What Is Arsenal’s Strongest Team Without Olivier Giroud?

Without Olivier Giroud for the next 4 months at least, Arsenal have a selection dilemma. We’ve brought in Danny Welbeck who is a definite upgrade on Yaya Sanogo, and despite Arsene Wenger’s insistence that Alexis Sanchez can play as the main striker, Welbeck is the player who is currently best suited to the central role in this moment in time. He’s quick, can hold the ball up and is good in the air.

But what is our strongest starting eleven?

With everyone else fit, I would suggest that the following is the strongest starting eleven for Arsenal:

We have an abundance of midfielders to choose from, and from the “defensive” midfielders the captain Mikel Arteta is the best option. People criticise his lack of pace and say he’s too old, but he’s clearly an influential player on and off the field and always gives 110% – and most importantly he leads by example. Flamini is a decent backup, but not as solid or as disciplined as Arteta.

The main man has to be Welbeck, with Sanogo only really good enough as a late substitute or backup if desperately required. So who should play behind him?

This might be a controversial choice but when choosing Arsenal’s “strongest” eleven, I have to leave out Mesut Özil. In the big games, you want fight, desire and pace and unfortunately, he hasn’t really shown any of those when it matters. That’s why I’ve picked Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez as the support acts for Welbeck. They are unbelievably quick and can cause any defence problems with balls over the top.

Aaron Ramsey picks himself, as Arsenal’s most important player and Santi Cazorla is chosen as his ability on the ball and the way he keeps Arsenal ticking has become vital in recent seasons.

The back four picks itself, with the Koscielny and Mertesacker partnership clearly first choice. Despite the improvement Monreal has shown in recently weeks, Gibbs is still the better left back and Mathieu Debuchy is our only real out and out right back. Calum Chambers has been excellent this season, showing he can play at centre back and right back with ease but at 19 can’t really be considered to be first choice just yet.

So there you have it, my strongest Arsenal starting eleven.

Do you agree? Who would be in your strongest Arsenal eleven? Leave your team selection and comments in the section below!

 

3 thoughts on “What Is Arsenal’s Strongest Team Without Olivier Giroud?

  1. Im confused when joel campbell has shown his worth more than once in different leagues, why he hasn’t played him up front in stead of “Say no go!” Yep he came from france with a good goal scoring record, but against teen agers! See how Campbell play agaisnt Man u last season in the UCL? And then again in the world cup. Its a no brainer for me! But yet the old coot sticks with unproven, lanky forward whos got about as much control as as Berlusconi at a Bunga bunga party!

     

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