The return of Eduardo- straight into the lineup?

While a lot has been made and said of Arsenal’s lack of strength-in-depth and the lack of true quality players as backup the club’s starting eleven (though this may have been somewhat quashed by Tuesday’s dazzling 6-0 Carling Cup thrashing of Sheffield United), one player’s quality in the Arsenal artillery has never been in doubt.

Brazilian-born Eduardo had been hailed by Arsenal boss Arsène Wenger as the Premier League’s most lethal finisher. Although this may seem slightly biased, especially considering that it came from none other than the man who signed the 25 year-old Croatian international for a fee in excess of £7 million, OPTA statistics have certainly shown that Eduardo was among the top three players in terms of chances converted prior to his horror injury at Birmingham in February. Indeed, Eduardo has received rave reviews from various other directions, including his international manager, Slaven Bilic and well-renowned Sky Sports co-commentator and match summariser Andy Gray, a prolific striker himself from back in the day.

The real question that Wenger must have surely began pondering in preparation of Eduardo’s pre-Christmas return is should Eduardo be given a place straight in the starting lineup, i.e. ahead of Emmanuel Adebayor or Robin van Persie? A dilemma indeed!

In order to answer that question, I suppose each of the aforementioned players’ virtues and limitations should be examined firmly under the microscope.

The Adebayor-van Persie partnership certainly seemed to be Wenger’s “fantasy” combination during pre-season and in the early weeks of the current campaign. However, whether this was out of choice or simply due to the circumstances of Eduardo’s absence is not entirely known.

Looking at the simple facts, Adebayor has been our most prolific striker over the past twelve months. But does this grant him an automatic first team starting place, especially after an inconsistent start to the season, not forgetting his summer flirtings with some of Europe’s biggest clubs and how a credible chunk of the supporters have yet to forgive him? The Arsenal fans’ views of Adebayor have certainly been mixed from day 1, where I have personally seen people switch from adoring his power and goalscorer’s instincts to absolutely crying in anguish over how many offsides the man is capable of generating per match in a matter of minutes.

However, there is no doubting that Adebayor’s bargain signing three summers ago has definitely benefited the team, regardless of whether or not Thierry Henry would have remained at the club. I for one could not believe the number of headers Arsenal have managed to score in the Premier League last season. Always roundly criticised by the media, punditry and rival supporters for never attempting to cross the ball during the Henry golden era, I was disappointed and surprised that Wenger and his team did not then get the due credit they have deserved for making use of crossing balls into the box, and scoring the most number of headers amongst the twenty top flight teams in 2007-2008. Adebayor has certainly been the major contributor of such an improvement.

Van Persie has always been known for his technique, flair and ability to create space for teammates and chances for himself from virtually out of nothing, and he has shown glimpses of that this season for both, club and country. Nevertheless, Eduardo is very much a player of similar attributes, where his finishing is arguably seen as more clinical than that of the Dutchman’s. And so in many ways both, Eduardo and van Persie are seen as perfect foils to playing just off Adebayor as a supporting striker, providing the perfect link between the midfield and the Togolese giant, whilst also cashing in on their striker’s finishing instincts.

I guess that from such analysis I am implying the importance of Adebayor in the starting eleven, and indeed I am for many of the physical attributes and heading ability that I have already alluded to, as well as his decent all-round finishing, as his thirty strikes in forty-eight appearances last term testify.

That leaves van Persie and Eduardo to battle it out for the second striker’s spot. With both players similar in their physical make-up, timing of their runs, finishing abilities and versatility in that they can both run at defences from deep, providing useful outlets in a packed midfield during tricky away trips in Europe and the northwest of England, it is difficult to answer that question from an objective viewpoint; not until both are fit and available, which will in itself be a novelty. Only once both players are used in matches in succession and overall team performances and results are assessed will we be able to make a reasoned judgement on who is best suited as a starter for a long domestic and European campaign.

Rest assured that Eduardo will be eased back in slowly but surely, and will probably be used in domestic cup ties and “dead rubbers” in the Champions’ League group stage, as Wenger has always been an advocate of stability and not tinkering with the Premier League lineup when things have gone well, not until he is forced to.

A crucial point about Eduardo’s lethal ability with the ball at his feet six yards out from goal is that physical freshness and strength are not as crucially important in such situations as confidence and speed of thought, both of which he’s got aplenty. In that sense, Eduardo would be a brilliant choice as a starter and impact substitute, just getting into those positions that the players who have started the match would not have been able to pick up on.

A final point to make is the importance of squad rotation, and being able to utilise your players’ skills at the right time and for the right purpose. Manchester United may indeed have a strikeforce worth £100 million; however, after a close analysis of Arsenal’s strikers, you will find that they have indeed got similar qualities and firepower in them, and have, amazingly, cost just over a tenth of what Sir Alex Ferguson has spent!

With the qualities of the mentioned players, as well as a fast-improving Nicklas Bendtner and the highly rated Carlos Vela, it promises to be excitement and drama all the way for the Gunners, whoever starts which match.