Ranking Arsenal's Attacking Options on Their Goalscoring Threat
Arsenal’s attacking options have been the subject of significant scrutiny in recent weeks. Of the Gunners’ meagre three Premier League goals, two have been scored inadvertently by opposition defenders. If Arsenal’s title challenge is to spark into life, their productivity in the final third must improve significantly.
In these piece, we analyse the current set of forwards at Arsene Wenger’s disposal and rank them in terms of the attacking threat they pose the opposition. That’s not a purely statistical assessment based on the number of goals they score, although that is obviously a factor. It’s also an appraisal of the trouble they give defences beyond simply sticking the ball in the net—factors that might allow the team to profit in other ways.
The five strikers chosen for inclusion in the ranking are Joel Campbell, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Olivier Giroud, Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott. Oxlade-Chamberlain qualifies as, although he is not technically a striker, he almost exclusively takes up one of the wide positions in the front three. The likes of Aaron Ramsey, Jack Wilshere and Mesut Ozil are not included as they are predominantly midfield players, whereas Danny Welbeck is left out on the grounds that he is not currently available to Wenger.
Read on to discover the proposed ranking of Arsenal’s attacking options.
5. Joel Campbell
1 of 5
It’s quite surprising that Joel Campbell is still at Arsenal. After embarking on his fourth loan spell last season, it seemed he was destined for a permanent exit. However, Danny Welbeck’s injury seems to have opened the door for him at the Emirates Stadium. Campbell is in from the cold and has a chance to make a claim for a place in the first-team squad.
It would also be a surprise if he were able to take it. According to Squawka, he made four Premier League appearances last season, failing to muster a single shot. After that, his time with Villarreal yielded just a single goal. There are no indications as yet that Campbell has the making of a prolific Premier League striker.
If he does find his way into the Arsenal team, it’s most likely to be on the flanks. There he can use his pace and trickery to trouble the opposition full-backs. However, the danger is that his desire to make an impression leads to selfishness. On his few cameos last season, Campbell showed a troubling tendency to take on a daunting dribble when other team-mates were better placed. That contributes to his lowly standings in these rankings.
4. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain
2 of 5
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has the talent to figure higher on this list. It’s easier to list the attributes he doesn’t have than those he does: He is an all-round player with the makings of a star.
At his best, he is reminiscent of Alexis Sanchez, tearing away from markers with pace, power and no little skill. The main difference between the Englishman and the Chilean is their ability to convert that into tangible end product. For all his ability, Oxlade-Chamberlain managed just one Premier League goal last season.
That’s not good enough for someone with his quality. Technique is not the issue here—it’s composure and positioning. Oxlade-Chamberlain has tremendous shooting ability, but as he has grown conscious of his inadequate contribution his finishing has become more erratic. The inference is that nerves have begun to set in.
He could also do with improving his movement inside the penalty area. If he is to play as one of Arsenal’s front three, he needs to take up dangerous positions more frequently.
3. Theo Walcott
3 of 5
On his day, there is no more dangerous player in the Arsenal squad than Theo Walcott. Unfortunately, his day doesn’t come round quite often enough.
Walcott’s main threat is obvious: pace. There are few defenders in world football who can keep up with him when he hits maximum speed. His movement is intelligent, too, especially when he plays from a wide position. He has an uncanny ability to find space in the corridor between the full-back and the centre-half.
However, that’s where the problem lies. This season, Arsene Wenger seems determined to deploy Walcott as a centre-forward. That reduces his greatest threat: his ability to sprint onto the ball from deep. Instead, Walcott is tasked with things far less suited to his natural skill set, like attempting to hold the ball up and bring others into play.
Unless Walcott is restored to the right, his threat will remain dulled until he adapts to his new role.
2. Olivier Giroud
4 of 5
Olivier Giroud is often castigated for lacking one particular attribute: pace. However, that fails to take into account the multi-faceted threat that he does offer.
He’s strong in the air, makes excellent darting runs and is by no means a poor finisher. He also contributes enormously to Arsenal’s attacking threat by providing a pivot for other players to operate off. Giroud is an expert at holding the ball up and laying it off to runners from deep. The likes of Aaron Ramsey and Alexis Sanchez thrive off his delicate service, making him invaluable to Arsenal’s attacking play.
Giroud provides a significant individual threat, but he also improves Arsenal’s collective offering. That’s why he figures above Walcott in this list.
1. Alexis Sanchez
5 of 5
There is no player at Arsenal who provides a greater attacking threat than Alexis Sanchez.
Although the Gunners conventionally line up with a three-man front line, there are times when the Chilean resembles a one-man attack. He tears about the pitch like a Tasmanian devil, eating up the ground and leaving defenders in his wake.
If Arsenal need someone to change a game single-handedly, it’s Alexis they turn to. He has the ability to embark on a dazzling dribble or unleash a devastating shot from range. He can do it in the big games, too—last season, he capped a tremendous campaign by scoring with a thunderbolt in the FA Cup final.
Alexis is the complete forward—not even heading the ball is beyond him. Despite his height, he leaps above defenders to win aerial duels when required.
He’s a goalscorer and a creator, a team-player and a maverick. If Arsenal’s attacking performances are to improve in 2015/16, you can bet that Alexis will be at the heart of them.
.jpg?w=600 "Colts Release Kenny Moore")
