Arsenal FC: Why Ju Young Park Can Be the Poacher the Gunners Need

Ever since Eduardo left Arsenal in unfortunate circumstances after breaking his leg, the Gunners have lacked a true poacher.

Arsenal have certainly had goal scorers in the squad, as Robin van Persie's incredible run since January 1 has shown. Other players have picked up some of the burden, like Theo Walcott and the mercenary Samir Nasri.

But it has been apparent since the departure of Eduardo that the element of a player like Javier Hernandez, whose single purpose in life is to make a football hit the back of a net, has been sorely missing.

If Arsenal had this type of player, their endless and infuriating passing around the penalty box might turn into more goals, and one of those aimless passes might find a player who actually wants to shoot.

Well, Arsenal fans can now feel that they have this player in their least-celebrated deadline-day signing, Ju Young Park.

Though he has not been extensively used since his arrival at Arsenal, Park's last appearance against Bolton in the Carling Cup showed a lot of promise.

Park's finish for the eventual winner was sublime, and his complete display prompted Arsene Wenger to proclaim that his new striker is ready for the Premier League.

And it is his finishing, the key attribute of a poacher, that makes Park such a valuable player. Though he has not been able to show it as much in an Arsenal shirt, his displays for Monaco and South Korea indicate that he is a great instinctual finisher.

When a ball is played into the box, Park always just seems to be there, waiting to pounce. When he has the ball, he looks to score, rather than pick an easier pass.

We got a bit of a taste of this aggressiveness against Bolton. When Andrei Arshavin played Park into the box, he was not in a prime position to shoot, but he executed a delightful flick with his right foot to curl a beauty into the far post.

The finish was reminiscent of Thierry Henry, Robert Pires and Freddie Ljungberg—some of the greatest Arsenal finishers of the past decade.

While I am by no means saying that our obscure South Korean deadline-day signing will be of the caliber of the aforementioned trio of legends, he certainly has the ability to reinvigorate the Arsenal attack.

More importantly, he can prove to be a very good backup—or even partner—to Robin van Persie, while preventing Marouane Chamakh from getting anywhere near the pitch in big games, at least until he finds something resembling good form.

Suddenly, draws will turn into victories and losses into valuable points because of our very own pesky poacher, with the scoring mentality of Javier Hernandez and the work ethic of Park Ji-Sung.

In the end, it might actually be the most obscure signing of the summer that provides the most value for his transfer fee.

If Ju Young Park can continue his progression at this good pace, he may even prove to be the difference between Champions League bliss and long, cold Europa League nights.

And, as most would agree, that would be among the greatest gifts the club could receive this season.

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