Arsenal: ‘All Guns Blazing’ solution should be used only if necessary

There has been much debate recently over whether Arsenal should be playing one or two strikers up front. But, for Saturday’s North London derby, I believe they must err on the side of caution.

Last week’s demolishing of Everton showed a resurgence within the Arsenal ranks. The two new signings, Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang and Henrikh Mkhitaryan, combined well with one another to form what seems to be a new two-pronged spear. In addition to the resident puppet master, Mesut Ozil, both added a flair and directness to the passing moves which have looked increasingly stale coinciding with Alexis Sanchez’s decline.

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But where does that leave Alexandre Lacazette?

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It isn’t difficult to be sympathetic to the Frenchman’s situation. He was brought in for a record fee, and hit the ground running, scoring on his home debut. The short-lived, but much hyped ‘AOL’ trio looked deadly at times (ironically, also against Everton), and he was seen as one of the shining exceptions in an awful first half of this season. Six months later, that record is broken, and his guaranteed starting place no longer seems intact. In essence, there is a new sheriff in town.

Both Lacazette and Aubameyang posses similar physical attributes, namely astounding quickness, speed and deceptive strength, and both are of a sound technical capability. Despite this, the preformed partnership that was Aubameyang and Mkhitaryan was replicated last week and has thus pushed Lacazette out of the picture.

Maybe it is this ‘main-man’ mentality that would drive competitiveness in Lacazette to rival Aubameyang for his starting role. He will certainly be wanting to play as regularly as possible in a World-Cup year. But that can only happen if he gets his chance, and, at this rate, it is almost inconceivable that Arsene Wenger would play with two strikers up front, limiting the number of games that Lacazette will likely start in.

But when they need it most, Arsenal could funnel all their attacking outlets into one team, in a 4-2-2-2 type shape. There has been speculation that Le Prof could turn to this. Even Thierry Henry thinks so. However, this would only weaken the team defensively, as pushing Ozil and Mkhitaryan forward into attacking midfield roles would leave Arsenal vulnerable to counterattacks, especially considering how far forward the full backs already are.

Arsenal’s new foray of talent in the final third is excellent. However, they must not get carried away. It would be smart to err on the side of caution against Tottenham Hotspur, for example. But if they do need a late-game winner, then all options should be kept open, even if it means sacrificing a little defensive security.

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It will be extremely interesting to see how Wenger juggles his many attacking weapons. But, for now, I feel it is important that is a little conservative. This is not a team that is ready to handle the overawing presence of a plethora of attacking players. It needs stability, not more strikers.