Kevin Whitcher
I suspect we will never know whether or not Arsenal would have signed Danny Welbeck if Olivier Giroud had not picked up his injury. Arsène Wenger suggested that the deal would not have happened if he had not been making his trip to Rome on deadline day, which suggests that it certainly wasn’t part of the overall summer transfer window strategy, if indeed there was one.
However, fate and circumstance have combined to give Arsenal a young centre forward who looks like he may develop into the valuable source of goals missing since Robin van Persie left the club in the summer of 2012. After two seasons of muddling along with Olivier Giroud, there now looks hope that the Gunners have a striker that will be able to outpace defenders and convert his opportunities when he does. Comparisons were made to Thierry Henry in the way he shaped his body to finish his chances last night against Galatasaray. Obviously, it’s way too early to predict if Welbeck will score anything like the number of goals Henry did in an Arsenal shirt, but four goals in five games is an encouraging start.
Arsenal started very well against Galatasaray, helped by the lesser defensive discipline displayed by the Turkish side in comparison to last weekend’s North London derby. There was more space to play their football and when the opportunities came, Arsenal were not wasteful. Three goals before the interval effectively finished the match as a contest. With Anderlecht being beaten at home by Dortmund, the conclusion was that the Gunners should not find qualification from their group as much of a challenge as it proved last season.
The brief interruption in the first half – in the words of Doktor Schneide, “More flares than a northern working men’s club” – only resulted in Arsenal’s third goal courtesy of Alexis before the smoke from the Turkish fans’ projectiles had cleared from the air. The visitors pushing up allowed the Gunners to make hay with the pace of their forwards. Didn’t they send a scout to the game last Saturday?
At half time, I scoured the programme for mention of Emmanuel Eboue, who departed Arsenal for the Turkish side in 2011. No sign. Some research later revealed that although still at the club, he did not make the squad for the Champions League. I doubt he would have improved matters defensively for his team, having witnessed Galatasaray playing Real Madrid on TV last season with the Ivorian as a right back. Mind you, his being caught out of position more than once stranded upfield as Real broke was eerily familiar of Arsenal since his departure.
Never mind, defensive lapses could be afforded last night as the visitors produced little going forward until the award of a penalty which saw Szczesny red carded. At 4-0 up by this time, the Gunners could have sacrificed the goal rather than a man, but in the heat of the moment, players are not prone to tink rationally, and operate on instinct. Szczesny thought he could get something on the ball but ended up taking out his man. The sending off was no surprise, but at least gave David Ospina some more game time. He could do nothing about the spot kick, but pulled off a fine save after the goal gave Galatasaray some encouragement. They created a number of chances, and things might have become more nervy had their finishing been a little better.
As it was, the clock wound down and the stadium emptied, leaving the hardier souls and the (presumably locked in) visiting fans present to witness Cazorla’s last minute chance and the final whistle. I was informed there was bit of havoc before the game in Finsbury Park with the Galatasaray fans, although this may have been something to do with Besiktas being in north London for their game against Tottenham this evening. Certainly, around the ground itself, there seemed no sense of antagonism, no repeat of Copenhagen 2000. However, there is a very different crowd at Arsenal these days, especially on Champions League nights.
So an impressive performance from the Gunners, much improved on Saturday’s display. The visit to Stamford Bridge on Sunday will put last night into some kind of context. A win will be a confidence booster, but Arsenal were still careless at times last night, conceding possession where a more disciplined attitude would have retained it. Better teams will exploit such moments, and Chelsea are unquestionably better than Galatasaray. Still, at least there is encouragement in front of goal, so the hope is that if chances come against Mourinho’s team, they will be converted.
Just a quick note before I wrap up to finally announce the winners of the competition to win copies of Layth Yousif’s book on Arsène Wenger’s Fifty Defining Fixtures. So, John Deasy in County Dublin, Mike Hennessy in Hitchin and Spencer Streeter in Weymouth should be receiving their copies soon.
I am now on Twitter@KevinWhitcher01.
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Further Reading
A sequel to Arsènal – The Making of a Modern Superclub and entitled Arsène and Arsenal The Quest to Rediscover Past Glories has been written by myself and co-author Alex Fynn. It takes up the story of the club from the last update of the previous book, and can be bought online here. Use the promo code ‘Gooner’ to get 10% off the publisher’s price of £8.99.
