The show will go on: Why Arsenal’s title bid will continue even without £12m man

Theo Walcott’s playful gesture to those abusing him from the Tottenham end on Saturday went down like a lead balloon to most. Not with Walcott himself, though, whose smile replicated that of a gleeful child. On the face of things, it didn’t seem so bad. Arsenal were beating their bitter north London rivals and Walcott, stretcher aside, looked comfortable enough. The FA even opted against punishing Arsenal’s number 14. However, he would be handed a more severe blow than a potential fine as the scans of the knee injury he picked up have ruled him out for the rest of the campaign, including this summer’s World Cup.

It’s a devastating blow for the 24-year-old, but also for Arsene Wenger as he looks to secure the Gunners’ first Premier League trophy since the 2004/05 season. The good news for the north London side is that Wenger has a wealth of replacements at his disposal. The bad news is none can replicate the speed at which he operates nor do they hold a proven record of scoring the tally of goals that Walcott delivered last season.

The forward’s return from his abdominal injury came as a breath of fresh air to Arsenal. Olivier Giroud looked jaded and his goals had dried up, and it also presented the opportunity to add some balance into the wide areas. Giroud often looks to drop deep and collect the ball, but with Aaron Ramsey, a central player, functioning on the right it leaves no option to spread the ball into the wide area. Whereas Walcott is all too happy sitting on the shoulder of a defensive line and spinning off, or running in behind the left full-back in order to pull the back four apart, Ramsey is more inclined to cut back inside to his natural position and search for an opening down the middle.

Aaron Ramsey Chances Created

It also leaves Wenger with limited options in the centre-forward berth. With Giroud racking up 27 appearances already this term and Nicklas Bendtner now sidelined for up to six weeks with an ankle injury, it pours pressure onto the shoulder of Lukas Podolski, who has recently recovered from his hamstring problem.

Like Walcott, the Germany international is naturally a wide player who fancies himself as a frontman, and again similarly to Walcott he has proved himself when given the opportunity to spearhead the attack. Unlike the ex-Southampton man, though, he is now available for selection and purposeful displays against West Ham and Cardiff recently imply that he is ready to step up.

With three weeks left of the transfer window left however, Wenger may dip his toes into the market to see if he can land a striker to reinforce his attacking unit.

He need not worry about the right side of his midfield though, with the aforementioned Ramsey, Tomas Rosicky and even Jack Wilshere being able to operate in that position. Serge Gnabry is also a player who will be pushing to secure the spot, and is probably the most natural applicant to replace Walcott.

Although the 18-year-old is willing to get involved in the scrappy periods of the game, Gnabry is a player who can make those dashing runs round the back of defenders. His movement opens up space for colleagues to drop into and, as we saw against Spurs last weekend, he can create opportunities, too. He has carved three chances and scored one goal in his five bit-part appearances and the Arsenal fans will be expecting him to push on his development in the absence of Walcott.

Serge Gnabry Chances Created

It’s fair to say that Wenger’s team is weakened with Walcott missing, but the options that the French coach currently has at his disposal, and the fact that he has until the end of the month to evaluate if he needs to draft in another forward, may see the Gunners come through unscathed. There is no room for an error of judgement, though, as Manchester City are merely a point behind and eagerly anticipating dethroning the capital side.