Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: “I always say it’s their year but there is a genuine buzz around the place right now. “I think they can challenge this year for real if they stay injury-free. “Giroud alone as a striker there – you can’t win the league, you need another type of striker. I think Giroud is doing really well - he went on to score 14 goals in 18 games, that’s amazing. “But sometimes you need a different type of striker and I think that if they can get Benzema, suddenly they are a real title contender and also in the Champions League.” Anyone agree with Henry?
Totally agree with Henry, its been obvious for the last few seasons that we need a world class striker.
Hmm, it's not like I and other posters here keep on saying this repeatedly but we are considered whingers. If we go into September without buying another striker then we can kiss a title challenge goodbye.
My aim was to see how many of us still think we need a top striker to win the Prem. Personally i agree with Henry, as the team stands, we will be competitive and I think we can challenge. But getting a top striker will massively boost our chances. Every successful Wenger team that won the Prem title had a CF that blasted a shed load of goals, but it was a particular type of striker we had that did it. A Wenger team needs someone who is pacey, powerful and skillful, like a Benzema, Aguero, Cavani etc. We have someone pacey in Walcott, but he doesn't have the power or trickery to hold off players like a Henry or Anelka. Giroud has a good game but he just isn't quick enough or a goal machine, he is a ~15 goal a season type of player. I do hope i'm wrong and Giroud and Walcott blast a load of goals between them, in the CF spot
I think we are good enough now, but there is no doubt that we need another striker to rotate with Giroud, as our other options are not good enough for our style of play.
I'm happy at how our squad looks and the way we play. We will be competitive, that's for sure. I do think Wenger wants a new striker and I reckon he was looking, but his main target(s) were probably not available or going for silly money. For me it depends on who can provide that support/difference in the CF role, when we want to change up from Giroud. One of Walcott, Sanchez or Welbeck will have to make a significant impact in the CF role this season, to give us an edge. Walcott is great on the right and taking on players on the flanks with his pace, but at CF he needs to have strength to hold off CDs, and i'm not sure he has. Welbeck seems to have more strength and pace, but his finishing isn't up to scratch. Sanchez, i'm not so sure, will need to see more of him in the CF position. If we could fuse Walcott and Welbeck together, then we would make a really good striker!
I don't think it's as easy as saying yes or no. If you read Henry's comments, he's not saying we can't do it, but getting a striker would make us more favourable to win it. Compare this to our previous teams, it would be a more conclusive no. To be honest, there is not one team that you could say will win for a certainty, even Chelsea. There are 4 really good teams that can win the league, and we are one of them. This was something you couldn't say a few years ago.
Apparently the Daily Star reckons we are going to buy Benzema soon, despite Wenger, Benitez, Benzema and his agent all saying or strongly indicating that we're not in for him/he's not going anywhere...
If we could get a top, top striker like Ibra or Suarez then IMO we'd blow everyone else away - trouble is getting one of those, as none seem available at the minute - hence Unite going for Pedro.
That is quite telling. Pedro is good but not quite at the level of top quality, he will be brought in to cover/complement Rooney rather than be the main man. As for Benzema, there appears to be continued rumours about him. They even range from Real having no money left to afford de Gea and will be forced to sell Benzema to fund it. Some are even saying that our management are going over today to discuss finalising the transfer. Damn these papers....
Yes, I agree with Henry, I still firmly believe we need another striker, a top world class striker, Giroud is not enough, nor are the others who can play as a striker.
If today's game is what was needed for people to acknowledge the fact that we needed a world class CF to win the title, then God help those people, because they don't have a ****ing clue.
Yes, now when we have a world class goalkeeper, who saves us points, we need a world class striker who can bring us points in a similar fashion.
I agree we need a better option than Giroud, but I really don't see Benzema being available this season, all the noises are (from his agent, from him, from Benitez, even from Wenger) is that he's not leaving, and there's nowhere near as much encouragement as there was when Draxler and Higuain were apparently definitely signing for us, only for it to turn out that actually there'd been no contact at all, and the transfer was never happening. Out of the apparently available strikers (as we can discount Bale, Ronaldo, Messi, Ibra, Muller, Aguero), which seems to consist of Higuain, Pedro, Aubamyeng and of course Balotelli - none of them are anywhere near as good as Giroud, but you could argue they are much better than Welbeck. But is there much point bringing in yet another striker that won't improve our 1st team (particularly for lots of money) when that could well impact our ability to bring in the truly WC forward we all want, if available, next season.
Higuain I'd have in a heartbeat over Giroud. Auba too. Giroud is not going to get any better, he's shown he's not a title winning striker. It's time to try something else. Better strikers than Giroud have already moved this window. Moaning that there's no point spending money on strikers that won't improve our first team is pointless... We've missed the boat on a few already.
