Arsenal: Danny Welbeck To Step Out Of Alexis Sanchez Shadow

The Alexis Sanchez shadow can be a daunting one at Arsenal. Danny Welbeck could well return against Preston and has the chance to step out of it.

The significance of the FA Cup, its standing in the football world is not what it once was. Diluted by the glory, the glitz and the glamour of the Premier League, there is not the same desire to win the oldest tournament in football. Arsene Wenger has, like many other managers in recent history, used it to prepare and to develop many of the younger talents within the Arsenal squad.

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The likes of Cesc Fabregas, Robin Van Persie and more recently, Hector Bellerin, have all benefitted from the precious game time that the FA Cup has given them. Wenger has also used the competition to ease formerly injured players back into action, providing them with what is usually an easier, more relaxed game rather than the pressure-cooker matches that the Premier League thrives on.

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As the FA Cup begins this Saturday with the Gunners travelling north to face middling Championship side Preston North End, there is one player who is prime for reintroduction. Danny Welbeck has missed a little over nine months of actions after suffering a knee injury late last year. He returned to training in December but is yet to take to the pitch this season, with Wenger understandably cautious.

Saturday, then, seemingly provides Wenger with the perfect opportunity to play Welbeck. For Welbeck, it is the perfect opportunity to diminish a shadow that hangs over every Arsenal attacker. The form of Alexis Sanchez is somewhat of a challenge for many of his teammates.

How must it have felt to be Olivier Giroud, continually sat on the bench, watching the Chilean shock and surprise with his wondrous skill and glorious goals? The Frenchman has been able to force his way back into the picture of late, with his only fabulous goal against Crystal Palace on New Year’s Day, but the measuring stick with which every Arsenal forward will be measured by persists to be Sanchez.

Now, I must explain that it is no bad thing for Sanchez to be the aim. In fact, it is a very good thing. Rather, it is a pressure-building, confidence-bursting, energy-sapping challenge to continually be compared to the Arsenal forward.

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Rightly or wrongly, that is what happens. Fans, the media, even Wenger. On Saturday, Welbeck has the chance that Giroud took so ruthlessly. He has the chance to step out of the shadow of Alexis Sanchez and into the elevating, encouraging, exalting limelight.