I dunno about Podolski as a striker. He had done well there for Köln the season previous but that’s a massively different style of play/situation and for us he did indeed look pretty out of place at CF the few times he played there. Not sure he really had the movement/instincts of a striker, especially in a system where your team is on the front foot and facing a lower block.
The Alexis one is the one that just doesn’t make sense for me. One half against Everton. This season he tried him there by accident really, it worked, and he’s gone off it for who knows why. So weird when it’s so much easier to find a real good wide attacking player than it is to find someone who can perform as Alexis did at CF this season. And when Iwobi is already a superior player to Giroud/Welbeck. I wonder if Alexis wasn’t happy at CF? I think it’s just Wenger bullshit honestly, but have to at least suggest the possibility.
Lucas I don’t really care about, he may or may not have been able to play at CF given more time but once Alexis was there it was kinda irrelevant.
Yeh man, I agree with a lot of this, our CF options really are destroying my love for the game atm. At the very least Alexis brought a little excitement to the position even if he did drop deep too much.
Welbeck just seems to be constantly conforming to his national heritage, and Giroud, like you said, he takes an eternity to strike a fucking ball if it isn’t his first touch.
I know we joke about the likes of basic CF’s like Austin but goddamn I genuinely think Defoe would have been an immediate improvement for us in the last few years. People consistently praise Giroud yet negate the fact he’s playing in-front of perhaps the greatest creator in the world.
Lucas’s agent is quoted in this article saying that he has spoken to Arsenal about Lucas’s desire to leave and that Arsenal said they wouldn’t put up any obstacles to that happening. I imagine he’ll go back to Spain for a fee similar to what we paid.
Its frustrating that Wenger never gave him a chance. But at this point we might as well just recoup the fee and spend it on someone younger that he actually rates.
He was doomed the moment he was given the number 9 shirt. Such a shame considering when he did play, he contributed with some really decent goals and assists. Just seemed like a classic Wenger panic buy in the end, without really knowing what to do with him.
Haha an unknown entity from Spain was never going to be given a fair chance over Wenger bff’s like Theo and GIroud. The sooner we get the latter two out of the club the better. It is a shame for the bloke we genuinely wasted a prime year of his limited career.
I don’t see why people make such a mystery of Lucas. It was what @Maxi_Gooner said above. Alexis working as a striker was a death sentence for him in the end, as well as him not looking particularly interesting as a 9. He’s Lucas Perezski, he just came at a time when the squad wasn’t quite a shit as it was when Lukas Podolski came.
Welbeck was out for months, Sanchez was untried as a CF and we only had one striker in Giroud. A forward was needed at the time for depth purposes.
The emergence of Iwobi combined with Alexis playing well as a false 9 limited Perez’ chances ultimately. Fair play to him though as he was always sharp when called upon. Giroud also looked the better option coming off the bench and proved so which didnt help too.
Kinda leaves us stocked with average-to-good forwards at the moment though. I’d happily trade in two of our forwards for a world class striker.
This article says Lucas is likely to go to Sevilla, with Deportivo and Valencia also both interested.
We’ll probably get our fee back, which is perfectly fine with me. Actually, this is likely to just demonstrate the point that the only way to really lose in the transfer market is not to be involved (which, of course, Wenger has done quite a bit) since even when a player is a total bust he still usually recoups all or most of his fee (Benteke, Memphis, etc)
