2 days ago, Arsenal was lucky to take a point from a trip to Leicester.
The finger was pointed at Yaya Sanogo in his first game since Giroud's injury. Sanogo's touch and decision making was poor, as attack after attack ended with him.
To be fair to Sanogo, I thought he was scapegoated somewhat. He was getting the ball constantly because he was working hard, making good runs into good positions, but he struggled to deal with the physicality of Liam Moore and Wes Morgan. But young Yaya was far from the only Arsenal player to have a poor match.
Most of the team struggled Sunday. Mesut Ozil put in a completely forgettable shift on the wing, and Aaron Ramsey's passing continued to be over-ambitious and wasteful.
The tactics employed (a 4-1-4-1 which looked more like a 4-1-5 as all 4 attacking midfielders pushed forward without caution) didn't help our cause either. I feel Wenger is perhaps too worried about scoring goals, especially now that Giroud is injured until January, and he instructed the team to push recklessly far forward. Flamini was the lone anchoring midfielder as the rest of the "midfield" didn't seem to have any defensive responsibilities. The gap between was enormous. On top of that, both fullbacks were encouraged to push forward as well, which left the team very vulnerable to the counter-attack.
Indeed, Leicester's goal came on the counter just a few minutes after Alexis Sanchez scored the opening goal. Leicester's Jeffrey Schlupp caught Debuchy out of position and bombed down our right flank, and his cross found Leonardo Ulloa who headed home with ease from a great position over a dazed and confused Laurent Koscielny.
Frankly, Koscielny should not have been on the pitch for the goal. He was finally subbed off shortly after, but he clearly was not at his best and the team paid the price. Had Koscielny been subbed off as soon as the injury occurred, Callum Chambers would have come in and Mertesacker would have slotted into Koscielny's spot in the left-center of the defense. Not only might Chambers have been more quick to defend Schlupp's cross, Mertesacker would surely have been more alert to Ulloa's position to defend the header.
Either way, the Leicester equalizer came from a mistake from the Arsenal sideline. The tactics and the decision to leave Koscielny on when he needed to come off were punished by the home side.
Leicester were dangerous on the counter for the entire match, to be fair, even after Koscielny had subbed off. Ulloa missed a golden chance to take the lead after Chambers slid in naively and missed the ball. And Szczesny made a fantastic late save which saved two points. But fingers were pointed at Sanogo as the focal point of the Arsenal attack.
Arsenal dominated possession but failed to create many good chances. Of Arsenal's 24 shots, over half were blocked by Leicester's defenders. The build-up was too slow, too predictable, and not wide enough to open holes in the Leicester defense.
The away fans sang "Sign a f-ing striker" to Wenger when the match ended, and Wenger obliged yesterday.
We've signed Danny Welbeck.
"Not good enough!"
"20 goals in over 120 appearances!"
"Man United has never sold us a good player, its Silvestre all over again!"
Now, I'll be the first to admit I'm never afraid to criticize Wenger and the club (just look to my analysis of our tactics against Leicester above). But sometimes I think a portion of Arsenal supporters are bound and determined to never be pleased, no matter what.
The fact is, Welbeck had the 4th highest goals/minute ratio in the EPL last year, despite most of those minutes being out on the wing. He's an experienced England international and he's just 23 years old. He is proven in the Premier League and could really grow when given an extended period of time in his favored center forward position. Time he will get at Arsenal thanks to Giroud's injury.
Welbeck is a huge upgrade on Sanogo, and for those complaining about the fee, he cost just 4 million more than Shane Long. He was roughly half the cost of Romelu Lukaku, and brings nearly all the same attributes. He's extremely athletic, strong enough to hold off defenders and fast enough to run by them. He links up well with midfielders. He works very hard for the team. And he scores goals from the center forward position.
18 months ago Daniel Sturridge, aged 23, moved to Liverpool from Chelsea for 20m after a series of underwhelming performances on the wing for the Blues. When given a chance and an extended period of games in his favored position, he became a 20-goal a season striker.
I don't see any reason why Welbeck can't make a similar leap.
Arsenal may have underwhelmed a large portion of its fanbase last night (and some would say the anger was directed more towards the club for neglecting to add defensive cover to the team--but more on that to come later this week). At the end of the day, the most pressing need for Arsenal was at forward, due to Giroud's injury. We desperately needed a striker who could play right away. We got one from a Premier League rival, on a permanent deal, who is still young and should be able to contribute immediately.
Welbeck is a fantastic signing for this club and I'm delighted we've signed him.
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