I think it is clear that Wenger wants to add another striker to the squad. We know we made an accepted bid for Vardy but failed to get him to sign a contract. And the rumours about Higuan and Lacazzete seem to have had some weight to them even if ultimately the price has stopped the deals. Even if the rumours about those two, Morata and others have just been paper talk, I think the bid for Vardy showed Wenger would like another option up top. I don't think he has lost faith in Giroud who he puts a lot of faith in, but I do think he would like us to have another option up front, a quicker, more technical striker to compliment the target man Giroud when needed and to replace him when tactics require it. If we got the right man I think Giroud would become second choice and our tactics would change a bit. Wenger tried to sign Suarez before his move to Barca and I think that is the exact style of player he would like to get, though I think he would settle for a pacey poacher or improved version of Giroud like a Lewandowski. After failing to get Suarez he signed Sanchez. Sanchez shares a lot of the same attributes as Suarez in terms of fighting spirit, determination, skill with the ball at his feet, competitive edge and an ability and sometimes selfishness to go for goal. I think Wenger saw Sanchez as a possible striker option, but still had the image of Giroud and Walcott fulfilling that role. And Sanchez excelled in the wide positions. With no new striker arriving yet though it seems Wenger is preferring to go with Sanchez through the middle instead of Walcott. Believing he can turn into that Suarez-esque player. Yet still bigs up Walcotts stats when given the chance through the middle. I can completely see why he believes Sanchez could be a CF. The similarities with Suarez and his eye for goal would give the logical thought process that he could be turned into a proper striker and Wenger has form for turning players into strikers. Yet in practice he has looked completely lost when played in this position for Arsenal. He hasn't made the right runs, comes out wide constantly to get the ball and just looks uncomfortable. If we fail to sign the striker we all hope we get in, do you think Wenger will persist with Sanchez through the middle as the alternative to Giroud when he isn't available or doesn't suit a game? Or do you think he will revert to giving Walcott those chances? And which way would you go? Do you think given time and direction Sanchez can fill that role? Do we have that time to spare? Or would you go with Walcott and keep Sanchez wide? Obviously we all want a new striker, but if that fails to materialise I'd be interested to see what people think about how best to use our current options.
I'd agree. He has certain attributes that make me understand why Wenger may see him as an option but I think he is far more effective on the wing and looks lost when we play him down the middle. My personal preference if we don't sign a striker would be to make Walcott the back-up striker. When him and Giroud were both fit and confident they really pushed each other and had good competition for the CF spot, getting good returns. If we haven't got a new striker in, while Welbeck is injured I hope we can recapture that competition and form. I also think Walcott can drift in and out of games, so when he is on the wing it sometimes results in too much play going down the opposite wing and him being nullified, particularly if a team sits back against us. If he was down the middle at least the creativity and options are more open down both wings giving us greater attacking diversity. If he goes anonymous for a while but makes the right runs and finishes his chances as a CF that is much more useful to us than when he is off form or quiet out wide. I also think in games when we have to sit back and play a defensive, counter attacking game, like we have in recent seasons to great effect against City, Walcott can be the perfect outlet. Obviously neither Walcott or Sanchez are an ideal solution and I'd like us to sign another striker but given the options we have I'd go with Walcott down the middle over Sanchez down the middle when Giroud isn't available or the right choice for the opposition. I had just wanted to see what others thought before giving my own opinion! But I've done it now lol. And since Wenger has gone for the Sanchez option so far and most of us fans haven't been happy with the results I wondered what others would do if we don't get reinforcements in.
All that said though, I do worry Wenger may persist with Sanchez over Walcott as the back-up striker option if we don't sign a new striker.
It's depressing that Wenger wants to use our best creative attacking midfielder in a position that doesn't really suit him.
Comparing Suarez and Sanchez is nonsensical. Suarez is a pure CF, who is the best in the business at making runs in behind. Sanchez is someone who always goes where the ball is, he can never do a job as a CF in our system. Wenger would be an utter moron if he continiues to try and play Sanchez as a CF.
He did the exact same thing with Arshavin and that didn't work. He's always trying to fit square pegs into round holes and this is another example of it. He's trying to convert a well established creative winger into a CF because he doesn't want to spend the market rate for a cf. But I do agree with you, by pulling our best winger out of position for a desperate experiment won't do us any favours. The quicker he stops it the better.
Sanchez just doesn't understand the role. His positioning/movement is wrong and at 27 years old it seems unlikely he'll be converted into a Top class striker.
You hit it on the head. He just doesn't think as a CF. He is a career winger who has an eye for goal. But Wenger seems to think he can convert any player. There is a reason why a player excels at a particular position, he is just better suited there, but he stubbornly refuses to accept that.
I also think that Sanchez isn't a CF, imo the only way he'd ever work in that role is if we bought some good attacking wide forwards to interchange with him to create a very fluid, fast and dangerous front 3 - kindof like what Liverpool had with Suarez, Sturridge and Sterling. Then when Sanchez wants to drift wide, we'd have a wide forward to make a driving run into the box. But if we were going to buy a wide forward, we might as well buy a striker and stick Sanchez in his best position!
If you don't get another striker then you're better off using Theo as the 2nd CF and play Sanchez in his preferred position where he can influence play and have an impact. Walcott has pace and can finish, so it should push defenses back and create space for all of your AM's. If you play Sanchez as CF then his contribution is massively diminished, and Walcott on the wing does not contribute nearly as much as Sanchez would in that position...
Sanchez does not have the physicality to play the lone striker. He is like 5 ft 6 or some ****, so he isn't going to win any balls in the air, and he probably weighs about 90 lb when wet, so he isn't going to be holding up the ball. Henry switched from a winger to a striker, but Henry was henched and was like 6ft 3 or something wasn't he? You lose so much more by moving Sanchez out of position, he is a winger, and damned good one.
