After Lukas Podolski struck a brace in the midweek Champions League victory against Galatasaray, there has been a debate as to whether he should start this weekend’s Premier League clash with Newcastle United. In fact, during the week he could easily have had a hat-trick and was the player we all like to see.
So, in my eyes at least, there’s no reason why Podolski shouldn’t start at the weekend. Let’s face it, Arsenal are hardly in a position to say ‘no, the team is fine. We’ll keep this in-form player out of the starting line-up this week’. The Gunners need all the help they can get and, when you’re struggling for results, what better than a player who’s shots could bring an airplane out of the sky?
The choice is likely to come down to Lukas Podolski or Santi Cazorla and, whilst the latter is improving, there’s not really a debate to be had. We need a player to grab the game by the scruff of the neck and get the job done, Podolski showed in the week he is exactly that. Cazorla is a fine player but not one you’d place in the squad to win a game.
Plus there’s the fact that Aaron Ramsey is unavailable, so there’s one match winner ruled out and Santi Cazorla may have to drop into a deeper role anyway. Danny Welbeck is on and off form, Olivier Giroud is finding his feet after returning from injury- are we really going to rely on Alexis Sanchez to dig us out of a hole again?
Like I said, we’re not in a position to leave in-form players out of the line-up. In fact, for us to do so would just be plain bizarre. Here’s a player that seemed destined to leave in January, who was given perhaps his last chance and put in one of his best performances in an Arsenal jersey- so why on earth bench him?
For me, this is another test to see if Arsene Wenger really has lost it. There’s no need to rest Podolski, he’s been rested for pretty much the entirety of his Arsenal career. There’s also not really players that deserve to start this weekend ahead of him. In my eyes this shouldn’t even be a debate- you play the players that are in-form and most likely to get you a result.
This week that player is Lukas Podolski and it may be the same next week. That’s not a bad thing, we need that. We need a player capable of changing the game, poor Alexis can’t do it all himself.
So Wenger, if you’re reading this, play Lukas Podolski. His goals in midweek were a sign from the Gods that he needs more playing time and he could save your skin. If you make the wrong decision here, well, I just won’t know what to think anymore.