Five burning issues faced by Arsenal

3) Weak striking options

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud against Tottenham

Back in the 60s and 70s when Liverpool were extremely successful, there was a wise saying from the Merseyside, “Buy a world class striker along with an unknown one.” This was maybe one reason which contributed to their phenomenal success back then. The Gunners have committed a blunder in not buying a proven striker in this transfer window. Yes, Olivier Giroud is definitely improving with each match, but he is yet to reach the domain of the world class striker. And talking about back-up options, who will Arsenal rely upon should Giroud get injured? Given the taxing schedule coming up, with the Premier League, Champions League, Capital One Cup and later F.A. Cup, there is every chance that Giroud could get injured or suffer from fatigue and burn-out. The only striking options available would be Yaya Sanogo and Nicklas Bendtner. No matter how good Sanogo is, as Wenger claims, expecting an inexperienced 20-year-old from the French second division to perform right away in the physical environments of English top flight football could turn out to be very foolish. And one can never be sure of Bendtner. The Dane definitely has talent, but it has been overshadowed by inconsistency and a bad attitude. Relying on him would not be the ideal choice.