Arsene Wenger ended his search for a striker this summer after years of Arsenal fans waiting to see a new frontman at the club. Admittedly Lucas Perez may not be the calibre of signing we expected, nor the quality we had hoped for, but his addition to the team can only be positive!
Many fans have been split down the middle regarding Lucas Perez’s transfer to Arsenal, because although we all wanted to see a new striker this summer, many would’ve hoped for a player of more quality than former Deportivo man can offer. However regardless of his level of quality, his addition to the side gives the Gunners another option up front and I’m sure he will bag a number of goals for Arsenal this season, especially if he continues his run of form from last year. Of course the striker hasn’t even had a chance to play for the Gunners yet, so we shouldn’t be so quick to berate or even compare him against some of the more top quality strikers that we had been linked with over the course of the summer.
One question that is sure to be raised is where and how exactly Lucas will feature for Arsenal? Primarily of course he acts as a striker, but he is also capable of playing on the wing. With Walcott’s form ever inconsistent and The Ox’s injury concerns every season, it would be no surprise to see that Wenger play Lucas on the wing, rather than as a conditional striker up front. Perhaps Lucas’ signing was one of the reasons behind Joel Campbell’s loan move away. With Lucas more than capable of playing on the wing, he should offer a sense of speed, power and precision, rather than the loose cannon we have seen in most of Walcott’s style of play in recent seasons.
If Lucas is not played on the wing, then of course he challenges Olivier Giroud up front, as well as Danny Welbeck when he’s eventually fit. I think Lucas’ primary role at Arsenal will be as a striker, but as Wenger seems to want to stick with using a formation that sees one sole striker supported by two wingers, I still think Giroud still stands on having the better chance of playing in that spot. Wenger is a big fan of the Frenchman and I can’t see him dropping him unless someone else proves themselves in that position. Lucas Perez has the opportunity to do just that, but at the very least he will provide a good level of competition for the French forward.
Going into this weekend’s game against Southampton, Giroud should be fully fit to lead the line after an extended break off. If fit, Giroud will more than likely start, especially as Wenger is usually keen on easing new players into the starting eleven, rather than throwing them into the mix straight away. However with the Champions League just around the corner as well, with a game away to PSG, I wouldn’t be surprised if Wenger chooses to give Lucas a run from the start this weekend and then allows Giroud to be fit and ready for the French Champions next week.
What role do you think Lucas will play? Will he obtain a starting XI spot, or will he spend most of his time as a substitute?
By AH
I pray Wenger bought Perez to start him in place of Giroud and makes Giroud a “super sub”.
To me we are most dangerous when we can use our speed and Perez has more speed that Giroud.
Although it is unlikely to happen, I would say throw him in at the deep end giving him a chance to integrate into the team ASAP. After all, we have already lost enough time as a result of signing him at the end of the transfer window.
Perez comes from a another league, is new to the EPL. Although he got 2 weeks training with the team, he never has the chance to train with our other attacking players as Walcott/Ozil/Sanchez all left for international squad.
Giroud is a safer choice in least in another one, two more weeks.
Perez will come as a second half substitute. Giroud is in good form at the moment for France and hence should start, if we have 2 goal lead then Wenger can replace him with Perez, else he can come in place of Walcott.
What I am also excited to see is how the partnership of Mutafi and Koschielmy works.
As well as how Xhaka and Cazorla plays-Can they again dominate the midfield?
Sunny
His first match will tell if he really deserves the frst priority or be a sub.
i have been telling you all…Wenger style does not favor a diminutive forward. pls do remind me the last time we had a nice lengthy spell with one you will say Eduardo. pls name me another
Van persie?
Don’t really have anything more to say about Perez, hope he plays up top, don’t want to ever see him start on the wing. That’s about it, hope he shines of course, and I love the name sake.
Wenger should also rest Sanchez more often. there should be times when he should be substituted. Play Sanchez on the right. Sanchez and Walcott for the right. Perez and Iwobi on the left. Cazorla should get more game times this season. For games where we need to dominate the midfield Cazorla and Xhaka playing behind Ozil. Against teams like Chelsea, Stoke, Coq and Xhaka. Honestly we have a good squad to win the league and to make progress in the Champions league. Forget the hype about the Manchester clubs. Both teams won’t pick Maximum points against Leicester and Liverpool. Same goes for Chelsea. We need to beat Southampton. They have been a thorn in the flesh in recent times. Can’t remember the last time we beat them. They are due a serious Spanking.
one thing is certain, if Giroud remains our starting striker this season we would be lucky to finish 4th.
Yes, I agree
You people just don’t get it. Giroud’s style of play depends heavily on wing play, he is very effective when there’s quality on the wings. This is why his goalless streak on the 2nd half of last season came only when we had lost our wingers (walcott, ox, sanchez and campbell) to injuries and poor form.
If we can have Sanchez and Walcott perform the way they did against watford, Giroud will definately come good. I respect that guy.
in the 2nd half of the season, Alexis returned and Iwobi was in brilliant form, so ur excuse about quality wingers holds no water.. Giroud is not good enough for a top club, him missing clear cut chances has NOTHING to do with wingers.
stop creating xcuses for him.
No side has ever won the league without a good/prolific striker- not even Leicester miracle season.
@Wilshergz – what is funny to me is that last season when Giroud went on his cold streak everyone seemed to agree and realize that Henry was right and that we would never win a PL or CL title with Giroud as our starting striker.
Today you get thumbed down for saying what we all seemed to realize last season, if Giroud remains our starting striker we will not win the PL.
Do we have short memories? Do we think because Giroud scored for France that he has turned into a completely different striker?
For me, nothing has changed as far as Giroud is concerned. He does not posses the speed and finishing skills we need. He is great in his hold up play but that slows our game down to the point that we pass the ball around aimlessly against defenses that have had time to set up.
If Giroud never starts an other game I will be happy.
yep very true. we have seen that for 4 years in a row, let’s try something else coz we’ve been doing the same thing for so long now expecting a different outcome
Never heard of this lad before we signed him! Obviously I do not watch the Spanish League lol
Giroud I detest with a passion! That smile he puts on his face whenever he misses a chance gets so me so angry!! The truth is you play up strike for Arsenal you will get goals because we do tend to create a lot of chances- we made Adebayor look world class for f*** sake!
If we had a clinical forward with an eye for goal we would have been challenging for the title for the past 9 years, but Mr Wenger clearly cannot see this #Stubborn.
Guys, Im also looking at Pep’s Man City team. Yaya Toure was the most influential Player prior to Pep’s arrival. Now You’re could not even make the Champions league Squad. lol..Pep does not rate him highly. Toure even played in the no 10 role for Man City under Pelegrini. but is now surplus to requirement and his agent has been speaking(not about wishing Yaya a birthday but about getting a game time). Pep and Mou are ruthless. They don’t mind cutting off players they think wont improve them. they are about instant success. Both don’t develop talents. Pep is like “I want Stones at all cost. just buy him even If it is 47m pounds” Stones below Kos in terns of quality. Mou and Pep can’t manage a team with few resources. They want unlimited cash and they take the glory when they succeed and go on sabbatical when they can’t take the team further.
I think Wenger is trying to find the formula that works for Giroud and that would be 2 strikers playing together. Giroud has reached the golden boot when playing with someone else aside him. he almost did so in the Euros. Vardy was our first priority and we know he too plays well with a partner. However, Giroud is rearly a 30 goal striker even with a partner. if he score 25 goals and his partner has similar outcome of over 20 goals, it will be a season well delivered. Giroud+Perez=50 and Sanchez 15, Others like Ozil, Carzola, Walcott, etc 15 more…that’s 80 goals. We have not had such a fruitful season in a long time…and if we can keep a mean defense coutesy of a frutful partnership with the anchorage of Xhaka and Carzola and the shut out by Konsienly and Mustafi….we could dream of trophy glories. Question is how do we get to play – Giroud, Perez, Sanchez, Ozil….
My suggestion was Barca line line up 4.3.3 with three front players. Giroud at the centre forward role and Perez and Sanchez playing as wing fronts and Ozil with three targets running ahead of him
——Sanchez—Giroud—Perez——
———————-Ozil——————-
———Xhaka————–Carzola—–
Monreal-Konsienly-Mustafi-Belerin
——————–Cech——————
This may give us glory with Sanchez and Perez having room to roam the wings and engineer attacks with pace…They wont be playing wingers but rather wing-fronts and can explore the wings where necessary. Bellerin and Monreal are expected to continue marauding through the wings and Carzola could once in a while make appearances in attack and wings. supported by walcott, Ox-chamberlain, Iwobi, Akpom, Elneny, Ramsey, Holding and Coquelin from the bench…this would be a strong squad that can take us places…
Maybe starting the first half with 4-3-3 formation against the so called lesser teams (get the goals in early) and then switching to a more midfield controlling formation in the second half 4-5-1 (to see the game through) Or vice versa depending on our opponents.
It would be nice to be able to have formation tactics included into our non-existent game plans lol.
And personally, I would rather have the pace of Sanchez, Lucas and Walcott up Top, instead of Giroud.
Hehe i think for what we hve seen for the past 10 years it will be 1/100 that wenger switches to a 4-4-2.
I like the argument that it can get the best out of giroud but why are we reasoning like this? If we go across town spurs are trying the same thing 4-4-2 and afterr observing some games where teams utilize this formation ive seen that its a core factor that one of the two strikers to be very creative. Looking at our forwards u dont think they can do it hence why we always end up sticking with one upfront.
That formation won’t work for Giroud. like I said earlier, he needs at least one natural winger, i.e. a right-footed winger playing on the right or a left-footer playing on the left. He needs some one that runs behind and whips in crosses for him instead of one that cuts inside to play a through ball or have a go at goal.
So if we gonna have Sanchez on the left, then we need a Walcott or Ox on the right, not a left-footed Perez. That way Giroud will be fine
I would love to see the combo of Sanchez,welbeck and Perez it will be tempting to see them 3. Xhaka is the player who unlocked the pass to Walcott maybe if thats the case then the long balls are a threat to opponents.
I hope we can try 4-4-2 at some point. Pairing Giroud with Griezmann up top did wonders for France. I don’t see why it can’t work for us. Granted, Perez is no Griezmann, but it just gives us something new, another dimension if you will. We go into games most often than not without plan B. Teams can get a head start and prepare against us because they know we always go with a 4-2-3-1 formation. So why not try something new, and surprise the opponents?
Yea but what we fail to see that griezman is a very creative player thats why he that formation works well but if he was just clinical in finishing and not creative then france could hve problems.
Now looking at our strikers who will u expect to give a killer pass? Coz in a 4-4-2 most of the time one of the stiker will find himself in key areas where the quality to pick a pass is crucial. Lets wait till we see how perez plays before we shout out for 4-4-2
From what I’ve seen on youtube it looks like Perez is a creative player and in some instances he opts for the pass across the gk instead of going for goal, his passing in general looks pretty decent and I would argue that save for adebayor and bendtner a lot of our strikers have been good passers db10 henry rvp giroud etc
Problem is France had creative goal threats in payet and pogba too which I think allowed griezmann and giroud more space so let’s hope Sanchez can do the same but I’m not sure About walcott
Cech
Bellerin-Mustafi-Koscielny(c)-Monreal
Xhaka-Cazorla
Walcott-Ozil-Alexis
Perez
this is our best XI, the sooner we get them started playing together the better.
also time is not on our side as we are currently playing on the back-foot to City,United,Chelsea cos of our poor start to the season.