It was hardly a surprise to see that some United fans were not too happy to hear Roy Hodgson talking about how the Arsenal and England star Danny Welbeck has improved since he came to join the Gunners after the new Manchester United manager showed no faith in him and all but said the striker was not wanted or needed at Old Trafford.
Some in the United camp pointed to the stats, which show that Welbeck actually scored 10 goals and featured in 36 games in his last full season as a United player, but as we know all too well, stats rarely tell the whole story. We could just as easily point to the previous season under Sir Alex Ferguson when Welbeck managed just one Premier League goal and two in all competitions.
The difference since he joined Arsenal has been that Arsene Wenger has had faith in him, playing him all across the front line, giving him licence to roam and get involved in all our play and starting him in the big games. And as reported by the Arsenal website, the boss said in his press conference yesterday that Welbeck definitely had improved this season.
Wenger explained that it is our forward´s all-round game that is better, most notably his technical ability, his reading of the game and his calmness in goal scoring opportunities and I think we can put a lot of that down to the manager, his training and the confidence he has given Welbeck.
Wenger said, “I think he’s an important player who contributes a lot. Not only does he now score goals, but as well contributes a lot to the team work.
“He’s a team player and I believe technically he has improved a lot. When you look at him now I believe that technically he is much more mature, more composed in front of goal, the quality of his runs is getting better and he has huge, huge attributes.”
Hopefully he will be fit enough to start against Liverpool tomorrow and continue to prove that van Gaal was wrong to let Welbeck go.
Hasn’t improved massively from his utd days if Im being honest
I don’t understand why we bought hm, very average @ united and we wanna perform wonders. We re actually blocking the development of young players buy buying another average player.
And to be honest, he ddnt to dat well in the absence of giroud and I believe a young player like afobe would ve done beta in the same period of tym. 6goals in like 23games doesn’t say much abt a striker even if u play as a winger.
And welbeck is the kind of buy in wch even if he’s not playin well the manager will want to justify his purchase…so I hope he improves or we re stuck.
bro he is a young lad, with henry-like attributes physically. he has time to get his scoring up.
otherwise what are you critisizing? he has awesome workrate and assists, and passes well. big physical presence and can play across the front three.
He needs to start scoring more goals!!
You are right, we would all like more than 8 goals and 6 assists in his first 6 months at the club. But, I repeat for the umpteenth time, he is not playing CF so in goal scoring terms he needs to be judged in comparison to our other wingers/wide forwards/ACMs – I could name quite a few others in our squad who have nowhere near this “meagre” 8 goals/6 assists. And it is clear in the system we play that of the two wide players we deploy, it is Alexis who has the greater freedom to roam licence, DB plays in a much more orthodox up and down role. I think he is a fantastic SQUAD ASSET – not sure why anyone would think anything else to be honest in terms of the overall package and what he brings. And he will only get better. You can see it already in his England performances – last match in particular he actually looked a lot more composed and calm passing the ball than many of his compatriots.
I agree with wenger you can see his improvement especially when he’s on the ball he is looking to take people on/ his dribbling has improved (1st touch still needs sharpening) and his run into the channels makes space for our creative players.
I think with more gametophyte we can have a special player on our hands. I have a good feeling about this transfer. Go on Danny boy keep working hard and maintain that positive attitude and you’ll go places!
If the first touch problem is solved the welbz is worldclass
If the first touch problem is solved then welbz is worldclass
Oli and the boss won the awards for the month!
I have no doubt about his technical or dribble skill, but he has to improve his finishing shot. Maybe henry could train welbeck about lethal finishing .
He has improved as a player, at arsenal with more game time and opportunites, as i support danny to only go from strength to strength as a gunner and become a deadly striker! Coyg!
Theo didn’t come back properly until january, Giroud was out for a long period and ox had his few injury problems as well. That’s basically d reason why he got so much playing time dis season, and not because he’s better den wat we already had. Remember we signed welbeck only after girouds injury!! And yes dat was a blessing indeed becos if not for his injury we wudnt hav signed welbz. I think real test for welbz will b nxt season when all d players are fit and he wudnt b getting as many chances to impress as he did dis season. All d negativity apart, I think welbeck has become a crucial part of our pressing game. Also wen he plays olongside Giroud it helps d other players who are providing crosses as we get more physical presence in d box wid Giroud and welbz.
However, formations and strategies can change overnight if d player stops performing.
Off Topic:
I’ve just got one question: how much do you guys think Theo should earn now at Arsenal?
He just needs to improve his finishing
And hold on to the ball a bit longer
he is young and has a few years improve
In meantime, he is a valuable backup winger
He has speed which is great and passion.
Also, he has already put his name in Arsenal history and Arsenal fans hearts by scoring the winning goal at Old Trafford kicking United out of FA Cup and putting us in the semis
i was not a big fan of danny at first but i am now,i know he doesn,t score enough goal but his overall contribution to the team is very good unless you,re blind you can see the guy has improved!!
Sorry but he was doing all those things you mentioned at utd! Only difference here is that he’s had more game time at arsenal to those things you mentioned, that’s all! Not saying welbeck is a bad player, just saying he hasn’t improved massively like everybody else seems to think.
Congrats again to olivier giroud and “le professor” wenger for being barclay’s player and manager for the month of march! Coyg!
Who are you taking to?
talking*
Welbz has made an overall improvement but still needs to work on his first touch and finishing. I believe his second season will be a lot better.
Please.. The guy has not improved at all, as so many of you love using stats you will find that he is still averaging what he was at United, never scored more than 10 goals in a season. he is on 4 PL goals. He had a period of about 3 months when Giroud was out and only scored 4 goals.
His first touch is still poor, he can’t link up, he will run with the ball like a headless chicken without looking to where to see if his team mates are in better positions, he will run and ends up messing up attacks.
Not assisting enough,
Not creating enough,
He is a very hard worker, but if you are going to win titles or big trophies then you need more than that from your striker/winger.
He has a long way to go, he lacks a strikers instincts. To me that’s a real problem as his goals, chance creation and assists show.
Interesting. How do you rate AOC?
You say “he is a very hard worker, but if you are going to win titles or big trophies then you need more than that from your striker/winger”. Well not quite. SAF played him 40 times in the 2012-13 season (all comps) and DW picked up a PL winners medal for his “hard work”.