Morning all, welcome to a brand new week, but still an Interlull week. There’s no automatic qualification for Ireland after they lost 2-1 to Poland last night. That Lewandowski fella thumping home the thumpiest of headers you’ll ever see to score the winner. That means a play-off place and I assume a two-legged affair next month when we have another Interlull to endure.
Elsewhere, Mesut Ozil got himself an assist as Germany beat Georgia to top the same group as Ireland and Poland, while Olivier Giroud got a couple of goals for France in a friendly against Denmark (clips via the video page). Both of them were a little fortuitous, but it doesn’t really matter once they go in, and hopefully those goals will help brighten his mood a little.
The Frenchman has spoken about his current situation, having fallen behind Theo Walcott in the pecking order and admits he’s got to toughen up and fight harder to win his place back:
It is something new for me. Whether it was at Tours, Montpellier or Arsenal, I have never experienced a situation like this, I have often played from the start. I need to take positives and to harden myself mentally. I cannot simply take refuge in work. At Arsenal, I am in competition with Theo for the striker position. But he is doing well at the moment, so there is no reason to change.
It all sounds a bit dramatic, I guess, but the basic thrust of it is that he’s got to get his head down, work harder, and take his chances when they come. He does have three Premier League goals to his name this season, but it seems clear the manager wants to give Walcott an extended run up front, and so far it seems to be working out ok.
It is worth bearing in mind though that it is still early days. If Walcott goes on to nail down the position with consistently excellent performances – like the one we saw against Manchester United – then we’ll be happy. All of us except Giroud, of course. But doing that week after week after week is not easy, and it remains to be seen if he can find that kind of consistency.
Much of that will be tied in with his fitness. When people think of Arsenal and injury they think Diaby, they think Wilshere, but for some reason Walcott’s absences don’t stick in the mind the same way – even though they have been plentiful and frequent throughout his Arsenal career.
I think it’s too early to say that Walcott is now our clear number one striker. At this moment in time he’s the one being given a run in the position, and the fact that Giroud has occupied that role for three seasons means that the manager knows exactly what he’s going to get from the Frenchman. There aren’t likely to be any surprises from him. He’s not going to suddenly discover a burst of pace that will add another 10% to his game.
It’s why seeing Walcott switched on defensively, tackling back and sparking attacks, generates so much positivity. This is basically something new from a player who hasn’t always seemed to understand or care that much about that part of the game. I’m convinced that his part in the second Sp*rs goal at White Hart Lane last season, when he wasn’t quick enough, or aware enough, to close down a cross, played a major part in him spending most of the rest of the season on the bench.
At that point the manager decided that he couldn’t, or wouldn’t, use him on the right hand side. He played Welbeck there, he played Ramsey there, he played Wilshere there, but I don’t think we’ve seen Walcott there since. When Giroud’s goal-drought and Welbeck’s injury forced the manager’s hand in terms of team selection, Walcott saw a chance and took it with a hat-trick against West Brom and an FA Cup final goal.
Far be it for me to doubt Arsene Wenger, a man who knows his players far better than I do or ever will, but I’m not sure Walcott as a central striker was ever the plan, per se. It happened circumstantially, a bit like the Coquelin situation, and it’s working out pretty well so far. Injuries, loss of form, and the inability to find the right player in the transfer market this summer have created this opportunity for Walcott and it’s very much a case of so far, so good.
That’s the way football works sometimes. You can plan and strategise all you want, but occasionally you make decisions because you don’t have much in the way of choice, and things come together nicely. And as long as Walcott keeps scoring and playing as well as he has lately, then it’s all good.
In the meantime though, Giroud is playing the role many feel is best for him – as the kind of back-up to a main striker that you need. He misses more chances than he should, but ultimately he’s a pretty reliable goalscorer and the kind of player who offers something different from the bench when you start with a player like Walcott. How often have we bemoaned the lack of a ‘plan B’?
That’s pretty much what he is now, and I suspect he won’t like it too much. Ideally, that will manifest itself in hard work and determination to change that situation, and not the equivalent of looking to the skies imploringly after missing the chance to score during a game. It’s an interesting dynamic between the two of them right now, I’m curious to see how it’s going to pan out over the coming months.
Right, that’s just about that. Despite the Interlull, James and I will be here with an Arsecast Extra for you later on. If you have questions or topics for discussion, please send them to @gunnerblog and @arseblog with the hashtag #arsecastextra. Podcast available for you before lunch, hopefully.
Until then.
