Friday, March 29, 2024

Player Of The Week: Danny Welbeck

Arsenal love putting a twisted spin on things don’t they? They’re actually quite sick, thinking it’s a buzz to go mental in the last five minutes of every single game. Still, we usually win these types of games now. A sign of a team progressing – slowly, but we’re making steps, not all the right ones, but some. Bottom line, last year we lose that game, Palace batter us. This year: Palace batter us, and we win, we hold on and play with our eyes shut – like all world dominating teams… Kind of. Let’s be positive, though. United continue to embarrass on a massive scale, and with it their extensive list of egotistical strikers look hilarious – Rooney, Persie, Falcao, and even Di Maria. That’s the best part. It’s great to watch. Don’t say anything though because they’ll humiliate us in the FA Cup – that’s simply how it goes, and how it likely will go. I’ve already told myself this is going to happen so no issues there. I might lose the plot, but at least I know it’s coming. To be honest, there really isn’t that much to go in the way of individual player performances, but there’s always someone who sticks out that little bit more. He played the key part in both goals so my pick is Danny Welbeck.

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I’m still scratching my head over how much he’s won me over. I remember frequently taunting him – silently, and not to his face – in his United days. He really did play like a clown back then on more than one occasion, but at Arsenal he’s gratefully a different prospect. With the benefit of watching him regularly more than I did when he was at United, it’s crystal clear (see what I did there) that he’s a really handy addition to the squad. Kudos to Arsenal for snatching him away from that festering dump. He’s a work horse, we all know that. But I’ve also been made aware of a technical side to Welbeck that I didn’t know he had. He’s actually really sound on the ball, and offers great presence up the pitch. It’s no surprise our goal game from him closing down, stumbling, breaking clear, and winning a penalty – in a single frame that is Welbeck.

He was positive all game, first winning the penalty to see Arsenal take an undeserved lead, and then forcing the save from Speroni to give Giroud his goal and extend the lead in an even more undeserved fashion. They were dirty, and it’s Alan Pardew so nobody cares. Smash and grab. I prefer an Arsenal side smashing home five or six, but there’s something more satisfying about undeserved wins. Maybe it’s the fact that we’ve never been able to pull it off until now. And now it seems that’s all we do. It’s also become apparent that Welbeck is one of Wenger’s first thoughts with regards to tough away games, much in the same way Fergie used to operate. Both masters of the game employing the same tactics that suit the player down to the tee. That’s why Welbeck is such a superb unorthodox option to have. If you play to his strengths then Welbeck nearly always provides you with something. I don’t think his strengths are goal scoring, something Fergie has also said, but then neither is Giroud’s really, and he does a decent job with the wizards playing behind him. Honestly, It should be easy being a striker at Arsenal.

Ozil’s resurgence continues and he continues to dazzle. There’s real force in his play at the moment. He’ll have a big say in the big games coming.

Anyway, well done to Danny ‘Wele’ Welbeck for proving me wrong. I much prefer him at Arsenal – naturally.

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