Arsene Wenger has hinted that he’ll stick with Lukas Podolski as the spearhead of the Arsenal attack despite his muted showing against Manchester United.
The German international was preferred ahead of Theo Walcott and Gervinho for the central attacking position last weekend but managed only one shot at goal, a first half effort parried away by David de Gea, and 25 passes during an ineffective 70 minutes on the pitch.
With Olivier Giroud suspended for Saturday’s away day versus Harry Redknapp’s relegated QPR and the visit of Wigan to the Emirates on Tuesday 14th, the boss has suggested that the 27-year-old should, all going to plan, get another chance to prove himself as a striker.
Unless of course, he’s just trying to trick ‘Arry and Roberto…
“He has the qualities because he is a good finisher,” the manager told Arsenal Player.
“He has a good technique and because we have a game based on very quick combinations I believe he can be a part of that. Overall I am convinced in the coming games he will show it.
“At the moment, yes [I will play Podolski in the middle]. A definite decision has not been made but if there is an opportunity then there is a good chance I will do it.”
Back in November Podolski spoke openly about his preference for playing in the middle (hardly surprising given he’d spent the last couple of seasons in that position for Cologne), however, it does look as though his well-publicised ankle problem is hampering his mobility now he has been given the opportunity.
There were times last Sunday when he just couldn’t keep up with the pace of the game, often preferring to lay the ball off and casually jog to the edge of the box rather than sprint into a more dangerous area. Moreover, having not won any of his five headed duels against United it’s clear that he doesn’t represent the same physical threat as Giroud…mind you nor do the other options.
For all his kind words above, it wouldn’t massively surprise Arseblog News if Wenger returns Podolski to the bench at QPR with Theo shuffled inside and the Ox or Gervinho starting on the right.
I dont understand why hes being played if his ankle requires surgery? surely it must hurt like fuck all the time.
Thats what I was thinking as well, as ineffective as Walcott has been, hes the top scorer and fully fit. Maybe chuck on podolski on the usual 70 min sub, but start with Ox and Gervinho, they must be hungry to play.
Why not go with a false nine; TR7, Santi or Ox could fill that role while having lukas/fivehead and Theo cutting in from the flanks. Surely that’d work better than the trio we played against Utd. Meh just a thought, what the fuck do I know…
The obvious but very unfortunate example would be Jack Wishere. Overplayed despite an injury that eventually turned into worst hopefully podolskis isn’t on the same scale. To be honest with theos injury while with england, gerv being out of (spoiler alert) form wenger must of started training podolski in a more advanced position he can’t have banked on Giroud being up for it till the end of the season! Podolski must have started being prepped by February to be an emergency replacement.
could someone please answer me. dont they check for these kinds of things in the initial medical exam before signing a player? Poldi has been subbed since the start of the season, and I’m just wondering if the ankle problem was something more of a long term and before we signed him, than something thats recently incurred. wish him all the best, his volly in the champions league showed his class.
“It is understood that the Gunners star, who has been hampered by a long-standing ankle complaint since joining the club last summer, has had injections before matches to help nurse him through the second half of the season.Arsenal’s medical staff have advised that the Germany international undergoes corrective surgery on the troublesome joint, believed to be his left ankle, to clear up the problem for good at the end of the season”
Hope that puts an end to the Poldi transfer “rumours” then.
Probably won’t though, just as factual evidence didn’t stop the media blaming Liverpool fans for Hillsborough, Michael Jackson as a paedophile, Barack Obama as a Muslim etc. Thank you Murdoch for Pravda with naked women!
I hope Poldi gets some service this game, he can be devastating in front of goal. As for the surgery, it’s probably a niggle that he feels when he plays, wouldn’t have thought it would affect him too much otherwise I seriously doubt he’d be playing..
they pump these guys with all sorts of pain killers these days.. thats why poldi smilesso much!
I would like podolski as a CF against QPR, he’s only been tried in that position recently only against man u so give him another chance Wenger.
i would also like poldi given few more chances to prove his mettle up front, but the only way i can see him being effective up front is that we change the formation……. arsenal currently play with a system where the man up front is half the time playing like a false-9…… but podolski isnt very good with his back to goal and although his passing is decent he hasn’t got those flicks and touches of giroud to keep play ticking in the final third….. what we need to do is give podolski some space so he can bring his… Read more »
Top top top quality decision for me!
One game cannot and should not be a benchmark for deciding whether a player is good enough for a particular position.
The idea should be to grab the remaining 9 points come what maybe and for a change let us be the Masters of our own destiny for CL football next season.
The ‘top top top’ comment always makes me chuckle.
I don’t want to be the harbinger of doom, but TECHNICALLY it is out of our hands even if we win all 3 games. If Spurs win all their games and Chelsea win all of theirs apart from against Spurs, then they both go through :o. Not going to happen though 🙂
Tottenham would get 9 points if they win 3 of 4 games and so would we. That leaves us with 2 points lead that we have now. So we will go through and they won’t.
The chance of Chelsea winning 4 of 4 games against Man U, Everton, Tottenham and resergent Villa is very slim.
Spurs have a game in hand so they have 12 points to play for.
Why thumb up a comment if you’re not sure it’s true? Why thumbs down a comment just because you don’t want it to be true? Lazy thinkers.
We could still end up 5th, but if we win our own games, the only way it can happen is if Chelsea win at OT, and Spurs win at Stamford Bridge. I actually think Chelsea are in the toughest position right now. After last night’s semi, they have to go up to United on Sunday, then host spurs on Wed. Drop points at both and they are in deep shit. They might come down to having to beat Everton on the last day of the season just to make top 4, and that game is 4 days after the Europa… Read more »
Good luck Lukas.
Yeah first game up top against the best team in the league is not really a fair crack. Theo had a few games against poorer opposition.
If he can’t score against the shit that is QPR then drop him. But he deserves that chance.
Am I the only who noticed him limping on more than one occasion during the man utd game. He is obviously very unfit. Some I thot was a Germany powerhouse, He looked knackered within 10 minutes. To his credit he did run his but off despite the obvious signs of rustiness. He linked up with midfield brilliantly(we almost played with a midfielder and Walcott as striker almost the whole match) Such a dissapointment that he is finally given a chance to play I the middle and it is still not working for him for one reason or the other. To… Read more »
I suspect the best would have been if we could have rested him and let him heal, effectively ending his season early but due Giroud being banned we have had to use him and I hope he doesn’t further complicate his problems. Perhaps we have never seen a 100% Podolski all season and in the Euros he was fairly bland so I hope this is resolved before next season. For the return he has given considering he has been in and out the team is respectable and gives us a sign that a fully fit Podolski can do far better.… Read more »
I spotted that watching on telly. Whenever the camera caught him off the ball he was limping.
The other giveaway was that, every time he went down in a challenge, he was slow to get back up and always tested his ankle very carefully before going back into play. So much so that the ref came over a couple of times, presumably to see if he needed to go off.
I like Podolski, but I tend to think he is bettered suited to 442 than 433: he isn’t really a winger, and I’m not convinvced he has enough ‘presence’ to be a central target man – but playing just off another central striker he can be lethal. Think of him partnered with Klose for Germany. Would like to see how he fares eventually partnered in attack with Giroud
this is all well and good but what is going on with Mertesacker and Sagna in the background of the photo? Some kind of topless waltz?
I can see the headlines now…EXCLUSIVE: Wenger plays Podolski up front in a last gasp attempt to hold onto the striker while Atletico Madrid and Juventus look for a summer swoop.
I have been wanting to see him play more centrally all year, so I am excited to see what he can do.
Podolski clearly isn’t fit and should be nowhere near the first team at the moment. Gervinho should start against QPR.
By the way: we shouldn’t even have this problem, but our managerial genius of a boss decided at the start of this season that a top-four club like our only needed on out-and-out striker. And he wouldn’t even sign a goalscorer when he had a chance in the January transfer window.
Pathetic.
sory about the typos
I think ive cracked it.
Fatgooner is the striker mr wenger could have bought in january but didnt. Now he’s all bitter about it.
Dont worry fatgooner, your time will come. As journey, and to a lesser extent the glee rabble, said: Don’t Stop Believin’.
is he Grant Holt?
GERVINHO clearly isn’t fit and should be nowhere near the first team at the moment. PODOLSKI should start against QPR. By the way: we shouldn’t even have this problem, but our managerial genius of a boss decided at the start of this season that a top-four club like our only needed on out-and-out striker. And he wouldn’t even sign a goalscorer when he had a chance in the January transfer window. Pathetic. As you can see with the subject in question called ‘FatGooner,’ that there is a high probability that there will always be something wrong and the formula of… Read more »
Don’t worry fatgooner I agree completely. What was Wenger thinking about going into a season with one proper striker? Notice how none of your detractors ever address your point being made, but instead resort to derogatory remarks and innuendo? That is because the sycophants on this site know you have an undeniable point but don’t want to face reality. I mean I read a comment on here the other day claiming Ramsey is comparable to Schweinsteiger!! The delusion of some on this site is laughable and other than the articles/posts themselves I come on here to read the sycophant’s unbelievable… Read more »
You are right in that some on this site go to one extreme in comparing, as you say, Ramsey to Schweinsteiger. It was ridiculous that the team was not further strengthened after RVP/Song’s departure, and to say that anyone was satisfied at midnight on Aug 31 last year is a blatant lie. But firstly, you don’t have to go to the other extreme. Wenger has not got Alzheimer’s and nor is he content with winning the “4th place trophy”. Not buying players may not be indicative of Wenger’s brain function, but perhaps (for example) of the Arsenal board. You can’t… Read more »
Thanks.
Nicely put! I have fell into the trap of responding to a comment which from my perspective is riddiculously negative by being completely dissmissive – without even arguing the main points. I feel that when a point is followed by what I percieve as someone pushing the same old criticisms or using any point possible to support the same views etc I immediately see that as propaganda and feel annoyed at why people need to do that- the constant negativity. HOWEVER when you miss out the main point of the orginal post and proceed with your own views then that… Read more »
Fancy a good all round team performance Saturday. Couple of goals would be nice Poldi.
I’d like a nice round 10-0 then watch the twitchathon commence. That’s not asking too much is it?
Kinda nervous about QPR game – some of their mercenaries will be struggling for the emergency exit…..
Yup, that’s the real danger. Some of those buggers decide to treat the match as a shop window opportunity and actually play for a bit.
If podolski isn’t fully fit then I think a fit theo should be able to run riot against a slow and uninspired QPR defence. With theo in the middle that would give the Ox a chance on the right, who has been knocking on the door for a start after two months of good appearances from the bench.
And if it isn’t working then use podolski as a sub late on.
Some Cologne fans told me that Podolski used to play as “secondary striker”, when he was at 1.FC Köln. (To be honest, I didn’t watch him that closely back then, so I can’t tell..) They apparently also let him play as left winger a few times, but I guess we can speak from our own experience that he is somehow always “drawn” in the middle of the pitch/directon of the box. So I guess, even though he was told to play as central striker, he “fell back into his old patterns” and interpreted his role somehow way to defensively (like… Read more »
Anyone that witnessed his performance on Sunday could see he was clearly not fit for whatever reason.
Just hope arsene is bluffing, this is no time for passengers.
It was always a rediculas gamble to go into the season with one center forward. Just hope it’s not about to bite us in the arse at a critical time.
It’s Walcott that’s useless. Gervinho and the Ox to start, or else it’s going to be a nervy game. Wenger has to bench Walcott like he did with Verm.
Yeah that’s the way to do it. Bench our top scorer and assist maker at a time we need goals and in a team with no center forward and one that struggles to score at the best of times.
I think should start Theo Ox and Gervinho up front. Let Walcott and Gervinho take turns going through the middle. Sagna for Jenkinson might be another change I would make.
I think Wenger feels he needs to keep either of Gervinho or Ox on the bench to come on as an impact sub…Poldi has been pretty tame as a sub.
I dont think it matters whether you have one striker or five strikers get the ball in the net any which way. Spurs have Adebayor and Defoe who have been shocking for them but have had Bale to drag them through. Chelsea have Torres who has failed endlessly but have had others like Mata and Lampard to balance the books. Last season we had “one striker”, who fired, RVP and we made the ECL. This year we have cobbled together just enough goals to scrape through. Arsene has bought so many potential goal scorers. Park, Chamak, Ashavin, Girvinho, Bendtner, Walcott,… Read more »
Defoe’s form this season has been good to decent. However, he’s been fighting injuries. Of course, you’re right about Adebayor. He’s been just as bad as most of QPR and Reading’s players.
I’m sorry? Was there anyone who didn’t expect Adebayor to scum it after putting in a half-decent shift for one season?
Ah, right, sorry. Ok, anyone who *isn’t* a Spud?
….or deflected off Samba’s left testicle… I agree with a lot of what is said, but not the cobbled together bit. I think it is a strategy to spread goals around rather than have a single main goalscorer. If you look at United and Spurs, you have Bale and the Dutchman, then the goals fall off rapidly (Arteta would be Spurs’ 3rd top scorer). If you look at our front line of Podolski, Giroud and Walcott, none have got close to 20 goals (although all are capable), but scoring 32 between them is not down to chance. City are the… Read more »
Theo 4 striker
Id prefer theo up front. Seems the logical choice I would of thought. Poldi is more effecient out wide and comes central a large portion of the game anyways. Where as theos pace changes any teams tactics to try stiffle his pace… which gives more space for santi and rosicky to do their magic
Poldi, Gerv or Theo . . it doesn’t matter to me.
If we can’t get 9 pts from our remaining 3 games – then I’m sorry but we don’t deserve to be in the Champions League next season.
Come on you Gunners! Strong finish to the end!
9pts or bust!
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