Yaya Sanogo is promising, but will not solve Arsenal's problems
Sanogo has been impressive for Arsenal so far
Arsenal have had a mixed weekend with a 2-1 win over Liverpool in the FA Cup followed by a 2-0 loss to Bayern Munich in the Champions League yesterday. In both the matches, one player stood out for his hard work and promising displays – Yaya Sanogo.
The young Frenchman was given a chance to prove himself against Liverpool and took advantage of the opportunity by providing an assist for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain‘s goal against the Reds. Sanogo was once again impressive in the match against Bayern at the Emirates coming close to scoring only to have his shot saved by Bayern keeper Manuel Neuer. The future looks bright for the striker who will only get better with age, but he cannot single hand-idly turn Arsenal’s fortunes around.
The 21-year-old was signed by Arsene Wenger from French club Auxerre in 2013 where he was one of their brightest prospects. The forward was extremely prolific with Auxerre averaging a goal per game which led to Wenger capturing his signature quickly before other big European clubs were made aware of his talent.
Sanogo has a huge appetite for goals scoring 18 times in as many appearances for the Under-16 team as well has being his country’s top scorer in the recent FIFA U-20 World Cup with four goals, helping France win the tournament.
The striker was expected to be given a first team chance with Arsenal last year, but that hope was hampered when he picked up an injury with the France national team which left him on the sidelines for months. This year is expected to be his breakthrough year as he is injury free and raring to go. Sanogo has not scored a goal for Arsenal’s Under-21 or Reserve teams yet and should play at a lower level in order to gain some valuable experience that he has been robbed of due to his injury.
Arsene Wenger seems to be pretty pleased with his young player and even described his performance as “excellent” after the win against Liverpool. The 2013 Golden Boy Nominee is blessed with pace and an eye for goal and can be relied upon in the big games as demonstrated in the past week which is exactly what Arsenal need as their first choice strikers have been largely wasteful this season. It won’t be surprising if main striker Olivier Giroud, who is currently better at scoring women, loses his place to Sanogo.
In spite of his brilliance, Arsenal cannot depend on Sanogo to solve their problems. The striker is barely stepped out of his teens and is still raw in some areas which need to be polished in order to better his game. Sanogo will be a top player in a few years but as on now cannot fire Arsenal to the title in the absence of their main strikers. The player can be a part of the starting line up next season but will have to be partnered with a world class striker in order to improve his game. A good example can be found in the form of former Arsenal player Robin Van Persie.
Van Persie originally started out as a winger and was very wasteful but improved his game under Wenger. The Arsenal manager regularly partnered Thierry Henry up front which led to Van Persie maturing as a player. If Wenger can do the same thing to Sanogo then maybe the player can have the same impact as The Dutchman for the Gunners. A lot cannot be expected from Sanogo now but he is certainly one to watch out for in the future.