Arsene Wenger recently revealed that he has never had a better bunch of strikers at his disposal since taking charge of the club 21 years ago.
The Frenchman made the bold statement after seeing his side thrash Southampton 5-0 over the weekend in the FA Cup where Danny Welbeck shined.
The return of Welbeck has certainly given Wenger more attacking firepower, but also a problem for the Frenchman as he now has FIVE forwards to pick from. It’s not a bad problem to have, but Wenger will now have to try and keep all of them happy. Earlier in the season, we saw Olivier Giroud express his frustrations at being benched, but he has since regained his starting role in the side and also signed a new deal at the club. However, with Welbeck now fully fit and firing on all cylinders, Wenger now has Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott, Lucas Perez and Giroud to choose from, and five doesn’t go into three. Add to this Mesut Ozil and you have SIX players vying for four starting berths in the side.
There are a lot of combinations Wenger could use, like Giroud up top with Walcott on the right and Sanchez on the left with Ozil behind the main striker. How about Welbeck as the centre-forward, Sanchez on the right and Perez on the left? Welbeck on the right, Sanchez as the main striker, Walcott on the left? So many options and combos, but how does Wenger play it from here on in?
Personally, the main from three I would like to see regularly are Sanchez, Welbeck and Giroud, with Ozil operating as the attacking midfielder. But Wenger will undoubtedly chop and change from now until the end of the season, not only to satisfy his forwards, but to switch it up against certain oppositions.
It’s a great problem to have and many managers in the league would love to have it. Hopefully Wenger can get the best out of all five of his forward and keep them happy in the process.
