Gunners win despite issues up front

Newcastle 0-1 Arsenal

Arsenal’s win against Newcastle on Saturday only served to highlight the Gunners desperate need for reinforcements in the centre forward position.

Arsene Wenger elected to start the game with Theo Walcott up front in place of Olivier Giroud, despite Walcott having failed to impress anyone with his cameo appearance in the 0-0 draw at home to Liverpool.

The idea behind starting Walcott was that a rejuvenated Newcastle in front of a fervent home support would have a real go at Arsenal rather than sitting back in an attempt to grind out a result. Therefore in theory Walcott would have plenty of space to run in behind the Newcastle defence and wreak havoc. Unfortunately, that game plan was ruined in the 16^th minute of the game by the sending off of Alexander Mitrovic for a nasty stamp on Francis Coquelin, as Newcastle began the game with the intention of roughing up the Gunners.

From this point on Newcastle had to sit deep in an attempt to secure an unlikely point and therefore in much the same way as against Liverpool, Walcott had no space to run in behind and was largely ineffective as a result. However the Englishman did have two gilt edged opportunities, one either side of the sending off, in which he failed to show the clinical touch of an out and out centre forward. The first arrived following a flowing passing move, with Hector Bellerin released on the right flank and playing a cushioned pass into Walcott’s path. The Englishman seemed destined to score, but with Tim Krul rushing off his line, Walcott lacked composure and scuffed his shot, sending a weak effort straight at the goalkeeper, when a top striker would have simply lifted the ball over the goalkeeper.

Walcott’s second opportunity came towards the end of the first half. With Newcastle sat so deep, Sanchez elected to take a shot from outside the box, which Krul could only palm away. On this occasion Walcott did show some instincts of a true centre forward, reacting first to the rebound, however his failure to convert from close range once again highlighted the lack of a clinical edge. As he approached the ball, the only logical way to score would have been to take on the shot with his left foot, but instead Walcott opted for the more difficult option of a right footed effort and saw his shot sail high over the bar.

Although Walcott didn’t have a great game on Saturday and was eventually replaced by Giroud, the Frenchman also did little to prove his doubters wrong. With Newcastle set up in an ultra-defensive formation following the sending off, Arsenal were in desperate need for a target man, who the midfield could play balls up to and feed off his layoffs. While Giroud does often tend to perform this part of the game well, he also lacks the clinical instinct of a World class centre forward. This was highlighted perfectly right at the end of the game on Saturday. Ramsey played a delightful through ball into the path of Giroud, but with only the goalkeeper to beat, the Frenchman ridiculously tried to chip Krul and the chance was lost.

As the transfer window winds down to a close today, if Wenger does not manage to sign another striker, then Arsenal will desperately struggle to achieve any of their ambitions. The options currently available are just not good enough for any team with serious intentions to challenge for the game’s highest honours. Wenger pointed to the fact Welbeck will soon return to full fitness, but even so, Welbeck falls into the same bracket as Giroud and Walcott when it comes to being clinical in front of goal. The manager’s failure to address an area of such obvious weakness within his squad is negligent at best and to many Arsenal supporters the situation is simply beyond belief. Throughout the summer he has spoken of the need to make a move in the transfer window only if a player who is better than those he currently has were to become available. The conclusion can only be made therefore that throughout the entire summer there was not one striker available who would have been an improvement on Giroud, Walcott and Welbeck, a statement which not one fan or pundit can surely believe to be true.

Yet the centre forward position is not the only area which Arsenal desperately need to address. Playing against 10 men for 75 minutes, the Gunners looked distinctly average, failing to get the basics right. When the opposition have had a man sent off, they will of course attempt to pack the centre of the field and restrict the space in the middle of the pitch. As a result it is vital that the team with 11 players get the ball out wide, get plenty of overlapping runs from the full backs and move the ball quickly. Unfortunately the Gunners did none of this on Saturday, they lacked natural width throughout and laboured to a win which did very little to lift the sense of unease amongst the Arsenal faithful.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s effort early in the second half, fortunately took a deflection off Coloccini, which helped steer the shot into the Newcastle goal and this was enough to secure all three points on the day but Arsenal need to improve drastically. Their slow and cumbersome build up play is painful to watch at times with their attacking play currently lacking the verve and energy required to trouble the opposition. It is currently far too easy to defend against Arsenal and if this issue is not addressed soon, the Gunners will struggle this season. Despite appearing to be very calm in the post-match interviews, Wenger must surely realise that this squad of players, playing as they currently are, is just not good enough to succeed or even compete at the highest level of the game, which is where Arsenal Football Club should always aspire to be.