I’m rather surprised the imminent lack of Olivier Giroud for Arsenal over the next three to four games hasn’t incited more anger. The fact he’s Arsenal’s only true centre-forward would normally be an excellent topic for complaint. Presumably he isn’t well regarded enough for it to be an issue. Which is a shame.

The more pressing concern is who replaces him through the middle of Arsenal’s attack. By my reckoning, five players have played that position for Arsenal this season.

Those players are Theo Walcott (arguably had his chance), Gervinho (likewise, also prone to horrendous losses of confidence after miscontrolling a football), Giroud (see above), Marouane Chamakh (currently playing second fiddle to Andy Carroll and Carlton Cole at West Ham) and finally, and the least often, Lukas Podolski.

Difficulty

Which brings me to the topic of this piece. Lukas hasn’t had the easiest season at Arsenal. A lingering injury has restricted his playing time, and at times he seems a little like a square peg in a round hole. Sometimes.

He’s been linked away from Arsenal a few times, especially during his recent spell on the sidelines. All kinds of stuff came out about rifts with Arsene Wenger, and moves to Juventus and back to Germany were mooted. Ultimately Arsene had to come out and point out:

“Look how he played when he came on!

“As soon as you have a player who doesn’t play for three games, the papers get a story like that. But he looks very happy to be here.”

And I think he is. The issue Lukas has, and the thing that leads me to question whether he can play as a centre forward, is his skill set.

Old-school

When Podolski rose to prominence, the formation of choice was 4-4-2, and he thrived in the secondary striker position, similar to Wayne Rooney. His best abilities are his finishing and crossing ability, as well as his bursts of explosive power that allow him to go past his man.

But nowadays, almost every major side in Europe plays a 4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1 formation, and he slots in on the left side of attack. His pace and finishing help him a lot here, but he’s had to compete with Theo Walcott for that position, as Santi Cazorla is usually favoured as the other winger, to provide a more creative edge.

It’s commonly accepted that to play the ‘complete forward’ number 9 role in a single-striker system, a player needs at least one of these three attributes: Strength, pace and movement. Podolski is stronger than some, less so than others. He’s got an impressive burst of pace but can’t sustain it, and compared to the likes of Sergio Aguero (for example) he can’t stand up. His movement is notably lacking.

He’s played through the middle for Arsenal twice. Once on the opening day, with little effect (though this can be put down to being unfit), and again in THAT game against Bradford.

What was noticeable in both these games was how cluttered Arsenal’s attack was. He seems to lack the movement and eye for a run behind the defence that Giroud and Walcott (to an extent) have, though he’s a better finisher than both. His lack of movement led to the rest of Arsenal’s front 3 moving inside and getting in each other’s way.

I’d be inclined to say that Podolski’s skill set is excellent for the largely unused role of second striker, and for the wide-forward role he plays for Germany (and Arsenal), but not necessarily for the all-encompassing centre-forward position defined by the likes of Robin Van Persie.

Progress

What I’ve said sounds pretty damning, but there’s hope for him yet. Arsene Wenger has admitted he ‘works with him on central striker a lot’ (perhaps in anticipation of such a situation), and good players can normally do a job at a similar-if-different position when required.

What he does have the other potential options is a physical presence. At 6”1, and not being lightly built, he’d certainly pose an issue to opposing centre-backs.

What I fear he’d struggle to deal with is hold-up play and having to cope with two players on his back, as opposed to a single full-back (and a possible backtracking winger). But if he’s been working on it as Wenger says, there’s nothing to say he can’t get used to it.

So, can Lukas Podolski play as a centre-forward? I’d say yes, though I’ve got doubts about his effectiveness. Finishing ability is one thing, with an all-round game another very large portion he’d need to improve.

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