Arsenal: 5 Aubameyang & Lacazette alternatives

4. Martinelli – Pepe – Saka

A left-field option that is almost certainly not going to happen, we at least got to see some of Pepe at centre-forward in the second half against Brentford, even if he rarely stayed there.

This is a move many supporters have asked to see, yet has only ever been utilised once in Pepe’s career under Marcelo Bielsa at Lille. It didn’t work out.

With these three the focus would once again be on a fast-paced counter-attacking system in which transitions tend to the players’ individual qualities.

Pepe does not have physical command to be a battling centre-forward but as someone running at pace against defenders starting either centrally or out wide, it’s those situations where he ran amok at Les Dogues in the season before he joined Arsenal. He is a transitional player.

Another idea that likely works better in theory than in practice, there would also be some balancing issues with Martinelli on the left. While they could interchange, the risks of employing such an approach at the first attempt against a side of Chelsea’s calibre outweighs any potential positives.

The chemistry would need to be instant. It probably wouldn’t be. Nico would get bullied.

Continued…