Arsenal: 3 solutions to striker problem for rest of season

The issues and lack of depth at the striker position have been laid bare this season. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang has now left Arsenal to join Barcelona.

Alexandre Lacazette does not have enough of a cutting edge in front of goal. Eddie Nketiah continues to show that he is not of the quality to play for Arsenal in high pressure matches against Premier League opposition. Three league goals combined this season for the current options speaks for itself.

Arsenal pursued several strikers in January and none of these avenues bore fruit. It is now clear that the club will wait until the summer to secure the striker as opposed to a striker.

While fans have already expressed their anguish at the club for waiting until the summer, they would likewise have criticised had the club spent foolishly on a mediocre signing. A lose-lose situation.

Arsenal: 3 solutions to striker struggles for rest of season as Arteta’s side push for the Premier League top four with just Lacazette and Nketiah

A loan deal for someone with a goalscoring touch wouldn’t have gone amiss, however.

Opting against buying anyone in January, let alone panic buying, leaves the goalscoring burden resting on the uninspiring centre-forwards who will both be out of contract in the summer. It is an almighty risk.

However, the fans’ clamor will be muted if Arteta were able to find an internal solution to the issues in the striker position. He has a paper thin squad to choose from, but there are options to lead the line for Arsenal should Lacazette or Nketiah either fail to deliver or fall foul to injury.

Here are three potential solutions from within the club.

1. Emile Smith Rowe as a False Nine

Part of what has excited Arsenal fans this season transcends the results of the past few months. What has instead caught the eye has been a clearer defined style of play combined with effective execution.

In defense, the right-back tucks into midfield or a back three to build up play; in midfield, one player shuttles horizontally across the line while the other plays a more box-to-box role; and in attack, the striker drops between the lines to receive the ball to act as central axis while the wide forwards drive towards goal.

Lacazette has completed the latter of those roles to varying degrees of success. At times, he drops too deep and lacks the pace to burst into the box after helping shift the ball across the pitch. When the system clicks, however, it is glorious. The home game against West Ham showed Lacazette at his finest. His assist for Martinelli arose out of the Frenchman’s intelligence off the ball to get into space before turning and making a penetrating pass.

The striker’s role as Arteta sees it, however, can be completed by other players in the squad. While the game against Villarreal last season was nothing short of disastrous, there is some sense to the strategy: Emile Smith Rowe boasts intelligence about spacing, perhaps even more than Lacazette, while having the physical capacity, and crucially stamina and fitness, to arrive in the box. We’ve seen him make perfectly-timed late runs into the 18-yard area and get himself into good scoring positions consistently this season.

Given the lack of convincing alternative options, it could be time to try out Smith Rowe as a false nine (yes, again). He has the technical security to operate in those zones as well as the desire to get on the end of chances and score.

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2. Gabriel Martinelli at Centre-Forward

Drifting in and out of the side since Arteta came in, in the past few months, Gabriel Martinelli has gone from strength to strength. In many ways he is now the man tasked with being the primary source of goals in the team. Who’d have seen that coming but a few months ago?

His natural talent was clear since his first showings in the Europa League and Carabao Cup in that breakthrough season: the pace, physicality and drive make him the ideal player for any manager, especially one that demands focus and dedication from every single member of the squad.

While many fans clamored loudly for Martinelli’s introduction earlier during Arteta’s tenure, it must be said that the Spaniard has handled the youngster’s development extremely well. No longer an unrefined diamond-in-the-rough, Arteta has molded Martinelli into an exciting star that has added multiple layers to his game.

Still energetic and quick off the mark, the former Ituano man has added excellent close control and clinical finishes to his already advanced game.

Arteta has primarily used Martinelli out wide on the left. As Lacazette drops deep, the Brazilian makes incisive runs from out to in, driving into the box with the overwhelming desire to score.

His goals this season have helped make up for the lack of a more traditional free-scoring No. 9 and shows that he may be ready for a run up front. He possesses the movement necessary to get into good positions as well as the ability to finish off even the unlikeliest of chances. Equally, it prevents him from being double-marked in wide areas.

The last time Arteta deployed Martinelli as a striker was in the dismal performance against Brentford in the first game of the season, but manager and player alike have grown a great deal since then.

The current set up is one that offers added structure and security at the back while still allowing the more creative players to express themselves up the pitch. Should Arteta start who Klopp has dubbed the “talent of the century” up front, there is no doubt that Martinelli would be among the goals. Furthermore, it gets Smith Rowe back into the team.

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3. Arsenal’s Record Transfer Signing Leading the Line

Nicolas Pepe has just come off what some will consider a successful AFCON campaign. His month of January has not been successful on account of making a deep run into the competition, but in the sense that he has given Arteta something to think about: two goals, an assist, and two man of the match displays is an excellent return, especially for someone who hasn’t started a Premier League match for three and a half months.

The Ivorian has been one of the most polarizing players at the club since his record-breaking transfer from Lille. Such has been the complexing nature of his bust-or-boom play that Arteta, a manager at times unwilling to compromise his ideals and football principles, has even tried him on the left in an effort to get the best out of him.

Yet in spite of sometimes flat performances, Pepe has always found ways to get on the stats sheet. Even with Aubameyang still around, Pepe would still be the most clinical player in the squad. This international break has shown that he can perform when called upon. Arteta must reintroduce the record signing into the attack, freshening up the front line while adding an extremely talented finisher to the lineup, no matter how frustrating he can be.

Arsenal have dragged their feet this window and, for various reasons, did not make any signings. Therefore, Arteta must make do with the players he has, something he has not done well enough across his tenure. That opens the opportunity for someone like Pepe to be handed a crack of the No. 9 whip, as he isn’t afraid to take shots on like the other two strikers in the squad, and, despite his many flaws, is arguably the best finisher at the club.

Tactically it would require a rethink, but it’s an option to explore.