3 – Relief
Whilst it’s all good to have the heat turned up on Walcott and The Ox, the arrival of Mahrez would be welcomed by so many at the club.
There were telling signs towards the end of the season that Alexis was beginning to crumble under the pressure of rescuing Arsenal time and time again.
When Giroud isn’t performing up top, people start looking at the Chilean to step up and be counted, and if he doesn’t score then he’s had a bad game.
That unfortunately is the logic that many fans apply to this situation, and I feel both Ozil and Alexis would love to see the Algerian come into the fray.
With an attacking trio like that it takes the heat off of Ozil to pick out balls to a lackluster Walcott who by the time I finish this sentence would already have dribbled it out of play.
Instead, defences wouldn’t have just one man to concentrate on defending against, and the sight of three world-class players coming at you is unheard of at times.
That’s the difference that Mahrez can make, he’s a versatile footballer capable of scoring and assisting his team-mates at the same rate.
As much as he hates it, a rest spell would also be good for Alexis every now and then because he gets worked to the death out there on the flanks.
Ozil completed the second most appearances in an Arsenal jersey in 2015/16, but what does he have to show for it; he too could sit back knowing he’d have top class talent to supply to.
Overall, Mahrez doesn’t solve the elephant in the room and that’s Wenger’s reluctancy to sign a striker and until then Arsenal won’t be ready to bag the title, Mahrez or no Mahrez.
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