Give Me Falcao Please Wenger

The optimism of my last post has managed to chuck itself out the window of a 200-story building within the space of a week. It didn't fall all the way down, however. There was a bloke cleaning the windows on the 142nd floor, and the positivity landed safely on the cleaner's lift, but it still took quite a drop.
If you haven't watched either the Besiktas game or the Everton one, and have gone on a complete media-lockdown other than looking at the scores, you're probably thinking I have no right to be a little bit down. A draw at one of the scariest places to play in the world and against a team who has a knack of playing well against us isn't bad at all. You might even say it's good.
I absolutely agree with that. I can't complain about the results of these past games, and I'm really happy that we still haven't lost. Overall, I'm not too unhappy, but I am certainly worried. The draw against Everton was one of the most unconvincing draws I've ever witnessed, and we are very fortunate to walk away with a point.
I think what saved us was a man that has taken some heavy criticism from many, including myself. Olivier Giroud's strength and physicality transformed us. Having Alexis trying to win headers in the box isn't a great gameplan, so having someone to aim at was really helpful. If that substitution didn't happen, the second goal wouldn't have, either.
I don't know whether this happened because of our style of play nowadays, but after last season's dependence on Giroud, it seems our game revolves around crosses. In order for Alexis playing up front to work, we're going to have to change the way we attack a little bit. If we think of how City play with Aguero, there's a lot more through balls on the ground than there are hopeful launches in the air. They're definitely more direct than us, too, as we try and play too much in midfield. I don't know, though, I'm hardly an expert on tactics.
What I hope is that we'll find a way to make Alexis playing up front work. If we don't change the current system, having some sort of a target man is vital to the way we play. Unfortunately, I still don't believe Giroud is capable of 30 goals a season, but I do believe that we will need one to have a shot at the title.
So, that would mean I think we would have to buy one, right? Correct. Unless we can figure out how to make Alexis an effective striker in our system, I think we will have to pay up for one that will be. For me, Radamel Falcao is the best option at this point. Cavani will be too expensive, and I can't think of any others that would have less of a risk than Falcao. His abilities in the air are very impressive, but unlike Giroud, he's also able to be a something-out-of-nothing striker.
Having said that, I also think we desperately need a centre-back and defensive midfielder, with Manolas, Khedira, and Carvalho the only three names that have survived long enough to be considered possibilities. Signing the Greek, along with one of the other two, will be great business, but depending on how much it'll all cost, the club may not want to splash out on someone like Falcao.
The worries that do linger around me will remain unless we do cover those three roles in our squad with players of league-winning quality. I am so hungry for a trophy this year, and I think we should be aiming higher than a cup. I want to win the league so badly, but I really just don't think it can happen until we buy some more talent.
I now realize I'm starting to become one of the miserable bastards that I criticised. I don't think I'm quite there yet, because there were a few people that were actually saying "VENGA OWT" on Twitter at the half, but I'm on my way. In an attempt of turning this around, let me go over some positives.
Calum Chambers. Yes, him again. I'm sure you're all bored by this point of people praising the kid, but how can you not? Apart from one or two mistakes against Everton, and some fouls that didn't look as bad to me as they did to the referee, he's looked incredible. I honestly think he would get into any defence in England, but unfortunately for him, we have Koscielny and Mertesacker. Fortunately for him, it's easy to see how he'd fit in at defensive midfield. Once Mertescielny are back in action, Chambers will surely be in contention for the midfield role.
Here's another one for you: the media. I know it's a little too early to make a reasonable assessment of them for this season, but so far, they seem to have relaxed on the Anti-Arsenal agenda. I'm sure once Alexis goes three league games without a goal they'll be back at their normal, but it's nice to feel like the world isn't completely against us sometimes.
And here's more of a controversial one - Ramsey. He might not have had the best week of his life, with pretty poor performances against Besiktas and Everton, but his ability to be in the right place at the right time is awesome. The run he made on Saturday and the cool finish to cap it off was fantastic, and something you'd expect to see from an experienced finisher. Miroslav Klose comes to mind for me.
I'm glad I did that. I feel slightly better now, and a little bit less of an ar*ehole. Sadly, I'm afraid I'm going to have to dive back in, because one topic that is of great interest to many fans right now is that of Jack Wilshere. He's a player that I so badly want to be good, if not only because it would piss of so many people, but he hasn't really taken a step in the right direction since "that game" against Barcelona.
A player in a similar situation is Oxlade-Chamberlain. Since his lengthy absence last season, he's been unable to impress at the level that he did when he first arrived. The explosiveness and confidence that made him unique have disappeared. I think, with both players, the issue for them is the same one that Ramsey suffered from after his leg break.
To me, it just looks like they're both trying to do too much. Ramsey was doing this when he returned from injury; trying the most complicated passes and holding onto the ball for too long, attempting to get past too many people. This is clearly happening with Jack and the Ox, too. Both are guilty of keeping the ball for too long, and get tackled nearly every time they're in possession. Jack is the biggest offender of trying Hollywood passes, when a simpler option is clearly available and probably the better choice.
The two youngsters desperately need to take a leaf out of Aaron's book before they aren't youngsters anymore. The way Aaron got to the level that he's at today was just by calming things down, playing the simple ball, and not trying to do more than he can handle.
I really hope Wenger can guide them to excellence, because they're two guys that I really love and want to see succeed. I think they're more than capable of reaching the level that we all thought was possible not long ago, but it'll take some much-needed guidance to get there. I hope they both find a way to improve this season.
Finally, we've had a couple more injuries come up. Arteta picked up an ankle injury in Turkey, ruling him out for a couple of weeks. Sanogo got a hamstring injury at some point, leaving him out of the squads for both matches. Giroud also sustained an ankle injury, this one coming against Everton. Wenger has ruled him out of the Besiktas match, with the severity of the injury currently unknown at the time of writing. Koscielny's achilles problem returned recently, too. So much for Shad being rad.
These, along with the current injuries of Gibbs, Ospina, and Walcott, mean that we're not faring too well in the injury department, and we're only three games in. The loss of our left back might really sting, as Monreal turned in a less than convincing performance against Everton.
The knocks also mean that we might be without both Sanogo and Giroud for the midweek game against Besiktas. I assume this means we'll see Alexis up front again, unless Wenger is willing to stick Campbell up there. Who knows anymore.
Anyway, I should probably be off. I'm sure the length of this one has put most of you to sleep by now, and I once again apologize for that. This always happens when I miss a blog.
I'll try my best to come back midweek, but no guarantees. Life is busy right now.
Wish you all the best for the week ahead, including all you haters. Hope you can manage to find a life.
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Tags: Arsenal FC, Wilshere, Ramsey, Giroud, Injuries, Sanchez, Chambers, Alexis, Falcao, Chamberlain