Arsenal Striker Crisis
It seems we may have an impending striker crisis at Arsenal. Currently we have 4 strikers at the club, Henry, Adebayor, Van Persie and Aliadiere and also 2 backups in Walcott (whom Wenger sees developing as a winger for the time being) and Baptista who played up front for 2 seasons for Sevilla.
The crisis comes in that we currently have 3 strikers out on loan, Stokes at Falkirk, Bendtner at Birmingham and Lupoli at Derby. That in itself isn't a problem but the fact they are all banging them is. Both Stokes and Bendtner are top scorers for their clubs with 11 and 7 goals respectfully and Lupoli is only a goal off the pace with 6 at Derby. Before I get too carried away we do have to take into account the level of opposition, whichever way you look at it the Scottish Premiership is not the most difficult league in the world and there is a fair drop off in class from the English Premiership and the Championship, but it's also true that the level of service a striker receives is of a lower standard. Stokes is also not only the top scorer for Falkirk but the top scorer in the Scottish Premiership.
So where's the problem you ask, at some point these loan deals will come to an end, Bendtner in January, Lupoli and Stokes in the summer. Part of the problem with that is we don't have players waiting to leave, at least not for age reasons, Adebayor is 21, Van Persie 23 and Henry still has at least 3 years left. I'm pretty sure a couple of the players will go back out on loan next year and Steve Bruce is keen to extend Bendtners stay but how long can that go on, certainly not the 8-9 years until Van Persie retires. I think Aliadiere will be gone either in January or next summer as I simply don't see him getting a regular starting place, it's also true while he has suffered from various injuries he didn't set the world alight during his loan spells at Celtic, West Ham and Wolves.
The crisis is that opportunities at Arsenal for these players is limited, I can personally see room for one more full time striker at the club (especially if Aliadiere goes) and simply 3 into one won't go. We have seen it in the recent past with Bentley and Upson that if players don't get the chance to play regular first team football they get itchy feet and want to move on. For me it just seems like we are spending time and money developing talent only for it to move on before they get a decent chance in the team.
I think the only thing is that these players would qualify under the new home grow player rules and I think that might ultimately be their saving grace, however you can be pretty sure at least one of the three strikers out on loan won't be with the club in 2-3 years time.
The crisis comes in that we currently have 3 strikers out on loan, Stokes at Falkirk, Bendtner at Birmingham and Lupoli at Derby. That in itself isn't a problem but the fact they are all banging them is. Both Stokes and Bendtner are top scorers for their clubs with 11 and 7 goals respectfully and Lupoli is only a goal off the pace with 6 at Derby. Before I get too carried away we do have to take into account the level of opposition, whichever way you look at it the Scottish Premiership is not the most difficult league in the world and there is a fair drop off in class from the English Premiership and the Championship, but it's also true that the level of service a striker receives is of a lower standard. Stokes is also not only the top scorer for Falkirk but the top scorer in the Scottish Premiership.
So where's the problem you ask, at some point these loan deals will come to an end, Bendtner in January, Lupoli and Stokes in the summer. Part of the problem with that is we don't have players waiting to leave, at least not for age reasons, Adebayor is 21, Van Persie 23 and Henry still has at least 3 years left. I'm pretty sure a couple of the players will go back out on loan next year and Steve Bruce is keen to extend Bendtners stay but how long can that go on, certainly not the 8-9 years until Van Persie retires. I think Aliadiere will be gone either in January or next summer as I simply don't see him getting a regular starting place, it's also true while he has suffered from various injuries he didn't set the world alight during his loan spells at Celtic, West Ham and Wolves.
The crisis is that opportunities at Arsenal for these players is limited, I can personally see room for one more full time striker at the club (especially if Aliadiere goes) and simply 3 into one won't go. We have seen it in the recent past with Bentley and Upson that if players don't get the chance to play regular first team football they get itchy feet and want to move on. For me it just seems like we are spending time and money developing talent only for it to move on before they get a decent chance in the team.
I think the only thing is that these players would qualify under the new home grow player rules and I think that might ultimately be their saving grace, however you can be pretty sure at least one of the three strikers out on loan won't be with the club in 2-3 years time.
posted by Andrew Gilfrin at 9:17 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home