Five reasons why Arsenal should throw the kitchen sink at Karim Benzema
Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports
Ian Wright, Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie – what a trio of strikers that Arsenal have called upon over the last 23 years. Now the Gunners have Olivier Giroud, a French international and a solid goalscorer who has a combined 49 goals in all competitions in his first two seasons in north London. Despite his initial success, especially after this season, many feel that Arsenal still lack the world class striker they have needed sense RvP made his controversial move to Manchester United two seasons ago. It is not to say that Giroud is not a good player, but when you look at him, you just think that he is the type of player that is nothing like those who came before him.
Enter Karim Benzema, fellow French international and quietly one of the most efficient and well rounded strikers in the world. An excellent finisher but so much more, would his purchase help bring the Gunners to the next level? Let’s take a look at five reasons why Arsenal need to do what it takes to bring him to the Emirates (stats provided by whoscored.com)
Goal scoring ability
Despite being their stop striker, the truth of the matter is that Benzema takes second fiddle to Cristiano Ronaldo. Depsite Ronaldo being the first option in the attack at Real Madrid, Benzema still has impressive numbers in the goal department, including 17 goals in La Liga and 24 in all competitions this past season. 17 goals in the La Liga despite Ronaldo’s dominance in the league and his prominent role in the side says a lot – surely if he came to Arsenal he would be the focal point of their attack, and that would easily fetch him a 20 goal haul at minimum. If that does not convince you enough, perhaps his 102 goals over the last four seasons in all competitions will.
He’s not just a goal scorer
He registered 13 assists this past season (8 in La Liga, 5 in Champions League) and a combined 49 in all competitions in the last three seasons – impressive, yes? But getting assists can sometimes be as easy as tripping over the ball and it falling to a team mate who coverts the chance, literally. If you look deeper into the numbers, you will find that Benzema averages 1.9 key passes per appearance, 24.4 passes per appearance with a success rate of 83.3%. When you combine his assist numbers with key passes and his success rate, it paints the picture that Benzema benefits from being flanked by the likes of Ronaldo and Angel Di Maria, why is this important? Because Benzema would have the luxury of playing with players such as Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott – two players who love to make penetrative runs in the final third from central and wide areas.
His movement off the ball
So much frustration from Arsenal supporters toward Giroud could be heard this past season with his preference to always come deep to look for the ball. The despite being a solid target man and quite adept at holding up the ball, that is not what Arsenal need in a striker. Given the deployment of Mesut Ozil behind the striker, Santi Cazorla often positioned to his left, Walcott to his right and Ramsey steaming in from midfield, the Gunners already have plenty of players who are more than willing to tuck in centrally to look for the ball – this hinders the effectiveness of Ozil by some measure and what the Gunners truly need is a striker who wants to break forward through the channels and look to latch on to the service provided. It would do the Gunners wonders to have a player who wants to get forward as much as possible and get into open areas in the box – so many times this season Giroud would not be in the right areas in the final third due to his preference for coming deeper to help the play develop. Benzema is lethal in the box and loves to get forward, even if he has to take on and beat the defender himself to do it.
Previous chemistry with Mesut Ozil
Mentioned above in the previous point, Ozil is at his best when he has players who make forward runs, whether its on the flanks or through the seems of the opposing defense. Many say that Ozil was so successful at Real Madrid because of who he played with, but it’s not who, it’s the type of players they are. Arsenal like to thin their width these days in order to afford them the possession they prefer and while it has been successful, it is too easy to break down when teams “park the bus” and then look to counter them quickly. The acquisition of Benzema not only gives someone who is the opposite of what Arsenal have been deploying, but more importantly, he has played with Ozil before. Many times this past season Giroud and Ozil have been on completely separate wave lengths, when they need to be more in tune with each other than anyone else in the Arsenal attack. With Benzema and Ozil having previously played together and doing so quite successfully, it offers that added cohesion that will help the attack, but also help Ozil as he looks to break out next season.
He offers tactical flexibility
He can play as the lone striker, in a pair of strikers or as an attacking midfielder down the right – Benzema offers flexibility through options. Walcott gets injured? No need to play Ramsey where he is not comfortable. One striker is not working on the day? Slot Benzema and Giroud together up front as they have done successfully for the French national team. Need to offer a different attacking approach if Giroud was not working? Bring Benzema off the bench if he was not starting that day. The beauty of players like Benzema is their utility, despite the unquestionable skill that they possess. If it’s one issue above all that has plagued Arsenal during their trophy drought (which they look set to end tomorrow against Hull City in the FA Cup final), it is their lack of tactical flexibility. No mr. Wenger, your tactics are not like novocain – if you give them time, they do not always work in the end. In fact, it is to the point where Arsenal’s title rivals all know exactly what to expect from them and as such, Arsenal’s record against other top tier sides in recent years has been horrendous. Benzema would give Arsene Wenger the ability to finally have a Plan B, you know, like any good manager would need.
While there is recent speculation that Benzema would prefer a move to Manchester United or maybe even Chelsea, part of being successful in the transfer market is being aggressive in your targets and having the ability to convince a player that your club is the right destination for them. If Arsenal are truly set to look to close the gap next season, Benzema (or a player like him) could well be a key addition to an Arsenal side that are just a few pieces away from becoming true title contenders once more.