Food For Thought: 3 Reasons Why Arsenal Can Cope Without A Star Striker This Season

Arsenal still have not brought in a world class striker for the season and that might upset a number of fans, especially those who do not rate Olivier Giroud at all. The French striker actually has a decent scoring rate of a goal every other game but he does go missing now and then and needs a lot of chances to score goals.

Nevertheless, Arsenal still managed to finish second last season despite Giroud being Giroud and their other striker, Danny Welbeck being injured for a major chunk of the season. The Gunners might not sign any more players given how shrewd Arsene Wenger is in the market and while that might concern many, Arsenal should be able to cope with the demands of not the Premier League and the Champions League easily.

The going might be tough this season, as it is for every Premier League campaign but here are three reasons Arsenal can deal without having a star striker in the team.

Alexis Sanchez is the man

The Chilean might be coming off another excellent Copa America campaign and he might need a bit of rest as well but Sanchez will be the man to keep an eye on this season. The last campaign was not the greatest from the former Barcelona man but he can play out wide or even down the middle as a striker, something he did during his days at Udinese.

That might take a bit of punch out of his game but his tenacity and movement, not to forget his incredible finishing, might just be the ticket for Arsenal should they drop Giroud from the side and play with Sanchez as the striker. The attacker did score 17 goals in all competitions last season and he should be looking to score a few more.

They do have Olivier Giroud

The French striker might be vilified, booed and even made fun off by everyone in the footballing world. He is ridiculed for his misses and is always singled out for messing up in front of goal but Giroud is a decent striker and his goal return is not too bad.

24 goals in the last campaign and 19 in the season prior to that don’t make for stellar numbers but he is there amongst the goals every other game and that is something he can be happy with. Giroud will score more if he is given more chances and if he can work on his composure and shooting accuracy, Arsenal might just have a striker that can score 25 goals in the Premier League alone.

Others will step up

This could be the most crucial factor for Arsenal this season, the likes of Theo Walcott, Alex Iwobi and Jack Wilshere; all have to step up this time around. The rise of Iwobi is certainly something that people have to keep an eye on and he might displace a few players from the team.

His work rate and quality at the moment can ensure that Alexis Sanchez plays as a striker while Iwobi does the work on the wings. Similarly, we have Joel Campbell, who did do a pretty good job in the limited chances he got last season, willing to step up once again and be counted.

The Gunners have a lot of players who can chip in with goals; Aaron Ramsey, Mesut Ozil and Alex-Oxlade Chamberlain are there as well. The options are there for the team from London, all they now have to do is use them wisely.

A striker who is world class would have worked a treat for Arsenal but at the moment, they should be happy with what they have and shouldn’t fret all that much about this missing link.