Welbeck scored 4 league goals last season. Four. He played in 25 games. That's the same amount as Chris Smalling got. Welbz is a valuable squad player, but not what you want when your main striker gets injured or out of form.

When Giroud is going through his poor patches them kind of figures cannot be relied upon. Theo & Alexis aren't strikers and Campbell is a lost cause and can't believe he's still at the club.

For me as back-up we need a tricky striker with a bit of presence. Someone who can dribble & create something out of nothing as well as some good movement. It's important that they're a natural striker though & have a bit of presence because Theo playing up front is not the way to go. He offers nothing against compact defences and his great runs from the right don't translate into the middle.

Welbeck scored 4 league goals last season. Four. He played in 25 games.

Well he had 18 starts. How many of those did he start as a striker? He hasn't been given a proper run as a striker, so we simply don't know his level. But when he did play as a striker for a handful of games at the start of last season he looked very promising. Proper poacher.

According to Transfermarkt he started 10 games as a CF and scored 3 goals (in the prem). All of which bar 1 was in a row.

I disagree about being a poacher. His movement is absolutely awful and one glaring moment to me (forgot what game it was in) was when he was running alongside Mesut on the counter but refused to pull out wide and not doing so completely squandered the attack.

I'm sure he'll develop the strikers mentality he's missing once he plays there more often but as a big club, can we risk it? We need instant results & can't afford to have poor performances.

He is an absolute nuisance for opposition defenders however and is a great option in tough away games either as a defensive winger or striker.

According to Transfermarkt he started 10 games as a CF and scored 3 goals.

...which is a pretty good turnout for a new player still adjusting to a team. 30% return.

I disagree about being a poacher. His movement is absolutely awful

Don't know what games you were watching, but his positioning is fantastic. As soon as a shot was fired, Welbeck bolted for a rebound or far-post position, typical poacher mentality ready to pounce.

Listen, I'm not saying we could win the league with Welbeck as our primary striker. I'm saying we have diversity in the squad, so I can kind of understand Wenger's thinking here. We have Giroud, a typical target man playing with his back to the goal, able to win headers and do flick-ons if the opposition is parking the bus. If that doesn't work we have Welbeck who acts like a poacher dragging players out of position and offering rebound opportunities.

If neither work we have players like Theo, Sanchez or Campbell who all offer something different and are all capable of playing there for a few games if needed. And if all of those players are injured at the same time, we have Yassin Fortune, who is actually higher rated than Man Utd's new £36m signing Martial.

I'd rather have seen Benzema, but nothing to do now than hope Wenger's gut instinct is correct.

Attacking after a shot has been taken is different to movement to me. He doesn't make the greatest of runs apart from bolting in the box and he isn't one to outsmart defenders. That's where I think we need another option of a tricky player with clever movement and where someone like Lacazette is ideal, as neither Giroud or Welbeck offer that. I think Wenger see's Alexis as this option but I really don't like him up front as he prefers to be on the ball than moving off of it. Reminds me of when Arshavin played up front for a few games.

I'm sincerely hoping that we're able to catch up to City but with Wenger's seemingly insisting to shoehorn both Cazorla & Ramsey in the same team no matter what makes me think he still isn't fond of instilling core tactics into the team and therefore having a failure to adapt. When Newcastle went down to 10 it got even harder for Theo to have an impact but Wenger didn't change anything for absolutely ages.

When we stop playing Ramsey RW & actually look like scoring goals this season, my hopes might rekindle a bit but the early signs aren't good at all, especially for a team where everyone had a full pre-season apart from Alexis. Our football currently looks flat and unexciting, the start of this & most of last year was probably the most uninspiring football I've seen us play. No-one wants to run in behind whilst Alexis, Ramsey, Cazorla & Özil all want to be on the ball centrally and Giroud's movement is completely static. It's almost painful to watch as it's so obvious.

City are the best footballing team in the country at the minute, and I fear KDB will make them even better & unbeatable to most.

When Newcastle went down to 10 it got even harder for Theo to have an impact but Wenger didn't change anything for absolutely ages.

One of the more baffling decisions for me. Everyone was shouting at the TV to bring Giroud on at half-time. Supporters, pundits, morons, geniuses, grandmums, everyone in the whole world could see that Theo would get nowhere against a parked bus. Yet Wenger is the only one on the planet thinking that it's alright.

I think you should give Welbeck a chance though. I hope he gets a good run of games so he can show what he's made of. From what I saw last season I think he's fantastic.

His movement is not awful but his touch and shooting is not brilliant and these can be improved with bit of training and confidence. Where as moment is bit instinctive. Look at his match against BVB, good movement but poor control. He can improve that with game time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EWNjDL2ik5E

I do like Welbeck. There's nothing to hate about him apart from his perceived ability. I especially liked it when he tried to break Cesc's legs & when he scored against United at OT & celebrated whilst we went onto win the Cup.

I really hope he can push on and become a great striker, there's nothing that I'd like to see more; but I just can't see it happening. Nowhere near as bad in that regard as Sanogo who is one of the worst I've seen don the red & white, but I can't see him becoming the saviour we need.

And at 24, time is running out for Welbz. He needs to start delivering. For me there's more hope of him becoming a good striker than Lukaku though. Even though Welbz's technique with the ball at his feet and first touch aren't great it's a fuck load better than Romelu's.

Did I mention I think Lukaku's a wank footballer? Cause he is.

Jeff will be our savior this season

Welbeck is like the opposite of Podolski: good at everything, EXCEPT finishing.

Welbeck is like the opposite of Podolski: good at everything, EXCEPT finishing.

Fits right into Arsenal then. Neither of our players are good at finishing. Very few shots from outside the box, very few YOLO-shots going on. Intricate passing to get into a good position and then the opportunity is gone. Perhaps finishing isn't the problem, tiki-taka is.

It's alright lads (and lasses), Wenger's saving money for this bad boy

BARETH GALE

TopTopQuality

It's alright lads (and lasses), Wenger's saving money for this bad boyBARETH GALE

Well if FFP has truly been junked, then it might indeed be the case or Stan sells his shares to Russian moneybag. We don't have any-other way out.

It's alright lads (and lasses), Wenger's saving money for this bad boyBARETH GALE

Why did you mention me there? Anyway, if we manage to ship Ozil to Real and get Bale in return, I'd be very happy. But having said that, if we actually ever get Bale, it might make sense to keep Ozil, because Bale is exactly the kind of player Ozil works well with. Bale makes runs and scores. But I'd still prefer Ozil to leave, because I'd rather Sanchez played instead of him behind the CF

I meant to hashtag Top Top Quality as it would be a Wenger Top, Top Quality signing

So Welbeck out for months now. In other not so related news, Reus is also out for a bit with a toe injury.