Hello folks.
The Interlull continues to drag by, with most Arsenal players away on international duty. These include Calum Chambers (who made his first appearance for the Three Lions yesterday). Danny Welbeck was also involved in England's narrow 1-0 win over Norway, coming on as a substitute at around 70th minute mark. I later saw cries on Twitter that Welbeck deserved to become MoM for his performance, but that's not important for me. What matters is that Danny is alright and not down with this ankle injury. There are at least two more games ahead, though, so every our player will have enough time to get well and truly knackered.
We are yet to see the manager's take on our latest addition, as Arsene attends some kind of elite managers' get-together in Nyon. But Webeck has already given an interview to the official site. He said all the usual nicities and looked a decent chap, until he started using "we", referring to him as part of this Arsenal team. At this point he became a true hero for most our fans and a downright traitor for United (to put it mildly).
The interview aside, we also had an opportunity to look at Welbeck's departure through the eyes of a United fan. He talks at length about what Welbeck can bring to the side. I'll try dissecting it:
"Physically, Welbeck is a superb athlete, having an excellent combination of strength and mobility in addition to superb stamina. This makes it difficult to know how to defend against him because, although he prefers running in behind, he is very comfortable with his back to goal."
That's really good to hear. I suspect Welbeck will most likely be deployed as a target man in Giroud's absence, simply because we have Sanchez and Walcott, who excel at running in behind. Also, I'm not exactly sure Giroud will be first choice upon returning, but we'll cross that bridge when we get there.
On how technical Welbeck is with the ball at his feet:
"I'd say Danny's technique is on a similar level to Ramsey, very good though not on the elite level of the likes of Ozil and Wilshere. He is inconsistent when trying flicks and tricks but his passing, particularly in tight spaces, is top notch for a striker."
Someone duly noted that we haven't had a striker who can run with the ball since van Persie left. And you can see what they mean. I feel highly uneasy every time Giroud receives the ball facing the goal, to say nothing about Sanogo. To have a target man, who can also work with the ball is soothing. Another point scored for Danny.
On what weaknesses Welbeck has:
"Welbeck's main weakness, indeed I'd say his only truly major one, is his finishing, which admittedly is a pretty fundamental weakness for a striker. This isn't a matter of technique because if you look at the goals he has scored, there are a lot of high-quality finishes in there, it's more a combination of nerves and pressure."
He then goes on to elaborate this thought by saying Welbeck had to fight for his place with van Persie and Rooney, which forced him to rush his chances. What is surprising, is that Danny had a very good conversion rate, when given a run-out in his favoured central position in 2011-2012. He had a better conversion rate than Rooney and later van Persie. He also outstrips Giroud by quite some distance when it comes to putting chances away.
On Welbeck's wide role:
"This has been more about bad luck on Welbeck's part than anything else. Between 2008 and 2010 he played 24 games for United and eight more on loan at Preston before going on loan to Sunderland for a season. He got the chance to play up front in 2011/12 and generally did a very good job but then we signed Van Persie and that, combined with a lack of decent left-sided wingers meant that he was shifted wide, not unlike how Wilshere was shifted wide for Arsenal last season due to a combination of injuries and Ramsey's form."
I'm pretty sure we won't use Welbeck wide often. It'll definitely be madness now, when we have plenty other flank players and Giroud out. We'll see what happens upon the Frenchman's return, but asking Danny to play on the left with Cazorla, Podolski, Campbell and even Alexis in the squad will look odd, to say the least.
Finally, on how Giroud compares to Welbeck:
"Firstly his lack of mobility means he can't occupy both centre backs, which means the defence will always have a man spare to track runners from midfield. Secondly, his absolute refusal to countenance making a run behind the defence, whilst being stubbornness that Ian Paisley would be proud of, makes it so much easier for teams to press high against Arsenal, reducing the space that players like Ozil, Wilshere and Cazorla have to work in and putting more pressure on the defensive midfielder, which, whether it be Arteta or Flamini, is not something you really want."
Danny solves this problem, as he can run behind defenses, forcing centre-backs to be an alert. This in it's turn, allows Ozil and Co to operate more freely, which can cause immense problems to the opposition.
In other words, Welbeck sounds just the man we need. Not only in the short-term, but for years to come. If Wenger helps the Englishman to fulfil the potential the young man definitely has. If you feel like it, you can read the rest of the interview here.
That's it for now, back as soon as something new pops up.
Until later
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