It might just have been 360 minutes game time played already this season, out of a total maximum number of 3420 minutes game time that will be played this season, but it is quite evident how the season is going to pan out at the end for Arsenal if Wenger don’t do the needful in the next 24 hours more or less- which is to BUY A &%$& STRIKER! With just 3 goals scored (two of those goals generously scored by their respective opponents), the Gunners are badly (I mean BADLY) in need of a proven goal scorer.
It’s like déjà vu, for the past 3 years, Arsenal has always been in need of a striker. The problem; Wenger doesn’t seem to buy into that idea until now, if you believe the rumour mill surrounding the chase for Benzema on Twitter. Here we are again, on the penultimate day the transfer shiny windows is going to be slammed for the next 120 days, the fans are hoping against all hope that Oliver Giroud’s face will be prominent no more as the season nudge on.
The weekend’s game against Newcastle illustrated how Arsenal cannot afford not to buy a striker, the proverbial 30 goal a season striker, if they really want to challenge for the Premier League this season. The stats were grim; 68.4% possession, 22 shots (9 on target) but only ONE goal, a deflected goal, scored by Arsenal against a Newcastle side that was down to 10 men as early as the 16th minute. Walcott, who started in place of the aforementioned Giroud, missed two gilt-edged chances in the first half. Aside the misses, his overall hold up play as a top 9 (he was completely anonymous for the better part of the game) has put paid to his claim as one.
The good news, the gaffer has actually admitted albeit in hushed tones coupled with the fabled Benzema story that he’s in need of a credible striker. The bad news; there are almost none available at this late hour. That’s not to say Arsene is not to blame for this; he had the early summer transfer window to get the desired striker Arsenal supporters have been crying for, most notably Jackson Martinez, who was available for just about a bargain price. Yesterday, he (Jackson) showed what the Gunners were missing when he came on as a substitute, late in the game in the La Liga clash against Sevilla, for Atletico Madrid to score a great goal (a curl at the front of the box), the kind of goal that will make Arsenal’s current strikers scratch their non- lethal legs with envy.
It’s not too late though, strikers still abound out there, never mind my earlier admission. Monsieur Wenger needs to open his ‘cech’ book once again this summer and get that striker! The clock is ticking…
