Arsenal still need a striker despite Arsene Wenger’s claims

With Arsenal’s pre-season thoroughly under way and the Gunner’s trip to the States to take on club-legend Thierry Henry and the New York Red Bulls (I will be there for that) just around the corner, Arsene Wenger has already rubbed a large portion of the clubs supporters the wrong way.  The long-time Arsenal headmaster has gone on record, stating that the club do not need to sign a striker this summer.

With the capture of Chilean international Alexis Sanchez from Barcelona, Wenger feels that the club have enough options at striker, and that they can now focus on bringing in a midfielder as well as possibly another center back; but is this the right call?

Olivier Giroud still remains Arsenal’s only viable option at striker.

The purchase of Sanchez gives Arsenal a plethora of attacking options for the upcoming campaign, but the issues comes from the fact that Olivier Giroud remains the clubs only viable option at striker currently.

"Current attacking options at ArsenalOlivier Giroud, Lukas Podolski, Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott, Joel Campbell, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Yaya Sanogo"

On the surface, the Gunners appear to be in good shape, but fifteen more seconds thought will bring you to the conclusion that this is not nearly enough.  Arsenal relied far too heavily on Giroud last season, and many believe that to be a root cause for his inconsistent form (let’s not mention that he needs eight chance before he converts one).  While Giroud is not a bad player by any means, he’s just not enough.

The talents of Lukas Podolski have won over many associated with the club, but in the eyes of Wenger (and so many more), he will never be more than an option on the left – this has prompted rumors that he may be returning to Germany.  Sanchez is coming to the club on the back of a fantastic World Cup, one which saw him deployed as a striker in all four of Chile’s matches.  While he played brilliantly, it surely must be noted that, even as a striker, his preference to drift wide to the right lends to the notion that his best position is in fact as a right winger (in fact, in all of last season, Sanchez was never deployed as a striker), which is where he was most effective at both Udinese and Barcelona.

Alexis Sanchez is one of a few players who could be deployed as a striker, but is far more effective elsewhere.

With Sanchez now at the club, Theo Walcott’s deployment comes under some scrutiny.  Will Wenger shift Walcott to the left so he can tuck in on his favored right foot (a la Thierry Henry)? Will Walcott remain on the right and Sanchez shift left?  Or is it finally time to give him a serious look at striker?  Walcott himself has discussed numerous times that he would love to be deployed centrally, which then lends to the idea of Wenger shifting tactics to a 4-4-2, but such a shift would see a formation that is quite ill-suited to the personnel at the club.

As for Ox, Campbell and Sanogo, Wenger feels Ox’s future lies in central midfield, Campbell will finally be kept at the club to fight for a first team place (though his most effective deployment is on the left) and Sanogo is no where near ready for regular first team football, and truly needs a loan.

The arrival of Sanchez means that Theo Walcott may finally see substantial time at striker – it’s still not the answer.

Verdict? Yes Arsenal have plenty of attacking options, but only one of them has an established track record as a striker.  If Wenger is truly set on challenging for major honors this season after the Gunner’s success in the FA Cup, then surely he must understand that you cannot conduct a campaign which will see your side take the pitch in no less than 46 fixtures with just a single recognized striker that is able to make significant contributions to the first team.  While having options is never a bad thing, ideally, you’d like said options to be well suited and established in the roles they may be called upon to fill.

With Wenger still in the market for a midfielder (despite the move for Sami Khedira being off, the club are still keeping tabs on Lars Bender, Morgan Schneiderlin and William Cavalho) as well as a center back if Thomas Vermaelen leaves for United, there is still plenty of cash for the Frenchman to burn this summer.  Despite being “Le Professeur”, its time Wenger stopped experimenting and started doing what needs to be done.