Why Danny Welbeck Is Under Most Pressure for Arsenal After Brighton FA Cup Game

A resurgent, if defensively unstable, Arsenal fended off Brighton & Hove Albion's comeback to win 3-2 and progress to the fifth round of the FA Cup.

The result was significant, though expected. The Gunners avoided becoming yet another high-profile casualty in a weekend that saw the humbling of Manchester City, Chelsea and Tottenham. Arsenal are arguably the best team remaining and very well might repeat last year's victory.

But in the near term, it is more important to recognize certain individual performances and what they mean for a squad that does not yet have a set starting XI.

The three goalscorers, Mesut Ozil, Theo Walcott and Tomas Rosicky, shone especially brightly. All posed a threat to Danny Welbeck before the match and surely will have shoved him a bit further away from the first string after their respective performances.

Consider this: Welbeck played nearly every match for which he was fit during Olivier Giroud's absence earlier this season. But when the Frenchman returned, Welbeck was shunted to the wing and Giroud was put back up front.

Welbeck does not like to play on the wing, a key reason why he elected to leave Manchester United for north London. But he obviously prefers it to the bench, and he does not seem to be as good as Giroud at playing as a lone central striker.

Arsenal clearly look a more cohesive and complete attacking unit when Giroud provides a focal point. It is no surprise that Wenger prefers him to Welbeck.

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But, though he is relatively fast and an extremely hard worker, Welbeck is not a natural winger. It is no surprise that he does not stay in on the flank for an entire game when Wenger puts him there; he drifts centrally and rotates with Giroud and whoever Arsenal's attacking midfielder is on the day.

The problem for Welbeck and anyone else who is trying to play on Arsenal's wing is that there is really only one open spot. Alexis Sanchez commands one of the two spots that the Gunners' formation allows, and he has not needed much rest thus far.

Luckily, he can play on either the left or the right side. Arsenal now have a glut of in-form attacking midfielders, and Walcott's return complicates things further.

The prospect of Alexis on the left wing and Walcott on the right is tantalizing, and it's one that fans have long waited for. We have not seen it yet, and now that all three are finally fit at the same time, we might not for some time longer.

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That is because Santi Cazorla is in outstanding form and seems unable to do any wrong at the moment. His move to central attacking midfield in the last couple of months has allowed him to flourish, and it is even difficult to see Ozil's return displacing him.

But Welbeck's problems continue to mount. Rosicky was Arsenal's man of the match against Brighton, working exceptionally hard to manufacture chances and get into open spaces. As his stunning strike from the edge of the box indicates, he is still a significant goalscoring threat.

A player as dynamic as him, with such vast experience, is invaluable. While his 34 years probably preclude him from playing every game, he still has all of the quality that he did when he arrived at the club and merits more consideration than he has gotten for much of the season.

More importantly, though, Wenger has to resolve the Ozil question: Where can the jewel in Arsenal's crown play, given Cazorla's recent performances?

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Wenger tried to put him on the left wing at the beginning of the season, to disastrous effect. Ozil is not fast enough and does not track back enough to be successful on the flank, and he is a major defensive liability.

Shunting him to the flank effectively robs Arsenal of a left winger. Because Ozil is really a midfielder, he drifts into the center of the pitch to receive passes and distribute the ball, collaterally leaving a gaping hole on the wing for Kieran Gibbs to fill.

Ozil in the middle and Cazorla on the left is a much more effective combination, but the latter has been so effective in Ozil's spot that Wenger is left with a serious conundrum. If he uses both men in the same lineup, there will be no obvious place for Walcott given that Alexis will start.

This should worry and motivate Welbeck, who got injured at precisely the wrong time. It seems that his options are severely limited, as his only clear path to the starting XI necessitates unseating Giroud at striker.

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