Does Arsenal really need another striker?

Does Arsenal really need another striker?

Talk about strikers normally means talk about how many goals Giroud has scored and then, noting that the number is 7 (the same as Van Persie thus far this season), the suggestion is that we need another centre forward.

If we look at the top scoring teams in the league we are third according to the number of goals scored.
• Man City 47
• Liverpool 39
• Arsenal 33


So, with two clubs streaking away above us, at least in terms of goals if not in terms of the league table, we are not doing too bad, but obviously could do better in terms of goals. Which raises the question: how?

Option one – bring in a proven goal scorer.
Of course the problem with that is that we have to find one who is willing to leave his existing club, and who has a club willing to sell him. Generally speaking clubs don’t sell existing brilliant goalscorers, because we are all looking for brilliant goalscorers. Indeed the reason we got Giroud was because he was playing for an unfashionable club in France. Just like the reason we got Henry was because he managed just three goals in 16 games for Juventus.

But of course, following the purchase of Ozil there is a bit of a feeling that Arsenal can buy anyone – but this is not the case. Ozil came, because he believed in Arsene Wenger and the two had talked about Ozil coming to Arsenal long before he went to Real Madrid. Maybe Wenger can pull off the same trick again, and maybe there is a striker of great ability out there who is able to come in and start scoring goals at once but it is an unlikely scenario.

But surely we just need another Thierry Henry, it is said. Well, yes, except that Henry only scored 17 in his first season in the league. And his second season. He didn’t break the 20+ barrier until his third season when he got 24 goals in the Premier League.

Which really makes the second point:

Option two – Let Giroud develop.
In favour of this approach is the fact that most players take time to deliver greatness with a new club. We might see a player who is better than Giroud – and he might be a player who starts scoring goals immediately. But… it is unlikely.

Of course in relation to option two it can be said that, “Giroud won’t develop any further”. But in reality no one knows.

Now if we compare options one and two, option one brings with it a second problem: if a new player is brought in at the top of his game, and displaces Giroud will Giroud stick around at Arsenal? Will he lose his talent and skill sitting on the bench while the new guy gets all the glory?
If so, what happens when the new guy gets injured? If you have one top scorer, that is always your problem.

But what about a third option: do nothing.
Doing nothing does not mean just having Giroud up front all the time. Because we do have another player in the squad who has scored more than Giroud. And we have a different player in the squad who scores more goals per game than anyone else.

The first high scorer is Theo Walcott, who by my reckoning has got 66 goals in his Arsenal career, and who can, as shown against Man City, knock them in when given half the chance. Play Giroud with Theo and Ramsey and the chances are there will be goals. Not necessarily for Giroud, but for Arsenal.

And then there is the issue of Podolski. He has the best goals per game ratio of anyone in the squad, having scored 18 goals from 46 games.

Now we start to see a different picture – a picture in which we have Giroud who is the first chance centre forward but who from now on has two team mates who can supplement him by scoring while playing alongside him, and who can also play the centre-forward role if required.

The great benefits of seeing Theo and Lukas Podolski as wingers who can score and as players who can play centre forward are that:

a) They are already here
b) They are flexible – they can play wing or centre in the forward line
c) Their presence does nothing to undermine Giroud who is clearly still learning his way around the Premier League game.

Giroud scored 11 last season in 24 starts, and 8 this season in 15 starts in the league. So his scoring ratio is on the up, and I would not be surprised at all if he doesn’t exceed Henry’s second season total of 17 in the league this season.

And although there is no guarantee of anything in football I would not be surprised to see Ramsey continue to add to his scoring achievements this season. Nor come to that Ozil and Cazorla.

Which brings to a head option 3:
From the earliest days of the Football League there has been an emphasis on the goal scoring number 9. But we should not be hypnotised into thinking this is the only way to play the game. Option three could be: do something different.

In a sense the Pires / Henry approach shows us just how powerful an alternative vision can be. Pires scored four in his first Arsenal campaign, nine in his second and then 14 league goals in each of the next three seasons.

Anyone who watched Henry and Pires together will testify how they played as a team within a team, one drawing the defence out to the left while the other took up the free space in the middle. Who cares if Henry “only” got 24 goals in 2002/3 when Pires also got “only” 14. The answer is no one, because not only did we have those two – we had Bergkamp as well.

This season we have already turned football upside by having a midfield and front line of six players at least four of whom are attack minded and who can turn up anywhere – and it is an approach that has given us the goals from Ramsey. Throw Theo or Podolski into the game and you have even more power in front of goal.

In reality it not only doesn’t matter who scores, it is better if a lot of players join in the scoring, because that means that even if one gets injured we are still not going to reach a total state of panic. Giroud injured, fine we play Podolski or Theo at number nine, and push Ramsey further forwards.

That to me is the way forwards. And I have suggested all of that without even considering Ozil as a goal scorer. With him I doubt that we have seen anything yet.