Arsenal: For Danny Welbeck, that was the easy part

Danny Welbeck had himself a match to remember in Arsenal’s win over Bournemouth, but that was the easy part. The hard part starts now.

Arsenal’s win over Bournemouth was everything that we could have needed. Maybe we might have wanted a fourth or fifth goal, but a three-nil clean sheet with scores from all the new guys and from the beast, Danny Welbeck, have to leave us with an optimistic vision going forward.

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I mentioned before the match that Danny Welbeck had to know the stakes and he had to know that this was his last chance to impress for a while. Numerous people, myself included were a bit peeved that he was in the starting XI at all, given how lackluster he had been through the first three matches.

But it was clear that Welbeck knew the stakes. He knew the importance of the game both for himself and for the team. He answered by contributing to all three goals, scoring two and assisting the other. He was a monster on the pitch, tracking back, winning possession and doing literally everything.

I don’t want to put a damper on the situation or take anything away from Welbeck, but unfortunately, this was the easy part. We have seen him put in shifts like this before. Remember his brilliant header against Leicester? His cool finishing against Southampton?

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It’s never a matter of getting him to show up in a big way like he did today, it’s getting him to follow up that big show with something remotely relevant.

That is the hard part.

For Danny Welbeck, who is an athlete of epic proportions, matches like this have come and gone. The hard part is being steadily relevant. And that is going to get even harder with Alexis Sanchez returning to the fray and Alexandre Lacazette a must-start (at least, he better be).

I want to see Welbeck’s response. I am thrilled for the guy to no end because I dig into his inability to finish rather frequently, but this is the part where he has to prove himself. This is the part where he has to say, “okay, I’ve been here before, now how do I keep it going?”

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This makes things really interesting going forward. Arsene Wenger has made some questionable lineup decisions in the past and I truly wonder what he plans to do now that Welbeck has had himself a smashing match.