Arsenal hoping to make Morata Özil’s chances

More out of; Morata. Geddit? I’ll get my coat.

Atrocious headline aside it looks like Arsenal have cracked open the “war chest” to find fully loaded assault rifles, laser scopes, tactical shotguns and claymore mines alongside their piles of cash and are attacking the transfer market with aplomb. With Granit Xhaka all but official confirmed as an Arsenal player next season it seems Wenger is turning his attention to bolstering our profligate front-line.

The transfer window isn’t open yet and Wenger doesn’t seem to be following the script according to popular misconception by getting his big business done early. Now, Arsenal’s next target – rumoured to be Alvaro Morata – could take all summer to sort out but we’ve gone in early and that’s more than most people expect.

All the evidence actually proves that the “Wenger leaves it late” theory is complete bunkum – in fact, he’s very much in the middle of the league when it comes to all time late window purchases in the Wenger Premier League era. Mesut Özil, Andrei Arshavin, Mikel Arteta and many of the 2011 mad-dash crew are notable exceptions but those aren’t examples of Wenger deliberately leaving it late.

That said, getting ducks lined up as early as May  in such public fashion seems a little un-Wengerish. We’re all victims of stereotyping – Wenger more than most in the realms of football management – and one well-earned stereotype of our longest serving manager is he’s famously guarded. One suspects that all these pretty accurate leaks to the press is more a case of a club attempting to generate goodwill and a sense of optimism than profoundly adroit investigative journalism.

Arsène is often accused of being a ditherer and unwilling to pull the trigger when it comes to transfers – or that he is blind to what the team most needs. I don’t subscribe to that theory. I believe that what is actually happening is Wenger – being the pragmatic perfectionist that he is, a source of internal conflict I’m sure – identifies a problem and assigns value to the potential solutions. If he doesn’t feel he can get good value he looks internally for answers whilst he bides his time. This patience is often confused for lack of knowledge or ability.

I strongly believe that over the past 5-6 windows Arsène has found solutions to the most pressing problems of the day. What he hasn’t always been able to do is sate the fans by solving top problem number 2 or 3 at the same time, leading to a lot of fan consternation. Mesut Özil. Nacho Monreal. Alexis Sanchez. Gabriel. Cech. Elneny. Of course, not bringing in a few more to solve the next largest gaps in the squad is an understandable cause of frustration and bewilderment for the fans but these signings proves Wenger sees the squad issues.

So far it’s looking like this summer might buck the trend and be the one where he closes all the gaps.

Xhaka is coming in to be the bridge between defence and attack; the midfield anchor who can actually dictate and set up play rather than just disrupt it. And Morata, should he join, could be the answer to the most criminal problem we’ve had this season and that is converting Mesut Özil’s chances.

This might seem an odd statement to make considering Morata has never reached double figures in a league season in Spain or Italy, managing just 7 for Juventus last term. However, as Danny Welbeck proved when fit this season, you don’t always need to be prolific in front of goal to positively impact the scoring exploits of your team.

The introduction of Welbeck gave us a different option, it allowed us to play more directly and I don’t think it was a coincidence that Alexis’ form picked up when we played a pacier game. Welbeck’s ability to harangue defenders at pace also made a difference as Giroud’s infamously more sluggish sprinting ability lends itself to a more physical battle and hinders our ability to break quickly.

This is where Morata excels. His link play is exceptional so we’d lose none of Giroud’s positives but he’s quick and that gives us a better chance to get the most out of Özil. We’ve all pondered what it would be like if Giroud was faster and, albeit in streaks, he has proven to be decent in front of goal. There have been errors and poor misses but we all live under a microscope now and every mistake is exaggerated and over-analysed.

Morata is a version of Giroud with pace. I’m confident his finishing would improve at Arsenal and with the plethora of chances he’d get from Mesut but his pace would also allow us to play a more direct, pressing, counter-attack game. Morata might not be finishing the chances himself but his pace and passing ability would enable us to play more speculative balls that he could hold up for an advancing midfielder – much like Giroud does now but with wider triangles that would stretch play and open gaps.

For the rumoured £50m (and convoluted process) it will take to get him our money might be better spent on a Lukaku or a Higuain but I’ve a feeling Morata would better suit us.

One of our issues this season was our confused identity. We never looked sure of what type of football we wanted to play. At the apex of our season – the month of October – is when we looked most at ease with the team we hoped to be. Our style was fast-paced transition football and it paid off in spades. Injuries caused us to ask what sort of team we wanted to be and we flip-flopped between our old, tried-and-tested by ultimately not-good-enough-to-win-the-title possession tactics and the our fresh, zingy pressing and counter football that had everyone purring in October.

We executed neither to great effect as sometimes our fittest players didn’t combine well in a certain system but in Xhaka and Morata we would possess two sensational footballers who would be equally adept and comfortable with either style.

I don’t know if Morata is going to join and I’m certain he’s not going to turn into the mythical 30 goal a season striker but his stats suggest he would regularly reach double figures for assists and goals for Arsenal.

We’re not yet out of May and we’re already talking about signing two players for a reported £85m. Exciting times are ahead.

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