Olivier Giroud brings lot of good things to the newly formed Arsenal side. Especially his height and heading ability is something which we lacked ever since Bendtner and Wenger went two ways. Giroud uses his physical strength which is always well suited for the English side of the grounds. Giroud had been a recent call-up for French national team where is he playing a waiting game for his chance hoping someday Benzema would fail. Giroud can add good physical presence and can be a decent threat in front of goal during the later stages of the match when normally Arsenal starts to pour in crosses(to be exact after 76mins normally). Looking at his track record, he gives his best output during his second season only based on his stats from Montpellier and Tours. If that has something to do with the team chemistry we might have to wait 2 years before writing him off or taking close to heart. After the completion of three league matches, one thing is clear that he can play a good role in the Arsenal game.
Lukas Podolski is always a goal threat when he is in German colors(44 goals in 101matches). In his club matches, he always seems to be someone who can bring in the additional pace and can take on defenders at ease. Podolski is always a goal threat but at the same time an unselfish player who is always ready to poke in the assists at the right time. Having seen Podolski tried as a lone striker already, I would request boss to please allow him to do what he does best as a left forward or left winger. Podolski has a very powerful shot which would be always something which will keep the goalkeepers busy. He has already opened his goal scoring tally for Arsenal.
Santi Cazorla has already started showing his magic upfront for the gunners. Cazorla looks like a player who needs freedom and prefers to be a creative midfielder. Unlike his previous assignments in other clubs, Wenger had already decided to give him his freedom and allow him to roam which Wenger is used to doing with Bergkamp, Fabregas, Ramsey, Nasri and Arshavin before him. Cazorla looks very quick and admiringly creative. He also has a good powerful long range shots which had made him famous while playing against top Spanish sides. He can also take set-pieces which comes as an added advantage for Arsenal who had lost RVP.
There is no doubt that RVP cannot be replaced because he is RVP. No player can be replaced same as no two individuals are the same. But I believe we will play with more freedom and attacking threat since we are no more reliant on one striker which we were for some time in the form of Henry, Adebayor, Bendtner, Van Persie etc in the past. Wenger had decided to bring back a much tested system with 4 defenders, one defensive player in the form of Arteta/Jack Wilshere/Frimpong(earlier Gilberto Silva/Ray Parlour), one box-to-box player called Abou Diaby/Jack Wilshere/Coquelin(earlier Viera/Edu), one RW/Advanced Right Midfielder in Walcott/Gervinho/Alex Oxlade(earlier Ljungberg), one LW/Advanced Left Midfielder in Podolski/Gervinho/Andre Santos(earlier Pires), one Attacking Midfielder/Supporting Striker in Santi Cazorla/Rosicky/Alex Oxlade/Ramsey(earlier Bergkamp) and Giroud/Chamakh(earlier Henry) upfront. This lays lot of responsibility on Giroud which requires him to emulate Henry's success which would be tougher than even filling Van Persie's boots. Lack of confidence in Chamakh would have been another reason why Wenger was in market for one more striker which never came through.
You might think what is the difference with this system and the earlier ones including last seasons where Song was already playing what Arteta is suppossed to do and Arteta was Diaby is doing. But the difference here is that Song's creative instincts would force him to roam upfront considering his lack of power for long range passes which demand him to execute it from a much forward position whereas Arteta with his wonderful vision and long range passing can execute it lying deep down from the midfield. Arteta doesn't contain the engine that Diaby has which might as well affect the box to box running in a similar fashion. One player who has shown promise in performing both these duty is Jack Wilshere and that is one reason why the whole Arsenal world including management, squad and fans want him back. This is what makes him a crucial part of the Arsenal masterplan.
First three matches showed good improvement in performing defensive duties by Jenkinson and positional awareness only while attacking from Gibbs. Jenkinson needs to improve on his crossing and forward movement while Gibbs has to improve on performing his defensive duties better. Ideal would be to have someone who has Gibbs attacking flair, Jenkinson's build and defensive skills which might be another reason why Wenger was in market for a Left back as he already has Sagna coming back soon.
Mertesacker looks like he is getting in touch but his lack of pace could be a real goal gift while playing quick opponents where we would definitely require Koscielny and Vermaelen to play together. Djourou doesn't look like a good fourth choice except for his brave defending as old as two seasons back.
Personally I would love to see Bendtner and Wenger reuniting and him becoming part of the Arsenal game. He looks promising as seen in the International games(20 goals in 50 matches). Bendtner is always a goal threat upfront with his heading ability and movement. I do admit that at times he looks too selfish and overdo what needs to be done. But trusting Wenger and Bould for that matter, it is something that they can easily manage with their experience. Bendtner himself might have felt left out when RVP was given lot of opportunities as an outcome of which he excelled and reached Manchester United now to earn a better pay check. Bendtner should better than Chamakh if the later where to follow his current form.
Arsenal needs to offload few good players from the squad for the benefit of those players and our books which includes Squillaci, Djourou, Chamakh and Arshavin. No doubt that each one of them are great players but looking at current squad and plan they look better suited for other teams. We would also need one quality CB who can play Sweeper, one quality Striker who can play lone striker and one Left Back who can balance attack and defence better than Gibbs and Santos who only can bring more to the attacking game.
Based on our recent past, we need to note that we have a big threat of losing Walcott, Oxlade and Wilshere to big spending clubs considering all 3 being English and young. Recently I read that Redknapp who was Walcott's manager in Southampton has used him as a lone striker in his early days found it a great idea with Walcott's speed and agility it would be a handful for hefty CB's. It might be worth exploring from boss noting Redknapp's managerial ability which we all are well aware of.
Ignasi Miguel and Ryo Miyaichi are hot prospects who can make Arsenal proud in coming years. I am mentioning them separately since they are not part of first team plans currently. It would be worth having a close look at these two boys who if doesn't become part of the business can bring great games to our eyes.
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