Arsenal: Danny Welbeck is sculpting out his most perfect role

Danny Welbeck was excellent in both legs of Arsenal’s Europa League win over AC Milan in the last two weeks. The striker is sculpting out his most perfect role.

Sir Alex Ferguson was the master of utilising certain players for certain roles. While he obviously had his stars that he would rely on throughout his reign — Ryan Giggs, Eric Cantona, Paul Scholes, Cristiano Ronaldo –, he supplemented them with players who could fulfil a particular, singular duty extremely proficiently.

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Players like Ole Gunnar Soljskaer, Park Ji Sung, and Darren Fletcher. They were not particularly special talents. They were not used in every single match, week in week out. But, in certain contexts, against certain opponents, in certain positions with certain responsibilities, they were invaluable to the success that Ferguson that achieved. In a very similar manner, that is what Danny Welbeck is beginning to do at Arsenal.

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Ironically, Welbeck is one of those who Ferguson used to use in these specialised roles. As the isolated but industrious centre-forward, Ferguson saw great value in exploiting the athletic skill set that Welbeck brought to the team. His pace, his physical presence, and his ability to occupy two defenders were essential traits when Manchester United would take on the might of Europe on the continent. And now Arsene Wenger is copying his great adversary.

In two Europa League legs against AC Milan, Welbeck led the Arsenal line brilliantly. Often hung out to dry, feeding off scraps of service, especially in the first leg, he bullied the Milan centre-halves, stretched the pitch with his relentless scampering into the channels, and provided a focal point for the Gunners’ attack, off of which the likes of Mesut Ozil and Henrikh Mkhitaryan could begin to play.

It was not necessarily a performance of great quality. Welbeck’s finishing in the first leg, for instance, was somewhat questionable. But his incessant work rate, his industry when out of possession, and his tireless running were vital to the success that Arsenal enjoyed in both games. And Welbeck, with two goals in the second leg, was rewarded, justly, for his work.

This is the role that he should be used in and seen as in the squad for. He is the not clinical, 20-plus goal-a-season striker who can be relied upon to consistently score. He is not the cute, clever, technical centre-forward who likes to link-up play and partake in the pretty, possessional passing in deeper areas. He is the late-game change-of-pace. He is the hustling, bustling reserve. He is the away-from-home expert. And, funnily enough, Wenger may have been forced into it.

It is fair to presume that Alexandre Lacazette would have started in both ties had he not underwent knee surgery a few weeks prior. Having seen his Premier League role taken by Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, it was expected that Lacazette would take on Olivier Giroud’s mantle as the Europa League striker. That was until injury struck and Welbeck was given his opportunity.

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It remains to be seen whether Wenger has learned from this chance affair. But if he has, expect to see Welbeck, very much like under Ferguson, used in sparing but special circumstances. That is his most perfect role, and he truly excels in it.