The Arsenal Thread XXII

Not saying it wouldn't be fair. Saying we wouldn't pay it.

We have Markovic, Coutinho, Sterling, Lallana, Ibe who can all play in advanced roles.

If the oily lads at City or the Scousers want him for £30m, I would seriously consider it.

21, 22 , 20 , 26, 19. The age average is shocking lol

Coutinho plays as CAM doesn't he? Markovic is far from ready imo and arguably Ibe needs some time too. Sterling I'll give you that but Walcott would be an upgrade on 3 of the players you've mentioned.

You'll transition from playing nice football to actually scoring goals...

Na, Coutinho, Henderson are adding a goalscoring/efficient creative touch to their game. Sterling gets good stats as a winger/striker hybrid. Liverpool have had no decent striker for 6 months, now Sturridge is back they really don't need another goalscoring threat like Walcott, they need a physical but pacey threat who runs behind the defence regularly like Sturridge offers them.

Theo's at his ceiling but like Numan said so is Giroud. Giroud only has 1 good season left in him too considering his age where as Walcott has another 3 or 4 before he starts to slow down. Having said that, selling Theo now would be disasterous. He's such a powerful impact sub for us or even as a choice to start on the wings. We had Podolski last season for a direct finisher but we don't have him anymore so Theo is the only player in our squad who offers that directness really.

I would sell him if it meant we got Lacazette however.

Walcott was out for a year with injury. He's come back at a time when we are winning most of our games and we have a lot of forward players available so he's found it hard to break back into the team. In a way, that's a good thing. But we know he's a decent player and has plenty to offer the team, and earlier in the season when we weren't playing so well, the team - and the fans - were crying out for him.

Now suddenly Wenger has a vendetta against him? Or he has "attitude problems"? Besides demanding a better salary 2 years ago, Walcott has a perfect professional attitude. For once, some people in this thread really are living up to the "fickle arsenal fans" name that we seem to get (usually unfairly) tarred with by fans of other clubs on this forum.

I'll be traveling from Liverpool too

FWIW, I have always been dismissive of Theo's demeanor and attitude. Well, when I says 'always' I mean back from when he demanded the contract he has now a few years back. I just don't really like the guy. Is that ok?

I want to come out and defend Giroud from the haters really, those tossers on AFTV for example who shout bull**** at him from the stands.

Giroud will be fine for another few seasons. He does not rely on pace and his footballing brain is getting better. However, does not change the fact that a truly WC striker would really help, of course.

I see him as being similar to Drogba in terms of the role he plays and arriving quite late onto the big stage. People don't actually realise this too, but Giroud is actually physically more impressive than Drogba. Guy is two inches taller, guy looks every bit as physically strong. He has had to learn how to use his body more in the league but it is happening. If you have ever seen Giroud live, the guy could obviously be a doorman, but his pretty boy image is detrimental to him being the archetypal English CF. If he looked like a mean mug like Drogba can be, I think people would change their opinion very quickly about the type of striker he is.

The problem is people expect an Henry or at least a ready made WC replacement but how do we find one of these and not waste our money like a Falcao situation?

"If you eat caviar every day it's difficult to return to sausages." Wenger.

Wenger sums it up well. Arsenal fans are so used to the idea of once in a generation types of players like Henry that they forget that the guy was very special, very rare, Almas caviar. It is unfair on a guy like Giroud who is himself cut from one of the finest variety of sausages, much like Drogba, a sumptuous cuisine in itself. To be compared to the rarest of delicacies is unfair on someone very talented in his own right.

Drogba went to Chelsea at 26: Prem stats:
First season: 10 goals in 26
Second season: 12 in 29
Third season: 20 in 36
Fourth Season: 8 in 19
Fifth Season: 5 in 24
Sixth Season: 29 in 32
Seventh Season : 11 in 36
2011-2012: 5 in 24

Sooo, as we can see, Drogba reached his peak at 31-32, the 2009-2010 season when he scored 29 in 32. Am I saying Giroud is going to get there? No, I would not put money on that, but looking at Giroud I would think he has it in him to keep playing at a good consistent level up to that age.

Giroud's stats in the BPL:

First season: 11 in 34
Second season: 16 in 36
Third season: 10 in 17


As you can see from the stats, Giroud's progression is really quite obvious to see and in line with what you would expect for a striker at a high end club.

Drogba is ridiculously overrated he was not a top goalscorer but a clutch player. The problem with Giroud is that he doesn't score goals against the better teams when we need him most. Against Spurs and Monaco he flopped bad. We need a new striker and it looks likely Jackson Martinez could be the one who comes in the summer.

Giroud is just below one in two for the past two seasons, Drogba had a similar scoring record. And yet Giroud has got far more stick from the press and from our own fans. It is a load of *******s.

I don't even think Jackson Martinez is a WC solution, and he is 28 so would really need to start being world class straight away. To really move forward we need a Suarez, a Aguero, a Lewa. Someone who is proven to be able to take apart the biggest of teams when it matters the most. J.Martinez may turn out great, he may not, it is still a gamble.

I would say the best solution is simply to buy up and coming stars with big ceilings. Because nothing truly WC seems available on the market at the moment. Wenger can work his magic, it really depends on how high their ceilings turn out to be because we know that Wenger is an exceptional coach of players. What the recent transfer windows show is that it is pointless predicting who this will be, but the running theme seems to be that he thinks there is a shortage of genuinely amazing CF/ST in the European game.

I'd take Walcott at Chelsea tbh, very good finisher or at least was before his injury haven't seen him much since he returned. Swear he's better playing as a striker though, his decision making when out wide hasn't always seemed the best although I don't watch him week in week out tbf.

Nah Lacazette is too expensive for Arsenal now

Drogba is clutch and Giroud isn't that's the difference. So who do you buy then? Saido Berahino? Paulo Dybala? I don't believe Wenger is an exceptional coach and he's leaving in 2 years max so he is not going to win anything most likely maybe an FA Cup at best.

Not too expensive, but there may be better options than Arsenal yeah.

Wenger isn't paying £30m for a player who's had one better-than-good season.