So Giroud is injured – What then?

What happened?

Andrey Arshavin

Andrey Arshavin the smallest player at the club played as the main striker for 14 games often interchanging with Eduardo, the second smallest who came in for the Russian on the left.

After a slow start that saw us lose to Sunderland away 1 Nil and to home to Chelsea the team adapted and went on a 10 match unbeaten run in the Premier League which included 7 wins and 3 draws, before succumbing to defeats to Manchester United and Chelsea. So over 14 games we lost 4, won 7 and drew 3, and 3 of the 4 defeats were to the only 2 sides that finished that period above us in the table. The squad adapted its style of play to the strengths of a fragile Dudu and a diminutive Russian playmaker at centre forward. The team without a strong focal point striker scored 24 league goals in that period with Eduardo and Arshavin scoring 2 and 3 respectively. It was the supporting cast most notably Fabregas at CAM who stepped up the plate with Cesc himself notching 5 goals.

At the end of this trying period for Wenger and Arsenal and when Bentdner returned we had only dropped one place in the table and sat 3rd after 25 games, albeit 9 points off top spot. With Bentdner back as the sole striker we went on a run in which Nico (yes NB52) scored 8 in 13 games and Arsenal by the end of March had closed the gap to 3 points and were bang in contention for the title. So, with 6 games to go we were third, sitting pretty with an easier run in than United or Chelsea. In many people eyes Arsenal were favourites for the title. So what happened that saw us fall from favourites in a 3 horse race to finishing 11 points off Chelsea by the 9th of May, an 8 point swing?

We had our strikers back. Bentdner played the majority and RVP started or came on in the last 5, and still we managed to lose to Blackburn, Wigan, Spurs and draw with Man City and Wolves. Why if the strikers were so critical? Because sadly we had lost our creativity and our supply line. Cesc Fabregas missed the last 6 games through injury and we went 5 games without a win taking 2 points and only won the final day against Fulham.

What is the moral of this sad story and why is it relevant to Arsenal in 2013/14 four seasons later? It is relevant because that season proved that for a long period Arsenal, with top quality creative players and intelligent players such as Fabregas, Diaby, Nasri and Arshavin a team can adapt to losing its focal point in attack. As I suggested in this blog in late July it is as much is not more about the supply line. In 2010 Arsenal adapted and to a degree thrived without a main striker but imploded when they had a main striker but lost their main supply line.

So to pull this together it is my believe that with Ozil, Ramsey and with Walcott and Cazorla returning Arsenal have so much creativity it is embarrassing. The supply line and the intelligence of that supply line particularly of Ozil and Santi would mean an easy adapting to a team shorn of Giroud. Whether Wenger chooses to rest the Frenchman when Podolski is fit in a few weeks or in the worst case he is injured I strongly feel we would seamlessly adapt to Podolski’s differing strengths. Add to this the obvious relationship that the 2 attacking Germans have from their time spent on international duty I am not as worried as many seem to be.

In short I do not believe that with the addition of Mesut Ozil and the return of the other wide players the team would need to have Podolski trying to play like Giroud. History proves we adapted to having Arshavin as the main focal point of the attack in 09/10. Of course AA23 did not play the role as Bentdner or van Persie would have done and the team adapted. More recent history has seen us adapt our style to accommodate central midfielders in wider roles whilst our wingers rehabilitate at Colney and at the gym using creatine to regain full fitness.

Does Podolski need to hold the ball up as well as Giroud, win headers like Giroud and play with his back to goal like the Frenchman if he plays centrally for Arsenal? No in short he does not, he needs to play to his strengths and the creative players and the system will adapt in the same was as we have in recent weeks without our 4 wide players. Other teams rotate strikers weekly and systems with them. Arsenal are beginning to show the same versatility in 2013/14. It is a strength that teams who challenge have and it is a strength that Arsenal had when we were winning. Kanu, Bergkamp and Wiltord are all very different players and all played with equal success alongside Thierry Henry.