Arsenal never needed to sign a striker in the winter, and they may not need one this summer either. That is what Martin Keown’s most recent claims about the Arsenal attack appear to imply.
Throwing shade at certain detractors who were circulating rumors that the Gunners were going nowhere without a clinical striker signing in January, Keown stated on Talksport: “Well, I thought it was lazy journalism. I was doing a game, I was asked a question, ‘Oh when Arsenal didn’t get the goals they needed against West Ham, 30 shots at goal, no goal, and everyone was jumping on the bandwagon, saying they haven’t got a striker.’
“I thought, well, actually, what they need to do is work better with the ones they’ve got and find solutions. We’ve seen Saka now scoring off his right foot in quick succession, next one, hits it with his left.
“It was all becoming a bit too predictable, and I think that’s changed now; they’ve become unpredictable in how they do it. They keep changing slightly the way that they’re playing, the structure of their midfield, and I think that’s clever.”
He also adds that it wouldn’t alarm him if Arsenal didn’t complete that transfer in the summer. “There’s still an opportunity to be successful with what they’ve got; City did it without a striker for two seasons. Havertz has now started to play his best football, Trossard too; they’ve kind of flip-flopped into that role, so the goals are coming in from all directions.”
Arsenal has scored 33 goals in eight EPL games since the winter break, demonstrating their offensive efficiency. As wasteful as they were in the first half of the season, the Gunners have rediscovered their goal-scoring form and are now dangerous.
As highlighted by Keown, the deployment of Kai Havertz and Leandro Trossard as false No. 9s has proven to be a cure to Arsenal’s striker struggles. The two have shone in this role, raising the question of how Arteta deals with his striking problems. Does he stick to the false 9 system, which has helped Havertz find significance in his project, or will he continue to strive for a striker signing?
That is up to Arteta to decide, but it is apparent that he and his technical bench have proven naysayers wrong by transforming their blunt attack into the league’s fiercest this calendar year.
So why would Arsenal need a new striker?
Daniel O
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