Arsenal: Should Danny Welbeck Be A Regular Starter?

Danny Welbeck was sensational in Arsenal’s five-goal demolition of Southampton on Saturday. Should he now be a regular starter for the Gunners?

As the fallout from Arsenal’s five-goal demolition of Southampton in the fourth round of the FA Cup continues, much of the focus has centred on the triumphant return of Danny Welbeck, which Arsene Wenger himself revealed he was not anticipating to be so successful.

After nine months on the sideline after suffering a horrific knee injury in May, Welbeck made his first start on Saturday, though he did enjoy a couple of late cameos in recent weeks. The striker predominantly forayed forward from the left wing, despite his perhaps more natural position being a central role, and enjoyed great success.

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Scoring twice with two excellent finishes – the first a dink over the onrushing Harry Lewis after latching onto Lucas Perez’s deft first-time pass round the corner and the second hauling down a long, lofted diagonal ball before sliding past Lewis once again – and playing a major part in Arsenal’s third goal, engineering chances throughout the 90 minutes, Welbeck has now stated his case for regular starts. But does, after just one performance, Welbeck deserve to be reinstated from the off?

Clearly, careful planning must be made regarding his fitness. Returns from extended absences are never simple and it can take time to recuperate match sharpness at the highest level. Nonetheless, there is an element of squad rotation regardless of injuries within Premier League squads as managers look to keep their players fresh over a long and arduous season.

Welbeck may deserve to enter into that rotation but there are a lot of players who are ahead in the pecking order. The aforementioned Perez has impressed in his recent displays, although Wenger is seemingly hesitant to trust him in the high-pressure games, Theo Walcott returned with a hat-trick, replicating the blistering form that he showed earlier in the season, and Olivier Giroud had scored in every game that he has started in bar one since being reinstated on Boxing Day.

Moreover, Alexis Sanchez will start every single game he is fit for, as will Mesut Ozil, and all this is without mentioning Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who may well be employed in a central role given the personnel issues thanks to injuries, international tournaments and suspensions, and Alex Iwobi.

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Options, then, are a plenty for Wenger and Welbeck in one of them. However, one excellent performance is not sufficient to see him start immediately after returning. There are other players who are equally deserving of starting games and Welbeck will have to work hard to forge a role for himself in the starting lineup.

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