Do we need an upgrade on Giroud?

There has been much made is the last few days that we need to sign a better striker than Oliver Giroud, I tend to agree although I do rate him I don’t see him as the man that will score the goals for us to challenge for the Premier League and Champions League. I think the top 6-7 sides in the Premier League all have better options up top than us at the moment, He scored 16 goals in the Premier League last season and `I think we should really be looking to sign that striker that can take us to the next level, a striker that can score 25-30 goals in the league. Now these are obviously very hard to come by and very expensive to buy as well. So lets have a look at what could be the more cheaper alternatives-

Wilfried Bony – 15 league goals for Swansea last season

Edin Dzeko – 15 league goals for Man City last season

Loic Remy – 14 league goals for QPR last season

Jay Rodriguez – 14 league goals for Southampton last season

Christian Benteke – 10 league goals for Aston Villa last season

Danny Welbeck –  9 league goals for Man United last season

 

Now with the above options you could argue that they are not an upgrade on Giroud and you would proably be correct but by signing one of these players would give Giroud the much needed rest he didn’t get last season and this is where I think his form suffered. Now let us have a look at the strikers that could really push us on to the next level- 

Edison Cavani scored 23 times in 43 games for PSG last season in a season where he found a lot of his time spent out on the right of midfield, He is said to be unhappy at this and maybe could be available for transfer but much of this may depend is PSG secure Angel Di Maria.

Radamel Falcao made 17 appearances scoring 9 goals in what proved to be an injury hit season for the striker, he would be on massive wages at Monaco and with apparent interest from Real Madrid to join his former team mate James Rodriguez he may favour a move their if the offer is on the table,

Jackson Martinez would probably be the cheapest option out of the three strikers he scored an impressive 25 goals in 44 appearances so he knows where the goal is for sure, The Colombian would be an instant hit at Arsenal i’m sure.

     

I think these three strikers would all be great signings and score the goals for us to really mount a serious challenge, can we sign any of them? It’s too early to say, certainly the money is ready to spend if we wanted. What I think is that if we can’t sign a striker that will make us real title and Champions League contenders then we should probably not sign one and still have Giroud as our main man and maybe try Sanchez and Walcott in that position sometimes.

Thank you for reading and i leave you with the question – Do we need an upgrade on Giroud?

Until next time, take care…

4 signings and it isn’t even August.

I can’t remember the last time this has happened for Arsenal. 4 signings and it isn’t even August! Who needs deadline day! Oh the despondent irony of Arsenal fans saying that.

Let’s welcome Alexis Sanchez, Mathieu Debuchy, David Ospina and Calum Chambers to the club. We replaced France’s second choice right back with its first choice right back. Some more irony. The first two on the list most fans would have heard of and witnessed in action, but what of the latter two? Ospina had an osp-iring world cup for Colombia which Arsene pointed out as well. The majority of fans though would not have heard of the Colombian prior to the tournament however and so along with the obviously relatively unknown Calum Chambers, I’d like to take a closer look at the two newcomers. What do they bring to the club? What can we expect Arsene to improve on?

First, let’s put the ex-Southampton player under the microscope. A third Englishman we’ve enticed from The Saints and it’s safe to say that we can expect promising performances from Chambers. The first port of action for him though is to settle a court case that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain wants to set up…to battle over the nickname of “Chambo.” I think Ox will do for him. Can you imagine the nightmare for Andre Marriner though? “Chambers? No. Chamberlain? No. Gibbs? Walcott? Chamberslain.”

The 19 year old right back is known to be a versatile player with the ability to play in central defence and looming at 1.83m, he’s also been known to ply his trade in defensive mid. Time…no, Arsene will tell just where the Englishman’s future lies. He broke into The Saints’ XI last season making 22 Premier League appearances in total which consisted of 15 whole games. Not too shabby for a team that finished 8th in the toughest league in the world. According to Squawka, Chambers is more defensive than offensive, a side of his game which he probably needs to improve on.

Winning 38/62 of his tackles as indicated above is quite a mean feat as his “headed duel” success rate of 55%. As indicated however, his take on rate leaves much wanting, an area Le Prof will certainly have to analyse and work his magic on. Watching his games, he’s not afraid to take on his man down the wing, but still needs the ability and strength to beat his opponent. With an “average of six defensive actions a game – with 29% of those being interceptions – the stats suggest he is already a keen reader of the game.”

The key to Arsenal’s game as most know, is possession of which the Three Lions’ U-19’s talent boasts a 79% success rate. Seemingly, he’ll have no problem fitting into the squad behind Mathieu Debuchy. In the last few years as well, Arsene’s game plan (and that of modern day football in general) has included however, the presence of attacking fullbacks. With the 12 chances in 22 games that Chambers has next to his name, he’ll certainly want to improve on that stat, and what better way to do it then under the tutelage of Arsene and his trusted staff? Considering Jenkinson is close to going out on loan (to West Ham probably), Chambers will definitely get game time in order to give Debuchy rest. A good pre-season is absolutely vital for the news boys and it’s fantastic that our club and better yet, our longest standing Manager has acted on this principle and made the signings nice and early.

For those wondering why we would loan Jenko out, it makes sense considering he’ll pick up match experience and it’ll most likely be in the Premier League. Handy. With Chambers’ height and tackling success rate, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Arsene morph him into a through and through centreback. To be defensive mid, he’d need to work on his strength and further develop his reading of the game. Masterstroke by Arsene if you think about it. Chambers morphing would allow Jenko and Bellerin to fight it out for right back in the future also factoring in Debuchy’s age (29) presenting the notion that he won’t be at the club for too long. Besides, who would want to get rid of a talented, “bleed for Arsenal” young man?

Onto Aspina then.

Everyone who watched the World Cup and Colombia’s games will have noticed one of their star performers. No, not James Rodriguez, their keeper. Even though the World Cup can be something of an illusion, considering players would bring out their best for the tournament, his performances overall boast some wild statistics. Someone relatively unheard of by the general footballing world, but someone that Arsene knew about right since the departure of Lloris to T*ttenscum. And it’s no wonder as well. He was fairly consistent in Ligue 1 last season.

With an average claim rate of 98% and a work rate of 2.79 average saves per game, signing him for a mere £3m became inexplicably obvious. While our number 1 keeper in Szczesny is still quite talented with a bright future, lapses of concentration and a lack of competition could see complacency settling in as was the case two seasons ago leading to the Pole being replaced by the other Pole in our midst, Fabianski. Ospina’s performances ensured Nice avoided relegation considering he maintained 12 clean sheets and conceded only as many goals as 5th placed Lyon. “Ospina proved far more solid between the sticks than Szczesny despite facing far more shots on goal, as the Colombian stopper made a massive 3.39 saves for every goal he conceded, while the Gunners’ number one made just 1.95 per 90, a respectable total in the Premier League, but remarkably less than his next potential usurper.”

Make what you will of the comparison between our two keepers.

Surely though, Ospina will not have as much game time as Szczesny so will he perform the same given the limited playing time? Or will he perform brilliantly enough to highjack Szczesny’s coveted position? Time will tell.

There’s one thing for sure. With the new additions, this season should be an exciting one for all Gooners.

The best part? We may still take a dip into the Transfer pool. Who’ll be the next to fall to Arsenal’s seductive ways?

 

‘Til next time Gooners. This is Arsenal.

 

-Sir Gunner

 

*All stats are a courtesy of Squawka.com

Arteta insists that the cavalry will arrive.

What’s one thing that’s different about this transfer window for Arsenal? Besides the fact that we’ve successfully moved players on, it’s the fact that there have been players like Giroud and Arteta that have insisted that new signings would make the squad far more stronger than it is.

To top that off, the Arsenal boys are looking forward to new signings. If that really is the care, then they must love Sanogo at the moment. Speaking of which, I wonder if he’s heard of “Wham!”

This is what our team Captain had to say:

“If the club can target players who will improve the team they are going to be very welcome because that is what we want — a better team, better players to compete and win trophies.”

He seems fairly sure that Arsene will bring a top talent in. He added:

“The club is working on that. It is in their hands and I am sure they are going to do it.”

Arteta, and therefore surely the rest of the boys, are expecting signings. Arsenal fans all around the world are expecting signings. Yet all we have to show so far is Sanogo. We could even struggle to have anyone before the Champions’ League qualifier.

“If we can add something, we will do. But it’s very difficult to predict if something will be sorted out before we play in the Champions League qualifier.”

Comments like these make Arsenal fans restless in our sleep, subconsciously biting our nails and using our Arsenal tailor-made pace-makers prematurely. The best assets we have on our side are faith, hope and patience. What more can we do without driving ourselves insane?

‘Til next time Gooners and Goonerettes. Keep the faith.

-Sir Gunner

Craven more Arsenal after Cottage visit.

Yes, it’s a rather cheesy title to say the least, but it works!

A very mixed report from our travel to Craven Cottage. After the 12th minute red card to Steve Sidwell for a studs up, two-footed challenge on Arteta, Fulham played the majority of the game a man down. You would expect any decent team to take advantage of that extra man, however, following Sidwell’s dismissal, it seemed like Arsenal were the team with 10 men on the pitch; such was the torrid, sheltered, and very dangerous style of our approach to being a man up. We sustained extended periods of vicious pressure from the Fulham attack, only for our solid defence and Szczesny to keep the likes of Dimitar Berbatov and Urby Emanuelson at bay.

I’m going to go on a limb here and suggest that the team was being cautious and not taking the chance to push too far forward in fear of a dangerous counter-attack, the likes of which we’ve conceded many times in previous seasons and this season itself. However, on the stroke of half-time, we won a free-kick about 40 yards out. Walcott stepped up. Koscielny was first to the ball but he played it across goal only to find Mertesacker who thumped us ahead with an easy header. The zealous nature of our team was apparent in their over-joyed celebrations. A goal that would eventually bag us the 3 points.

Our second half was rather soporific, with Fulham prodding our defence more often than a 10 man team should have. The half played out without much to note…until the 89th minute. Giroud saw an opportunity to win the ball after an Arsenal clearance. From the initial viewing, he looked to go in rashly, and put his foot through the opposition player’s shin. Andre Marriner produced a deserving straight red. Or so it seemed. Upon closer viewing however, it was revealed that Giroud slipped, missing the ball entirely and ploughing through the Fulham player whose name has slipped my mind. The official Arsenal website released a statement yesterday revealing that they will appeal the red card, hoping to waive the 3 match ban.

However, would it be the worst thing to have Giroud not in the starting line up? In my previous post, I spoke of how Giroud should be plan B or even C, not plan A. His red card might give Wenger the choice of playing Podolski up front with Santi and Theo on the wings which would be a very tantalising attack force. I’m adamant that Podolski would be more useful through the centre than he is on the wings, and  yet he’s even been quite decent playing left wing. My only slight concern with this tactic is Santi. He looks like he may be tiring, with this being his first English season, no break in the Winter and a run of games that’s far more physical and demanding than La Liga. Perhaps it might be prudent to rest Cazorla, at least to accommodate him into Wenger’s plans as a super-sub.

Time will tell. We should be hearing a report from the FA soon in regards to Giroud’s appeal.

Everywhere else, there’s rumours upon rumours regarding transfers since we’re close to the end of the season. Considering that, I reckon anyone dabbling in rumour affairs should swiftly use this article to fill in their stories.

“Till next time Gooners and Goonerettes. THIS IS ARSENAL.