GSK_AFC wrote:Angelito wrote:GSK_AFC wrote:Podolski was worse than Theo upfront last season. He looked lost.
SchlandGooner or Starman can bring the stats because I'm not interested right now, but he played 4-5 games as a striker last season. The first was his very first Arsenal game and the remaining when Giroud was suspended. I remember he scored 2 or 3 goals. That's not "lost" really. Giroud played 30/31 games as a striker last season and scored the same amount of goals as Podolski did (both scored 11 in the Prem and Poldi played nearly half the time Giroud did).
In the CL, Podolski scored 4, while Giroud scored 2. In fact, Podolski scored more goals than van Persie in the CL. Podolski is fine as a striker. Walcott is better as a winger.
He's a goalscorer sure but if you think goals equate to being a good striker, Theo scored more.
It may have been 4/5 games but he really did look lost, he didn't make any great movement and isolated himself. I'm sure he scored half his goals when playing upfront through setpieces too.
They're both best out wide but I don't think Poldi could do a good job upfront as you think.
Giroud looks lost half the time he plays as a striker. Just because he jumps a lot really doesn't suggest otherwise. Sometimes he can't even shoot properly. But these things happen. My point isn't that Podolski is a striker at the level of Suarez/Aguero, but that he would be equally as beneficial as Giroud, if not more. If we had Lewan, yes, there would be no case--but it's unfair to say that Podolski looked lost when Giroud does the same many times, but since he plays so many games--people just tend to forget that. And, if a striker scores goals, it really doesn't matter if he's invisible. Watched van Persie against us? He was tepid and scored a goal...
On Theo, I didn't say he cannot play ST at all. He's a better winger than a striker and I can't understand where this Walcott vs. Podolski debate comes from. Walcott has never played as a ST in his life in top flight football, if we ignore his stint last season. Podolski has played as a striker for Germany and Koln. Last season, he scored goals too despite not getting many games/playing time as a striker.
It's too early to give a verdict. With Ozil, Rosicky, Cazorla, Ramsey, Walcott, and Wilshere supporting Podolski, I doubt he'd have trouble scoring goals, or creating trouble for the opposition. His finishing is as good as van Persie and he drops deep many times. The whole concept about Podolski not playing with his back to the goal is half-baked. He's not a striker like Ibra or Falcao. He's more in the mold of van Persie, Tevez, Aguero, etc. Not at their level but Podolski at his best is as good a forward as you'd find.