Theo Walcott or Olivier Giroud? Vote Here!

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So far Arsenal have had a decent season, level on points at the top of the Premier League with 22 points alongside Manchester City, and although we’ve had an indifferent Champions League campaign, we did manage to beat European heavyweights Bayern Munich last week.

And things could be worse, as our friend Jose Mourinho could testify to.

But who should be Arsenals Number 1 striker?

Theo has certainly grown into the striking role this season, improving in every game. Olivier Giroud has also done well this season, despite being second fiddle to Theo for the most of our games this season.

Theo has scored 4 goals so far this season, in 9 games, while Olivier has scored 6 goals in 14 appearances. A few of those have been as substitute (for both players) so their records aren’t too bad. There was this statistic going around recently that Theo had 11 goals in 11 starts but that was slightly misleading as that went back to the 2013/2014 season as he was struggling with injuries last season.

Anyway, who do you think should be Arsenal’s first choice striker? And why?

Leave your comments in the section below and don’t forget to take part in our poll!

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Can Arsenal Win The Premier League? Vote Here!

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So after 10 games, Arsenal are top of the Premier League (although Manchester City and Manchester United still have a game to play today in the Manchester Derby) and things are looking positive.

We currently have the best defensive record in the league, have 4 wins in a row and look like a team with a huge amount of confidence.

Our defence has improved dramatically this season – with Petr Cech the main reason why we have done so well recently. After he shaky start against West Ham United on the opening day of the season, he has looked phenomenal.

Football matches hinge on key moments and Petr Cech has always made the difference. John Terry along with a few other football pundits said that Cech would earn us an extra 12/15 points in a season and it would be hard to argue against it.

His ability is world class and against Bayern, he made a string of vital saves before we scored late on to win the game. And against Everton yesterday, with Arsenal protecting a narrow 2-1 lead, he saved well from ex-Barcelona player Gerard Deulofeu – that secured 3 points instead of just gaining 1.

Our backline looks solid, with Nacho Monreal and Hector Bellerin looking excellent defensively and offensively, and Mertesacker, Gabriel and Koscielny all look established and comfortable with which ever central defenders are paired together.

In midfield, we have an embarrassment of riches but it is upfront where the most encouraging signs are. Theo Walcott is improving in the role of lone striker every week and Olivier Giroud is also looking good, scoring on a regular basis despite having limited game time.

Arsene Wenger has pulled off a fantastic system regarding the striker role – he now has two real options and can rotate when needed. Theo has been performing well of late, linking up well with Özil and Sanchez, but Giroud has looked very good when called upon – Arsenal finally have a Plan A  and Plan B and Arsene can interchange these systems game by game or even during a match. These two distinct styles of attacking play both Theo and Giroud give us is invaluable over the course of a season, and will give opposing teams a real problem when trying to nullify our attacking threat.

And the other real advantage the Theo/Giroud options is that we should be able to keep both of our strikers fresh and fit throughout the course of a long season.

Arsenal look like they are finally in a position where Premier League glory can be achieved.

But what do you think?

Leave your comments in the section below and don’t forget to vote!

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Theo Walcott Is The Key To Our Title Challenge

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Well I don’t think many Arsenal supporters saw that coming.

Arsenal were sensational. If we’re going to slate them for being awful when we get a poor result, we have to praise them when they get an excellent win – and that’s exactly how it was yesterday against Manchester United.

The league leaders were blown away and we fully deserved it. The team which were top of the Premier League looked completely lost as we attacked time and time again – if you wanted to be picky you could argue that Arsenal should have scored 5 or 6 goals at least.

Alexis Sanchez was, well, Alexis Sanchez. There are no more superlatives to describe the guy – he is simply outstanding and we are blessed to have him in an Arsenal shirt. He makes the extraordinary look simple and he is truly a world class player.

Mesut Özil looked excellent as well, although he had chances to score a second goal in the 90 minutes. Özil needs to put in a top class performance week in, week out, if he wants to help Arsenal win the biggest trophies. Is this his season? Only time will tell.

But the most encouraging performance for me was from Theo Walcott.

The main striker role is the position we were having the most problems with as it was clear that Olivier Giroud is good to an extent, but doesn’t perform in the biggest games and fails to make the difference when we really need him. The Monaco home game last season was a match with summed up his talent – tries hard but doesn’t have the quality to score enough goals or get us to win the big games.

But with Theo, the signs are promising.

In the last 10 seasons this is the first where Theo has been given a starting berth as Arsenal’s main man. We only have one main striker and he has been given the chance by Arsene to prove he can make it there – and at the moment, he is doing excellently.

Walcott has been criticised for not having a football brain but this season he has shown he has the ability to adapt. Already in this campaign, his hold up and link play has improved dramatically, and his football intelligence has improved ten fold.

He brings others into play, can find a decisive pass and although he didn’t score yesterday, still has an eye for goal. If you want to be super critical you could say his finishing could improve, but don’t forget he is still relatively new to the role.

Like against Leicester last week, he was excellent again against Manchester United. His link up play was good and he made two assists – one for Özil and one for Sanchez. His movement off the ball has improved a lot and his overall game is much much better than before.

He obviously has the blistering pace and the way Walcott, Sanchez and Özil were passing the ball between themselves was mesmerising at times yesterday. And if they are that impressive in early October how are they going to be once they get used to each other in a few months time?

There has to be no doubt whatsoever that Theo is Arsenal’s main man this season – and the bottom line is our title challenge this season relies on his performances.

We all know that Olivier Giroud is not good enough to lead Arsenal to a title, but with his improving performances and adaptation to the role, Theo Walcott is.

Arsenal Have No One Else To Blame But Themselves For Chelsea Defeat

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We all know what Chelsea and Diego Costa are all about – in fact we all know what Jose Mourinho is about as well.

Before the game, I predicted that Chelsea would beat Arsenal. We’ve been lame so far this season, especially upfront, and so it proved.

We have no leaders in the team (no change there) and even though this was a Chelsea side in apparent crisis, I had no confidence going into the game at all.

Jose Mourinho is many things, including a top class arsehole, but he has Arsene Wenger’s number and knows exactly how to get to him. From making inappropriate comments in the media which Arsene Wenger was very prickly about in his pre-match press conference, to purposely waiting outside the tunnel to shake Arsene’s hand before the match – Arsenal had lost well before a ball was kicked.

Arsene finds it hard to hide is hatred for Jose Mourinho and in a sport where the top managers excel in mind games, Arsene Wenger falls short. Before going into the match, Arsenal’s mental strength (as it were) was shot.

Arsene Wenger could have been defiant and given Jose Mourinho some snide comments back, but instead by “refusing to rise to the bait” we looked weak and timid. Would Sir Alex Ferguson have responded in such a manner? Of course not, he would have shown some fight.

And so to the game itself. The stupid thing is none of what we saw was unpredictable was it? Chelsea are like a wounded animal, struggling in the Premier League, so it was blatantly obvious they would resort to dirty tactics to get a result.

Jose Mourinho is a winner who does what it takes. Arsene Wenger always wants to win beautifully and sometimes we need to fight and get those 3 points. And by fight, I mean dig in and not respond like Gabriel did.

Yes, Diego Costa is a horrible excuse for a human being and yes, he is a cheating arsehole, but we know what he’s like. We also know Mike Dean is the worst referee when it comes to Arsenal games (remember his record of awarding 11 penalties in 11 games at Old Trafford leading into the 50th game of our Invincibles run?) and he looks for absolutely any excuse to send off an Arsenal player or give unjust penalties.

We should have concentrated on football and let the authorities sort out the histrionics afterwards. The Arsenal player should know that the most important thing is the team and the result so to get sent off is ridiculous.

We have no leaders in the side to take control and tell the players what to do – no Tony Adams figure who knows what’s best for the team on the pitch and understands how the game works. Yes, Costa treads an extremely thin line and he will get his just desserts soon enough – but Gabriel is now missing for 3 games when we badly need central defenders.

Another problem is that we don’t believe. We had a decent opening 15 minutes but never looked dangerous at all.

Seriously, we might as well not turn up to a match against Chelsea because we’ll never get a result against them as long as Arsene Wenger is in charge.

How Arsenal Can Win The League – Without Giroud Or Walcott!

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I think the vast majority of Arsenal fans (myself included) were pretty gutted that Arsene didn’t sign a new striker during the transfer window. With Danny Welbeck now out for 4/5 months, the need for another forward was even more desperate.

After last season, hopes were high that Arsenal could mount a real title challenge this time out. The key areas Arsenal needed to strengthen were in goal, defensive midfield and up front. Arsenal promptly signed Petr Cech (which was a massive coup) and found their defensive midfielder in young Francis Coquelin, who has proved to be a fantastic option. So really the only place we needed to improve was in attack.

We have a wealth of attacking and creative midfielders, and in defence we are pretty solid. We have Mertesacker, Koscielny, Gabriel and Chambers fighting for the central defender positions and have two decent fullbacks on each side; Gibbs and Monreal on the left and Bellerin and Debuchy on the right.

So if we are so close to creating a genuine title challenging team, then why didn’t we get a striker? Theo Walcott and Olivier Giroud are pretty much have the perfect attributes to create a world class striker – it’s just a pity that we can’t merge them both together and create a mutated “super striker”. I don’t buy for a second that there are no quality strikers available – especially with Arsenal’s comprehensive scouting network – that managed to find some really fantastic players over the years.

But we’re going over old ground now. We don’t have the world class striker we all crave so we’re stuck with what we’ve got so to speak. So what is the solution?

As we’ve seen already this season (and over previous seasons to be fair) it is clear that Olivier Giroud is not the solution. He offers something different but is just not clinical enough. Arsenal create so many chances that a real top quality forward would be putting away at least 30 ever season – and that would just be in the Premier League. You should be aiming to get at least a goal a game, if you play up front for Arsenal.

And what about Theo Walcott? The Stoke City game summed him up. He’s got electric pace but his finishing is not good enough. If you give me the option of playing Theo or Giroud as the lone striker then I would always pick Theo. That’s because our most expensive and talented footballer, Mesut Özil, needs an outlet to play his probing through balls – and Giroud is not ideal for that at all. At least Theo can run on beyond the opposition back line – like for his goal on Saturday.

I very rarely agree with anything Alan Shearer has to say, but he was spot on at the weekend when he said that Theo Walcott was “too nice”. He is and his finishing shows this – he should be smashing shots and firing bullets into the net like Alexis Sanchez does. But too many times on Saturday he was firing blanks as his limp shots were easily saved. He took his goal really well, but could have scored at least 3 or 4 goals that day.

So what’s the solution?

Olivier Giroud is not the man to count on and neither is Theo. And if Arsene isn’t going to change his system to accommodate both of them (i.e. play two up front) then this is how we should line up:

We should line up without a striker.

Spain managed to win a major tournament without a striker in 2012 (playing Fabregas as the “striker”) and other team such as the Dutch team of 1974 operated without a traditional “centre forward”.

So why couldn’t we do it?

I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t work, and the advantages would be that:

  • We’d be less predictable and become a more difficult team to face.
  • We wouldn’t create chances for a striker that needed 15 opportunities to score.
  • We have players who are intelligent enough for it to work effectively.
  • Ramsey, Özil, Cazorla, Sanchez and Oxlade-Chamberlain are all clever enough and have the ability to interchange and play in any of the attacking positions at any one time.
  • All 5 of those “attacking players” – with the possible exception of Özil – are all excellent finishers.

The reason why we have a striker in the team is because he is supposed to score goals (seems logical enough doesn’t it?). So if we don’t have a player who is good enough, but we have a bounty of attacking talent then why not play to our strengths? Our passing and movement is the best in the league and with 5 players of the calibre of Ramsey, Özil, Cazorla, Oxlade-Chamberlain and Sachez running riot then we would be formidable. The opposition would have no idea what to do and that would create even more space for our intelligent attackers.

But will Arsene Wenger do it? I can confidently say it wouldn’t have even crossed his mind.