As always, Arsenal had a great start to the 2015-16 season and while the season was coming to its end, the side slipped and gave away the title. To be very honest, it was their best chance to win the trophy as all the other contenders failed to capitalize the resources they had.
The major problem for the Gunners in their failure was their lack of attacking instinct. Gunners were unable to vitalize the squad and we can clearly observe that, besides some handful clear victories, Arsenal either drew or won the game very marginally. Their game has been exceptional at times, but the goal scoring trait was somewhere missing in the squad.
Many players from the squad emerged under Wenger this season; we saw Elneny, Iwobi, Couquelin, Bellerin and what not. All those players gave the best they had and yet, the team failed. Besides Welbeck and Giroud, Arsenal don’t have a player who we can call a pure striker. A player who can guide the team in their attack was missing throughout the season.
If the recent reports from Daily Mirror are to be believed, then, Arsenal are planning to get Inter Milan’s striker Mauro Icardi. Icardi signed a new contract with the club in June last year, but the English giants are capable of offering an amount that Inter cannot refuse. Arsenal nearly missed out on Higuain a couple of seasons before and to fill the void, they are planning to go for the 23-year-old Argentine this summer.
But is this young Argentine a right choice for the Gunners?
Last year, Mauro Icardi scored 22 goals for Inter and became the youngest winner of the Serie A Golden Boot. But this season, he was unable to replicate his previous form. He lacked in the attacking connection throughout the season and was unable to play a fluid offensive football.
In his 32 appearances for the club this season, he has scored 15 goals and has the shooting accuracy of just 50%. The number of goals are quite impressive, but looking at his precision, he totally lacked. The one thing he was criticized this season was his attitude. He had a very poor self-centered attitude and this is the thing Arsenal never had.
Arsenal are a team who are known for their team-play goals. The goals they score are such a delight to watch and, (No Offense) the style of play Icardi possess, it may hamper the game of the entire team. Alexis Sanchez is a great striker of the ball, but he never had that ‘ME’ attitude. Icardi is a pure goal scorer and is an obvious threat inside the box. But, his effect of scoring the goals mutes when taken away from that area.
Mauro Icardi lacks in his passing abilities and it can be seen in his statistics as he has an average passing accuracy of just 73% this season and has completed less than 400 passes. That is actually a very poor number. On the other hand, Arsenal believes in the traditional possession game and their build-up move for the goal is always a joy to watch. However, Icardi is a proficient player, but his linkup play is still unpolished. We have witnessed at times that Argentine players lacked in the physical approach of the premier league (Tevez is an exception) and hence, Icardi won’t be able to adopt the approach of the premier league nor he can battle the defenders like Alderweireld, Smalling, Cahill aerially.
Yes, the 23 year old striker is one of the finest finishers in the world, but Arsenal need a real fire power in their attack, the one who can match the versatility of Alexis Sanchez and the one who can match the quality of Mesut Ozil.