Injuries across the table: A look at Arsenal’s striking conundrums, and the solutions

Rarely has a day in any Transfer Window passed when Arsenal have not been linked with a new player. The past 3-4 years used to see the North London club linked with innumerable talents throughout the window in order to get the club into the Top 4 slot in the EPL, and despite the Gunners being table toppers right now, the Window continues to link Arsene Wenger’s checkbooks to top-top-talents across the globe.

And injuries have in no way helped Wenger to diminish any of these reports. The return of Podolski and Chamberlain to the team at the half way point of the season was supposed to be Wenger’s excuse of not dipping in to the market this time. But in a typically Arsenal-esque manner, Wenger has lost both Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott for a month, just at the start of the window. Though many would argue that Bendtner was any not a good enough option if the club is setting sights on the title, but the Danish striker’s performance against Cardiff recently had certainly raised his claim to the 2nd striker spot.

And considering Theo’s case, the Englishman seemed to have suddenly acquired a “footballing-brain” in the Spurs game. Walcott was played as the main striker on Saturday, and unlike many previous performances where the speedster was seen going into foolish aerial duels and uninspiring positions, Theo was now seen continually trying to run in behind the slow Tottenham defence. With Gnabry on the Right, Wenger created a completely different dynamic to Arsenal’s attack, which had started to look quite static in the route via Giroud’s hold-up play. Walcott’s knee ligament injury means that Wenger now has lost another one of his options for more than a month.

Lukas Podolski has also been mentioned as a striking option by the French manager, and the German was also deployed in that spot against Cardiff. Though Podolski was just returning after a long injury layoff, the German is not greatly gifted in either of the avenues that the others offer: Girouds’ brilliant hold-up play and Walcott’s pace to get in behind the defence. And quite credulously to the German forward, his cameo appearance against West Ham on Boxing Day showed exactly how important his role on the left is, as his crossing and direct play from the flanks was exactly what Arsenal needed to cut open a stubborn West Ham defence.

So with Giroud now the only available striking option, Wenger looks to be in quite a desperate need for an alternate striking option. Plenty of obstacles lie in the Frenchman’s path this time, the main ones being that it is obvious that Wenger is looking only for a short term solution with Giroud still his key player in this team, and with the World Cup this imminent in the summer, most of the top players (read Diego Costa) will not think of a change in environment which risks their national team spot. So the options available for Wenger would be to either go for a second-tier striker who no longer would be ambitious for the World Cup or get a young talent on loan which increases his chances of a shot at the Cup; and there is always the option of Thierry Henry returning.

With the 2 criteria established above, there are 2 very clear names that come up from the current rumors in the market: Dimitar Berbatov and Alvaro Morata. In Dimitar Berbatov, one can be exactly sure of what Arsenal can get. After his successful spells at United and Spurs, Berba’s role has changed quite a lot at Fulham. After being touted as a lazy striker during his final months at United, the Bulgarian showed a completely different style at Fulham, where under Jol he was played as the holdup striker and was repeatedly seen beating the defender for pace and latching on to the crosses into the box.

Berba’s physicality does not see him win a whole lot of aerial duels

Berba’s positioning is quite similar to Giroud’s. His better pace to the next ball and finishing is what steers him ahead of the French striker.

Comparing Berbatov and Giroud might show the French striker to be much better equipped for hold up play, but the Bulgarian is leagues ahead in terms of his finishing. In terms of his positioning while Fulham are in possession in their own half, Berbatov is mostly seen involving the CDM ( Chris Herd in the pics), and is an ideal option to release the likes of Walcott and Chamberlain. Now again, Berba is definitely not a long term option for Wenger as the manager would prefer to promote the likes of the 17 year old Akpom instead of settling for 33 year old striker. But in terms of going for silverware this season, a loan move for Berba to replace Bendtner would be ideal in terms of backup.

The other option of Alvara Morata is a much more difficult task for Arsenal’s management to undertake, as the 20 year old striker is surely going to become a top player in years to come. Wenger is known to have to tried to sign Morata in the summer itself. The Spanish striker had issued an ultimatum to Madrid by which he would leave the club if another striker was signed after Higuain’s departure. Though the Blancos didn’t complete any other striker’s deal in the summer, the arrival of Bale and the rise of Jesse Rodriguez have kept Morata restricted to the bench. The 20 year old has had just 9 appearances which include only 1 start.

Reports are suggesting that Wenger is fighting for a loan deal for Morata which includes a first-option on the bids for the striker in future. This definitely suggests that the French manager does see the Golden Boot winner at the U-21 Euros as a future striker at Arsenal, but any loan deal this season would see a very similar style to what Roberto Martinez has been playing Gerrard Delofou in at Everton. Morata’s main trait is his change of pace when he runs into the channels, and this definitely will provide a respite from Giroud’s languishing pace. But with no experience in English football, Morata right now can only be seen as a replacement for Theo rather than a main striker.

The press also is reporting interests in the likes of Diego Costa and Mario Manzukic, but despite Lewandowski’s arrival at Bayern, one does really not see such high profile names changing countries just 6 months before a World Cup.

With the midfield department taken care of for a couple of seasons and goalkeeping roles looking clean, defence is the only department that needs a bit of backing up. Thomas Vermaelen was rumored to be on the way to Napoli, but the captain’s recent good performances could persuade the Belgium international to hold on for the season. The Right back spot is the one for Wenger to worry about as Bacary Sagna goes into the final 6 months of contract. And with Carl Jenkinson still highly inconsistent on the flanks, a look at Debuchy or Clyne would do Wenger no harm. Obviously a contract renewal for Sagna would be the best option, but it is supposed to be common knowledge that the French defender wants to end his career in France.