Do Arsenal really need Luis Suarez when they have Lukas Podolski in their ranks?
Lukas Podolski
I asked the question of twitter recently about what fans see in store for Lukas Podolski this season. Many see him as only a super sub but an equal number see him have a growing influence in 2013/14. He is one of the most accomplished international strikers of his generation and yet it would appear he is set to be a squad player for Arsenal, a team that are not currently challenging for any honours.
Everyone is desperate for Suarez to arrive and add more bite to our attack. Giroud, bagging them in for fun in pre-season, and a now fully-fit Podolski are now considered to be only good enough to be squad players at best by many.
More bite to the Arsenal attack?
Now as usual, I must add the proviso that I always do at this point, and say I am NOT against Arsenal strengthening the team at all. Indeed, I am very keen as all fans are that we do so. At the same time, I feel we sometimes forget or undervalue what we currently have. I also feel we sometimes overlook certain problem areas and concentrate on the super striker too much.
It is my contention for example that for a first season in a new league, far more physical and competitive than Ligue 1, Olivier Giroud did pretty well.
His goals were valuable and his assists a huge influence and yet his critics solely focused on his profligacy in front of goal. Interestingly, his accuracy in the Premier League was slightly worse than that of Luis Suarez. Giroud hit the target 49% of the time and the supposed £40 million striker 54%- a marginal difference.
So what of the team joker Lukas Podolski who now freely admits to playing through pain the majority of last season? A player who many forget was playing up and down the left flank and combining superbly with Cazorla tight up until the New Year. The player who single-handedly destroyed West Ham with one of the finest individual displays by any Gunner last season.
Just in case those who argue that the German is okay but not a game changer, here is a reminder of a fully fit Podolski at his best in that match:
Coming back to the accuracy point Lukas’s efforts were on target on 61% of occasions in the league last season, which in case you are interested is two points better than van Persie.
When we have a player like this with ice in his veins in front of goal, surely the logical policy would be to put him in that position as often as possible. Not all of the great strikers were game changers in other areas. The likes of Cole, Fowler, Own and Shearer hardly racked up numbers in the assist column. Podolski, however, does both so can we truly afford to marginalize such a player?
The reality is he has been marginalized by Arsenal but before that by his country. Germany and Podolski thrived in a 4-4-2 in which Lukas played off and around Klose.
However, in the past three years, the general trend of moving to the 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 has been mirrored by Germany, leaving Podolski as a left striker/winger. How many players in the past 4/5 years have found themselves struggling when teams have gone from two to one central striker systems?
Fabulous in a 4-4-2 for sure
In a season crucial to so many players hoping to make World Cup squads game time and performances will be crucial but I suspect none more so than in the case of Podolski.
With so much talent available to the German coach, Lukas will need to be showing that he is fully fit and back to his pre ankle problem best to maintain his squad place at least, and add to his huge cap and goal tally. At 28 he should be in his absolute striking prime and yet so many think of him as past his best. This is purely because he hit the world scene so dramatically at such a young age.
It is a struggle to see exactly where he will play and where he will fit this campaign though. If Fabregas is indeed arriving we have to assume Cazorla will continue out wide in a position that in the early part of last season the German had made his own.
Even if Cesc does not return Wenger does seem to feel Wilshere may be an attacking central midfielder, so again you simply cannot see our most creative influence not playing.
I don’t have the solutions and thankfully the decisions are not mine but I would just ask fans to recall that Arsenal’s play, our team set up and the outcome, was not about one striker hitting 30 goals. We should not think just because RVP did it that is the answer. It is 100% not the answer and as I have argued previously since 2006 we have suffered due to over reliance on one individual.