacazette

  6. I reckon we will hammer Bournemouth.

    This will make Wenger come out saying we had character, we were in a difficult situation and basically telling us indirectly “told you so!”.

    Ramsey and maybe Walcott will come out and say “how we showed up” and how we are back in the title race.

    This will go on for few rounds until we get hammered by United, City or Chelsea.

    Repeat until we are +10 points behind leaders in December. Funny thing is, we are already 6 points behind!

  7. Though Wenger is mainly at fault the past and current Arsenal disaster, as a real fan, we have to minimize our negative attitude for the sake of the club.

    1. Sorry dude there is nothing negative about wanting AW and SK to leave. I personally think it is a positive thing. We should continue to pile the pressure!

      1. Exactly.

        The thought to remove Kroenke and his pet Wenger can be seen as nothing but a positive thing for those that truly love Arsenal Football Club.

        1. Damage has been done by Stan Wenger and Gazidis.

          We are just taking action to try to remove the cancer within the club

        2. I think most would except Wenger Kronke and co gone and start a rebuild program it may take 2/3 years but for me it would be a start in the right direction, I also believe Arsenal fans would unite to the process.

    2. You keep minimising that.. We have been doing that for the last decade. It will make the owners happy and keep the money coming in as fans will be more “positive” and spend more. 62m they made this window. Plus savings on the wage bill. Plus they signed a 50m player. Mega window for stan..Made a good amount of money. Chamberlain bought for some 16m and flipped for a decent number. Next up iwobi, ramsey, bellerin followed by holding, chambers and nelson.. We have some good stash for the next decade.. Stan must be so happy. But the fans are the best part, perpetual dough. Think about it. Some of these fans would leave their loved ones for arsenal haha!

      1. Personally I am the one who is looking for a change in the club. However, I don’t want to add any more damage on the club while doing it. It will be difficult to recover and back to normal if we are doing the change in such a way. Wenger’s damage is enough for the club at the moment and we have to think of the future impact. What ever the situation is I am always a Gunner.

        1. So how do you do something, without actually doing anything?

          Interested in your master plan to make a detached and in caring billionaire and a couldn’t care less millionaire take notice ?

          1. There are many ways to mount pressure on the manager alone to force him for change with out affecting the club that much. one of them is launching a protest against the manager being in the stadium during match time just like last year which forced Wenger at leas to change his usual formation and take some improvement actions. But wishing and working against own club to be defeated by opponents is not a fair approach for me. Firing a house to attack an enemy available inside will not help some body who want to live in that house again as far as other alternatives are there to catch that enemy with a minimum coast.

  8. Bob, what’s the point of buying a striker of Lacazettes ability and not playing, just plain bonkers. You say he needs time to settle in, he can settle in by playing every game. If he doesn’t start what will that do to his confidence….

  9. Wenger is already an old school manager with outdated tactics/techniques. Check ou his perfiemances against younger managers with modern football knowledge. He have been humiliated too much by Mounrinho, Guardiola, Klopp, Koeman etc. This problem started when Stan took over because it coincides with Wenger’s expiring from modern football. Wenger should have left. Arsenal way back if not for Stan and co that doesn’t understand what it takes to win trophies. Arsenal is a very big club, but the management for the past 12 years back doesn’t know how to run a big football club. Arsenal fc should be winning trophies not looking to make money alone like Bournemouth and other small clubs. Arsenal is in the class of Real Madrid, Bayern M., Barcelona and co. But Stan, Wenger and co. had turned the club into a small club, using Arsenal to make money for themseves. I pray this will change soonest. The problem from the past 12 years or so will still remain if these people remain in Arsenal fc. Where is my Arsenal for God’s sake?

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