“Come on boss play me the fans want me out there”
So due a rash tackle from Olivier Giroud Arsenal it seems are likely to face the next 3 league matches without their sole striker. This brings into sharp focus our alternatives given the vital nature of the next few weeks for our Champions League aspirations. We have a set system Wenger seems unwilling to tinker with and that system requires in normal circumstances a sole striker comfortable with his back to goal. A striker with the strength to hold the ball up and bring others into play, notably our 2 wide players and the central attacking midfielder.
This being the reality, there will be some serious soul searching going on at Colney this week because none of Podolski, Gervinho or Walcott are truly strikers in the same mould as our Marmite Frenchman. Wenger must decide whether to fit a round peg into the square hole left to be filled by Olivier’s absence or to tweak the system/tactics.
This however is not a blog in which I intend to second guess what ‘Le Boss’ may do but more to consider what he might do with Lukas Podolski. This is however slightly complicated by the story that Podolski is carrying a minor ankle injury which will require surgery in the summer. Does this affect his mobility? It is hard to say as he looked exceptionally sharp against Norwich for 20 minutes but strangely sluggish against Fulham. Many fans have surmised that it is the ankle problem which has caused Wenger not to start him in the EPL since January, whilst the press have decided he has fallen out with the German and aims to offload him at the first opportunity. Wenger has strongly denied there is a rift and has gone out of his way to issue statements via the club site to the contrary.
Whichever is the case, from in the pub before the games, in the ground and on the social media, one thing is abundantly clear and that is that most fans want him to play a more active role and I would contend that most recognise him as our most natural finisher. Indeed I might go as far as to say that no one else in our squad would have scored the goal he scored against Norwich. I would go further and say that it never crossed my mind that he did not know exactly what he wanted to do when he received the ball and how he intended to do it. Continue reading →
