And They Became TWO!!!

That's the best way I can sum up Arsenal Football Club's early foray into the transfer market this summer. Oops! Where are my manners? Today, I stumbled on an enlightening comment and I'd like to share that comment as well as my personal opinion (I know, I know, you don't want to hear or read it...but it's my blog, remember?). It's Sports TUESDAY!!! Or rather ARSENAL Tuesday!!! Yipee!!!

So - lexical blunder Live with it :) - as we are in a world of 24 hour news, I tried to get the latest that had been happening with my darling club Arsenal FC since yesterday when I last checked and boy, was there something! Oliver Giroud (YES! OG) had completed his medical yesterday and except Her Majesty, The Queen suddenly decides to change her Nationality and become a Tanzanian, the deal is done and dusted. Then I asked myself the same question all Arsenal fans have been asking with bated breath since the end of the Premier League Season: Is this enough to tie Van Persie down?

Analysts in some quarters believe that Arsenal would boast of a new-look frontline of Podolski-Giroud-RVP next season and they might not be wrong considering the fact that RVP (and indeed his Oranje Teammates) did himself no favours with his lukewarm performance at the ongoing Euro 2012. But I ask myself the question, is Arsene Wenger finally grabbing the bull by the scruff of the neck and signing the players we so desperately need because he's sure that RVP's name wouldn't be on the Arsenal teamlist for next season?

Well, this post is about examining the virtues of newboy, OG and trying to determine iff he's the attacking presence we needed all of last season. Yes, RVP scored and assisted about 50 goals last season but most times, he couldn't just push his way past defenders like other strikers from the other teams which I wouldn't dare mention.

Here's the comment that birthed this post:

As far as being a replacement for RVP I don't understand why people don't consider the idea of forcing him to run down his contract. We don't need the money we damn well do need a striker who scored and assisted 50 goals in one season. I'll never forgive the board or Wenger for not doing that should RVP decide he wants to leave. 30+ million is not going to satisfy that disappointment and what RVP wants is irrelevant because we own him for another season and there is no chance in hell will sulk given his status amongst the fans and his own desire to be seen as one of the best strikers in the world.
We keep him, end of story.

I have no idea how Giroud or Podolski will turn out, but I really hope Wenger doesn't clown around with them too much and play Giroud as a right winger or something like that. People above me have said Walcott is a winger, he's not, he's a striker who has had very mixed performances on the wing. Chamberlain is an attacking midfielder who works well on the wing too.

Look, the simple fact of Chamakh is he has an amazing header, a bullet of a head as good as RVP's left foot but we don't have anyone in the team apart from Jenkinson who can cross balls consistently to cater for his talents. We made Chamakh look crap by not playing to his strengths. He's not a ball playing striker, he hasn't got great feet and frankly he looked lost trying to play the sort of game he was instructed to by being told to always look to bring the midfielders into play and dropping deep, when his natural style was to hang off the shoulders of defenders and attack high crosses, which we simply don't do with any regularity or accuracy. He's a plan B striker playing for a team with no plan B.

What we now have with Giroud and Podolski is two strikers who will turn up in the right place at the right time in the box. I watched Montpellier a lot last season. Giroud was always the first player to get to loose balls in the box and I can tell you he misses a lot of very easy chances, seriously a lot but the fact he can legally outmuscle defenders, knows where the ball is likely to appear makes him dangerous and unlike someone like RVP he doesn't take more than one touch, he doesn't try to bring a ball down and try to play past a defender he hits it first time with whichever appendage is closest to the ball with very mixed results I have to say but he will put fear in Premier league defenders because they won't be able to crowd him too much because he doesn't dawdle in the box.

I just hope we play to his strengths and not try to change his game to our usual "pass the ball into the net" type game. He'll get us goals if we allow him the freedom to just hit ball first time when he gets it. He'll miss a lot because he usually does, but with Podolski also the type of player who turns up out of nowhere in the box we're going to see a lot of scrappy goals next season but it's about time we had players willing to blast the ball goalwards when they get it.

 The comment came from Desmond Kreijne and I agree completely. If indeed we do keep RVP, then we could be looking at the beginning of a revolution. I said beginning because, I still don't believe the team has what it takes to win the league or the FA Cup right now...But it could give us a nudge in the right direction.

I'd been making the calls for Arsene to sign players who know what it feels like to win a trophy; players who know what it feels like to fight for a trophy; players that won't buckle under pressure and I think that message is sinking in already. We have championship winners in Gervinho, Podolski and Giroud. RVP won the FA Cup (incidentally his only Arsenal Trophy) in 2005 and he'd won the Euro Cup with Feyenoord. We now have Arteta, Wilshere and The Ox who are fearless and consistent performers.

Add to that, last season's most improved Premier League Goalkeeper (Szcezesny) and Defender (Koscielny) - in my opinion - and I'd say we have eight payers who we can turn to when we need steel, resolve and determination to defend a 1 goal lead or break a deadlock!!!

I look forward as I have for the past 6 seasons to another exciting season for Arsenal.