The Striker Situation

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afcftw

afcftw

Well-Known Member
Aug 1, 2011
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We all have our opinions on Giroud. He's been with us for two full seasons now scoring 17 goals in his first, 22 in the most recent and started this season with a wonder goal against City in the Community shield, for a total of 40 goals in 100 games. A ratio of a goal per 2.5 games including his first season in the league is not a bad return considering he adds a lot in terms of linking play, winning headers both offensively and defensively etc..

With the likes of Ozil, Sanchez, Ramsey, Walcott around him making runs and feeding the ball to him i'm not too concerned about him being our starting striker. I know some others disagree but for now he is the main man.

What i'm wondering is whether Sanogo is good enough at the moment to be the second choice striker. He did really well for Frances U21's, scored 4 goals against benfica pre-season and obviously has a lot of physical attributes like pace and strength that could make him a very good player. But is he currently good enough to be our second choice striker for the whole season? I'm fine with him stepping in for odd games to give Giroud a rest and think that would be good for him but if Giroud gets injured do you see Sanogo stepping into the central role full time and it not effecting us over a period of games?

I wonder if the plan is to use one of Sanchez, Walcott, Campbell or Podolski as a central striker option this season?

Podolski is a brilliant finisher and has played as a CF prior to comming to Arsenal with great success but for us when he has played down the middle hasn't quite done it. Could this be where Podolski finds his place in the team with new competition for the wide spots?

Walcott is also a great finisher and his pace makes him lethal, he's done well when given opportunities to play centrally but he doesn't have the right frame to always be an option down the middle as a solo striker. As a wing forward there aren't many out there better than him, so i'd rather we went with other options.

Sanchez and Campbell both have more of a physical presence than the other two despite not neccessarily being the biggest people. Both can finish, have some pace and have played centrally for there national teams.

We obviously have several players who can play centrally if needed but do you think Sanogo is ready to be the main second choice? Would you instead rely on one of the others we already have? Or do you think we still need to sign another striker?
 
I think Sanogo needs to go on loan for a season. I like Giroud and he offers plenty, but he isn't clinical enough. Personally I'd like to have seen us sign Mandzukic in the summer, especially as he only went for around 19m

That said, I think we've got plenty of options up front. From last season we've added Sanchez and Campbell and we should have Walcott available again soon, that's three pacey players who want to take defenders on, which we were missing last season.
 
I was really dissapointed by Sanogo on Saturday. I keep hearing about how he's this incredible athelete and puts himself about but he did feck all as far as I could see. The service to him was pretty poor in fairness but he made zero effort to do anything for himself and, when the ball did come to him, it invariably bounced off his bambi legs. He strikes me as someone who needs time and space and quite a bit of confidence before he gets going. I still believe he can become a decent player but think he needs regular games and would prefer Giroud to start over him.
 
Giroud should be our primary CF with Campbell, Sanchez, Pod and Walcott offering alternatives. Sanogo is certainly a talent and you can see there is something special about him. But i think he is a little too raw and it's too early for him to be leading our line just yet. At the moment, a loan move would be the best for all concerned. We have enough potential CFs and better options than a green Sanogo.

I'd like to see Campbell being given a go at CF. The most likeliest is during the cup games. Walcott is someone i'd like to see given a go as a plan B. Sanchez for me is more of a secondary striker than a CF.
 
I have no problem with Giroud, he's maybe not a super striker that's going to go and win you the champions league but for the time being he's adequate. We really need someone else, even if its another striker around Giroud's level
 
Primary strikers for the top EPL sides:

Arsenal - Giroud
Chelsea - Costa
Liverpool - Sturridge
Man City - Aguero
Man U - RVP
Spurs - Adebayor
Everton - Lukaku

Out of all those I would put Giroud at around 5th, beating Adebayor and Lukaku (potentially better).
 
Adebayor is a better striker than Giroud.

Lukaku is near enough at his level, scoring similar rates in a worse team.
 
Giroud seems to be getting better and his performances should improve with Sanchez, Walcott and a more settled Ozil distributing the ball to him.
 
Sanogoals should never be allowed to start another game for Arsenal. He is not even good enough for a championship side.

He has absolutely nothing that leads me to believe he will be any good, ever. No first touch, no shooting ability, terrible passing, poor hold-up play, terrible movement off the ball, etc. etc. etc. He is awful.

Giroud is much better than many people seem to state on this forum. His goal return is good, work rate excellent and he plays the target man role superbly, allowing others to make the runs.

But we do need another striker who can play instead of Giroud.
 
The Magic Man said:
Sanogoals should never be allowed to start another game for Arsenal. He is not even good enough for a championship side.

He has absolutely nothing that leads me to believe he will be any good, ever. No first touch, no shooting ability, terrible passing, poor hold-up play, terrible movement off the ball, etc. etc. etc. He is awful.

Giroud is much better than many people seem to state on this forum. His goal return is good, work rate excellent and he plays the target man role superbly, allowing others to make the runs.

But we do need another striker who can play instead of Giroud.
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I rarely read anywhere people saying he's awful. He's simply not as good as many other teams have.
 
In fact, I would go as far as to say that Sanogoals is the worst player I have seen for Arsenal in 30 years of going to the games. Only player worse was Gus Caesar. Even the likes of Jeffers, Stepanovs, Santos, Squillachi, Park, Hillier, etc. were far far better than Sanogoals.
 
The Magic Man said:
In fact, I would go as far as to say that Sanogoals is the worst player I have seen for Arsenal in 30 years of going to the games. Only player worse was Gus Caesar. Even the likes of Jeffers, Stepanovs, Santos, Squillachi, Park, Hillier, etc. were far far better than Sanogoals.
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I think your dislike for Sanogo is clouding your judgement on him. He seems to have the talent but is a little too raw for a top side like Arsenal, where the minimum is to have solid fundamentals. I've seen flashes of brilliance in him but he is a little too inconsistent and needs to go out on loan. Giroud is a solid and tidy player that does all the basics well. He isn't outstanding but when you have outstanding players like Ozil and Sanchez around you, it keeps him in business.
 
Most top clubs these days have at least two World Class centre forwards. We don't even have one.

I'm fairly happy with Giroud in our team but I would love to see another quality centre forward brought in.
 
lazarus20000 said:
I think your dislike for Sanogo is clouding your judgement on him. He seems to have the talent but is a little too raw for a top side like Arsenal, where the minimum is to have solid fundamentals. I've seen flashes of brilliance in him but he is a little too inconsistent and needs to go out on loan. Giroud is a solid and tidy player that does all the basics well. He isn't outstanding but when you have outstanding players like Ozil and Sanchez around you, it keeps him in business.
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He doesn't even do the basics well.

How many goals has he scored for us? ZERO. He has had enough chances.
 
Why don't we let Sanogo have a consistent run of games without injury before we call quits on his entire career! Christ we're one game into the season and he only played in fits and starts for us last season. The poor guy needs regular football to build fitness, sharpness and confidence. Personally I'd like to see him do this on loan at another club but doubt Wenger will let him go as he'll want another "unit" style forward as back up for Giroud.
 
Sanogo is simply not ready.

Amazing athlete but he wouldn't get games in most mid table EPL sides.


In 2-3 years we will see but at the moment he should not be anywhere near our starting 11.
 
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