Arsenal: Striking a balance of strikers in a time over overabundance

With strikers like Aubameyang, Lacazette, Welbeck and Lucas Perez in the squad, what was an area of concern is now an overabundance. But that might not be such a bad thing.

For years, Arsenal had been criticized by fans for not recruiting a replacement for Robin van Persie’s goal production. Strikers like Olivier Giroud staked a claim. Lukas Podolski came and went.

The Theo Walcott experiment never really convinced. And even Danny Welbeck made a few cameos between injuries. No player bought or shoehorned into the striking role at Arsenal truly commanded the position since the Dutchman. And for about five years, the fans waited.

Then, in Arsene Wenger’s final two seasons, strikers started arriving in bunches. Lucas Perez was brought at the last minute two seasons ago.

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Then the oft-linked Alexandre Lacazette arrived, banishing Perez back to Spain on loan. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang appeared six months later to mark the end of the Giroud era. And Eddie Nketiah flashed confidence and ability across a few first team cameos.

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Each of this new corps of strikers possess some degree of quickness, technique and finishing. Which means new head coach Unai Emery has a blessing of options to mix and match—or sell and loan—according to his preference. And his ability to coach consistent goals out of these strikers could lead to success next season.

Of course, the club could dabble in a bit of wheeling and dealing to offload the likes of Welbeck and Perez for nice sums, freeing up additional funds to strengthen in other areas. Or, the coach could follow the blueprint of last season, where a “B-squad” took care of the early Europa and domestic cup matches while the big guns were rested for League matches. Imagine a fresh, hungry combo of Lacazette and Aubameyang terrorizing Premier League defenses on weekends while Welbeck and Lucas slice through Europa League foes during the week!

Emery could go yet another route and simply set expectations among the strikers. The ones who perform in training and on matchdays will get the nod in the biggest games. Competition spurs production.

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Whatever happens, the striking force at Arsenal won’t be relying on the singular production of a van Persie or Giroud. And that’s an exciting prospect for the fans. Now, it’s up to the management team to strike the balance.