Arsenal's changed team chemistry: Red Detective's view
|Neither Lukas Podolski nor Olivier Giroud can do what Robin van Persie can.
Neither have feet that time after time will pluck amazing goals from the sky, like van Persie could do against Everton on Arsenal’s 125th anniversary.
Neither glide brilliantly to create a split second of a gap for a curling thunderbolt – but then again, he cannot do what they can.
Podolski can run past defenders, whilst Giroud can withstand them. In some ways Wenger has replaced the huge hole van Persie leaves with the talents of two players.
When Anelka left, Wenger brought in Suker and Henry. One for now and one for later. This time we have two for now.
Giroud is taller, blockier, and harder. Van Persie, long limbed and slippery, rarely overpowers opponents with physical strength. He relies on his quick mind, sharp turns and wand-like left foot.
When Fábregas and Nasri left he became the focal point of Arsenal’s game, but the team had lost a degree of technical ability to retain possession at the level it had.
Under pressure from organised teams quick to smother and choke Ramsey or Walcott on the ball, the Dutchman would sometimes be fired passes from midfield he could not retain.
Rather, he wants more adept midfielders that can move the ball left to right, to find him in a yard of space so he can arrow a bullet shot. Arsenal now have Podolski and Giroud as their forward line. Two players about to walk into an ocean of pressure as primary forwards for London’s biggest team. They need to settle, score, succeed ever quicker now.
The European leagues have less differences than in the past with the influx of foreign players, so I do expect them to settle fairly soon.
Both have muscular builds, good temperaments and a background of success. Podolski cannot be said not to have succeeded having contributed so much to his country, whilst Giroud has just won Ligue 1.
Winners breed confidence which breeds winning. Santi Cazorla’s international CV means I add him to this list. He’s the smallest player at the club I think I have ever seen. Smaller than Andrei Arshavin and Nelson Vivas, I believe. He is tough for his height and has the presence of a player that has succeeded. He raises the standard of players around him because they will run down the channel when they know he can find them. Add his passing to Arteta or Wilshere’s, and you see the team looks like it could return to the Cesc-era of possession-control.
The fact that Giroud and Podolski are power players, athletic and flexible, gives Arsenal a sharp ‘bite’ to its attack.
If Arsenal can be reliable at the back (which means not using Santos apart from easy home games) then I see a top 3 finish. You could see higher possession statistics than whatever they have been for some time.
One last word on Robin van Persie; no striker has thus far survived in any team alongside Rooney bar Ronaldo (a winger-hybrid). Rooney has enough assets to complicate and confuse managers’ how best to play him. He’s strong without being a target man, quick without being a sprinter and creative without being a number 10.
Robin, take it from me, you will not have it all your own way.
Follow me on Twitter @Detective82.
well since now we don’t have robin. I think we do need to have Batman around…anyone??…
spot on bro.
u have to say also , no 1 in this world ( except messi and ronaldo ) can replace him..!! so at least we brought 2 players which can minimize the damage left in our attack !!
u have to mention also in this article , that van persie move to old trafford highlight the point , that there is nooooo loyality in football anymore , just it is all about money !!! rvp had no shame , loyality , faith , respect ( saying in public wat he said )and trust in the club which supported him and trusted him during his 7 year injuries..1 good season , and he spit in the plate he ate from it and betrayed us !! so fuck him and forget him !!
hople poldi and giroud will do even better than him !! 2 young players with this quality in 1 rvp price ( 23 m.p.) !! not bad imo !!!!!
my only concern now is the defense..we need a full back which can play in either side…and if song will leave , we should get decent money , at least 20 millions and we can buy m’villa which is a proper defensive mid , and hopfully we can loan nuri sahin from madrid !!!
C.O.Y.G KEEP THE FAITH…….
hey we need Santos to improve our possesion game. Gibbs is still a year or two away from being the LB. All we need is a M’villa type player and we are in on the title. Inspite of VP doing his rubbish I see us being 1 and 2 with Shitty all season.
and Santi is our playmaker.
Think you will find that sukor was apart of the 98 double winning side along with platt berkamp wright veira and anelka. Henry joined in 99.
As for the rest I agree with you and I don’t think RVP has made the right decision and Manu have bought a player who is 1 due an injury and 2 doesn’t play well outside of the arsenal set up as prooved by his international form.
Fantastic article as always. Pretty much any striker playing for arsenal will get goals, and bar a few special goals, like Everton and Tottenham, a lot of his goals could have been scored by any striker. Whichever one of Podolski or Giroud plays the main striker role, i’d be confident that they’d get 20+ goals, should they play atleast 33 games during the PL season.
You undervalue Podolski. He has most of Van Persie’s attributes, but is much tougher and direct.
He was at his best in the summer, having suffered mentally from Cologne’s relegation and being asked to fulfil an unusual wide defensive role in midfield, neutralising like the likes of Robben.
He has a lot to prove and will never have had so many chances as ge gets at Arsenal. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him hit 20 goals plus in the league. I think Giroud will work more for the team than himself, but could still hit 15-20 goals, if not more.
We may have lost a star, but we have significantly strengthened the team.
u have to say also , no 1 in this world ( except messi and ronaldo ) can replace him..!! so at least we brought 2 players which can minimize the damage left in our attack !!
u have to mention also in this article , that van persie move to old trafford highlight the point , that there is nooooo loyality in football anymore , just it is all about money !!! rvp had no shame , loyality , faith , respect ( saying in public wat he said )and trust in the club which supported him and trusted him during his 7 year injuries..1 good season , and he spit in the plate he ate from it and betrayed us !! so fuck him and forget him !!
hope poldi and giroud will do even better than him !! 2 young players with this quality in 1 rvp price ( 23 m.p.) !! not bad imo !!!!!
my only concern now is the defense..we need a full back which can play in either side…and if song will leave , we should get decent money , at least 20 millions and we can buy m’villa which is a proper defensive mid , and hopfully we can loan nuri sahin from madrid !!!
C.O.Y.G KEEP THE FAITH…….
Totaly agree with sam!Podolski,in my opinon is as good as RVP if not better in terms of scoring goals
I have no doubt hell score alot of goals.
I watched the game today and have to say that comparing Giroud and Podolski to RVP is like comparing two Ford Mondeo’s to a Ferrari.
With RVP we would have won that game today.
I am not convinced at all by Giroud – no better than Chamakh or Bendtner.
With Song now gone also and Walcott seemingly off, these really are very dark days for Arsenal. I cant think of a weaker squad in the last 20 years.
Podolski is very good and we shouldn’t feel he is not as good as RVP yet. he needs time. For Giroud, he missed a sitter but everyone does that. RVP did gthe same against AC Milan when we needed him most.