A look at Arsenal’s strikers – By LJS
The recent news of the departure of Van Persie to one of our main rivals, Manchester United, has left me in two minds. A part of me wants to hate him for his disloyalty and just be positive about the whole situation. Maybe thinking we have signed two quality players to replace one, also quality player. Then another part of me, is telling me that Arsenal are going to struggle without the amazing movement and goal threat that Van Persie offers.
At times last season, Van Persie was the only player keeping us from a mid table finish, scoring goals constantly to get back to winning games. Although he was showing huge talent at the tail-end of last season, I don’t think no one would have predicted the impact he would eventually make on the team. Make an impact he did, scoring 37 goals for Arsenal, whilst also wearing the captains armband and driving the team on. For me, Van Persie finally proved to everyone that if he can stay free of injury, he could essentinaly be one of the best strikers in Europe. Although, it did help that the team was based around him, he still performed superbly. Whether you or myself agree with his motives for leaving is irrelevant, the fact is that he has joined a rival and is a huge loss for the team. I myself, do infact think he was not driven by money, but by the chance of winning trophies at one of the most sucessful clubs in Europe, something he has been unable to do at Arsenal. But that debate is for another time.
After signing Podolski before Van Persie made his statement, he then purchased Oliver Giroud. It seemed that Wenger was preparing for life without the influental Dutchman. The German, was brought for £10.3 million. The Frenchman, for £9.6 million. Excellent purchases, especially in todays transfer market.
Lukas Podolski on paper, has what it takes to suceed at Arsenal. Playing most of his career for his boyhood club FC Koln, Podolski impressed hugely, scoring 79 goals in 169 appearances for the mostly average German side. In between his sucess career at FC Koln, he had a not so sucessful spell with German giants Bayern Munich. With better players around him, he was initially expected to shine for them, but he failed, scoring 15 goals in 71 appearances. The reason for this is still debated today. Maybe it was due to his frequent injuries. Maybe it was due to him being played out of his favoured, centre forward position. Maybe, it was due to him not being able to handle the pressure of a big club, only himself will know. The general prespective is that he will be a sucess at Arsenal, maybe needing to take time to adapt to the Premier League (like all foriegn players) but still, being a sucess. His performance on Saturday was not the most convincing, but I say give him time. I reckon as long as he is not moved around by Wenger, stays injury free and handles the pressure, then he will be just as, if not more effective than Van Persie, I truely do. But that is a big IF for me. I guess he can’t be your average player though, as he as amassed 101 appearances for Germany. Plus he is the youngest player to reach 100 caps for his respective country, ever. Still though, I have my doubts.
Olivier Giroud’s story is a quite different to that of Lukas Podolski’s. He did not develop as fast as Podolski, in fact before the summer of 2010, he had not played a single minute of football in Frances top flight. Playing for clubs such as Grenoble, Istres and Tours, he made a name for himself as a classic striker. A stiker who had the aerial ability, the strength to hold up the ball and bring others into the game, an element that has not gone out of his game since then. But despite this, nothing special could have been said of him, not until the 2009/10 season started. He suprisingly finished that season as Ligue 2's top goal scorer with 21 goals and was voted Ligue 2's player of the season.
So as it was, in 2010, Giroud signed for Ligue 1 side, Montpellier. From then on, he never looked back. Scoring 33 goals in 77 appearances, he hugely impressed everyone with his not only his goal scoring feats, but also with his link up play. Leading them to a suprise league title in 2011/12, scoring 21 league goals for them in the process, he caught the eye of many managers, including Wenger. The Montipellier president was discussing a price tag of around 30 million at one point, so for Wenger to purchase him for just under £10 million, is incredible. His performance on Saturday was impressive for me. Despite missing an amazing chance, the movement to get that chance in the first place was incredible. He also showed his ability to link up with the midfield aswell. Again, I think Giroud can be a potent Premier League stiker, but the last thing he needs is pressure. Too many times have players cracked under the pressure of playing for a top club. As Arsenal fans, we need to give Giroud and Lukas our backing. I don’t expect them to be excellent in there first year, but the second year, I do. They both need time to adapt. I hope we all remain patient with them both.
Making up the rest of our strike force, that our realisticly going to play for Arsenal again, is Chamakh, possibly Park and maybe Bendtner. The news that Spurs are after Chamakh is a suprise to say the least, but it is easy to see why Villas Boas would want to bring him to White Hart Lane. Chamakh brings a work ethic to the team that only a few players can bring. He shows committment to the cause time and time again, and whilst he may only be an average striker, he brings something else to the dressing room that is hard to find. That’s also not to say he can’t be of use. During the first half of the 2010/2011, he showed what he could do. For me, the reason he didn’t continue his form was the return of Van Persie and also fatigue. He had pretty much started most games for Arsenal over a four month period and for any player, nevermind a striker who runs long distances during the game, that would have a serious effect on fatigue. So I say keep Chamakh, as a bit part player. Every team needs a Chamakh type player for me. Park, I see him as a stupid buy and not having a future. Bendtner is different. Although he missed chance after chance at time, is lazy and has a generally bad attitude, there is no doubt he can score goals. He managed to score 22 goals in 95 apperances for Arsenal, most of them appearances being from the bench. I think if he didn’t have an ego of thinking he’s the ‘best striker in the world’, then he could have a future. But due to this, i’m affraid to say his career at Arsenal is all but over.
I don’t think our strikeforce has necessarily improved this summer, but has stayed at around the same level. Not in quality maybe, but the fact that we have replaced one quality player with two, makes me very content with the frontline. With Podolski and Giroud fighting it out for a starting spot, expect them both to raise eachothers games. This, along with the work ethic of Chamakh, makes me very confident that we can score as many goals, if not more, than we did last season.
Thankyou all for reading my article and hope you enjoyed it. Follow me on twitter at @LJSBlogger and leave a comment below this article to let me know you’re thoughts. God bless you all.
Luke
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