Arsenal: Playing Walcott And Welbeck Together Defeats The Purpose

Danny Welbeck’s return has seen him enter the Arsenal eleven. However, his similarities with Theo Walcott render the presence of both together unnecessary.

Despite the return of Danny Welbeck, and the availability of everyone else, Arsenal’s attack hasn’t exactly been clicking of late. Could this be because Welbeck and Theo Walcott offer too many of the same things?

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Danny Welbeck is one of the most useful players to have around in any squad. A good team-player, versatile, and excellent work-rate; he seems to tick off all the boxes. In the Arsenal set-up, he can be particularly useful, combining pace and movement with reasonable presence, physicality and aerial threat. However, his obvious deficiencies do remain: erratic finishing, average passing and the tendency to go missing from time to time.

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I could also write a similar paragraph describing Theo Walcott. Theo Walcott is an exciting wildcard to have in the squad, as he possesses blistering speed to match efficient finishing and a penchant for scoring in the big games. In the Arsenal side, his threat in-behind defenses forces them to push deeper, making space for the creative forces to operate in. Unfortunately, he is sometimes bullied physically on the pitch, and his decision-making leaves much to be desired.

Choosing between this duo and Olivier Giroud for the role of central striker was the conundrum of Arsene Wenger for a long time, as the stylistic features of his preferred No. 9 would be the template for how the entire team was set up tactically. Giroud’s robust physical presence, aerial threat and passing technique meant that Arsenal played a tight, passing game that also featured crosses from wide. The pace and directness of either Walcott or Welbeck allowed for a more physical, counter-attacking style that also involved long-balls and dribbles.

However, all this changed when, at the start of the 16-17 season, Wenger had Alexis Sánchez become the main striker. It was the closest the side had gotten to an all-in one package. Like Walcott and Welbeck, the threat of Sánchez’s pace forced defenses deeper, but, uniquely, Sanchez was able to exploit the spaces that this created for himself.

When Walcott or Welbeck forces a defensive line deeper, he can only then play simple passes, or accept crosses from wide areas. However, Sánchez possesses the unique attribute of being able to drive at defenders with menace. Meaning that, when they got closer to their own goal, Sánchez would leave the striker position empty, and join in with the midfield play. However, defenses were not let off the hook, as they could not push forward for fear of letting the speedy player like Sánchez, or even Walcott coming in from the wing, in behind their line.

Both Sánchez and Walcott benefited from this system. With Sánchez vacating areas in the middle of the park, Walcott could cut inside and offer a goal-threat, with Hector Bellerin overlapping from full-back to offer the width. However, this was only possible because Sánchez was capable of offering something even when he wasn’t in ‘traditional striker’ areas.

With Welbeck down the middle and Sánchez returned to the left, this system does not function as effectively. Though he does rove from left to right, Welbeck generally prefers to be the player furthest forward.

Thus, his only contribution is to keep defensive lines deep, and he cannot participate in the buildup and transition play, as is necessitated by such a set-up. This has resulted in Walcott being stranded out on the right, also kept away from the central action, often meaning that Arsenal’s midfield is outnumbered, and that crucial battle is lost. Thus, the players are too far apart to properly link-up with each other, and the fluidity that characterizes Arsenal is not present. Sánchez is forced to move deeper in midfield, reducing his own attacking threat and Mesut Ozil and Alex Iwobi have fewer targets to look for.

The root of this problem is that Walcott and Welbeck are too similar. Both fulfill the purpose of keeping the defense deep, but neither possesses the incision and dribbling-skills to really take advantage of that. They also prevent each other from moving away from their main areas, making the attack one-paced and predictable. Perhaps the system involving Welbeck as a roving striker would be better served by Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain out on the right, as he is more physical and a better dribbler than Walcott. Alternatively, the early season set-up could be restored, with Walcott and Alex Iwobi on the flanks and Sánchez in the center. One thing is clear: playing both Walcott and Welbeck together defeats the purpose.

Fix this tactical nuance, and entire problem of the disjointed, out-of-sync attack could be solved. It could well bring out the best not only from the two Englishmen, but also from Sánchez and Mesut Ozil.

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What do you think Arsenal fans? Is the problem to do with Walcott and Welbeck, or something else? What changes should be made to remedy Arsenal’s attacking woes? Have your say in the comments below.