It’s fair to say Marouane Chamakh hasn’t had the best of times since joining Arsenal from Bordeaux in May 2010. The Morrocan striker has scored just 12 goals in over 50 appearances for the Gunners and has fallen out of the pecking order at the club. He started off quite brightly at the club, until January last year where for reasons unknown he fell behind Bendtner and became third choice striker. This season it can be argued that he his still third choice striker behind Robin Van Persie and Park Chu Young. Many Arsena fans are now fed up with him and are calling for him to be offloaded as soon as possible, but is this criticism fair?
My personal opinion would be no. He joined Arsenal as possibly the worst kept secret in footballing history, everyone knew he was on his way to the Emirates. Wenger saw him as a plan B to the fluid passing game that Arsenal play, he is not a playmaker, nor is he a finisher. Chamakh is well and truly a target man. The problem is Arsenal do not alter their game when he takes to the field, he is meant to offer something different to the Arsenal game but recently this has not been the case. Arsenal do not use Chamakh to the best of his ability. The reason he joined was his strength and dominance in the air, he scored many goals with his head for Bordeaux, yet Arsenal do not cross the ball into him enough when he is on the field and instead play the ball into feet which isn’t the way he plays.
In the Premier League this season Chamakh has made 6 appearances and scored a solitary goal. However, he has only had 4 shots which means his goal to shot ratio is 25%. This is a good return, Van Persie’s ratio is 21.6%, Gervinho’s 9.5% and Walcott’s 6.2%. This suggest their is more to come from Chamakh and we should just give him a chance, let him turn his fortunes around while we are supportive towards him. Chamakh does not fit into the flowing game that Arsenal play and thats not a criticism or a bad thing. It’s good to have other options when things are not going to plan, but plan B does need to be put into effect. If Chamakh is playing the ball needs to be crossed into his head, then we will start to see what this player is all about.
I for one will be disapointed if Chamakh leaves. He hasn’t had enough chances to gain the support of us all and every player deserves that. He will never be a player of Van Persie’s stature, he was never going to be. Just because he is something different doesn’t mean he is something bad. Think about it, give Chamakh a chance. He may eventually impress you all…
Like what you read? What to get in touch? Contact me on Twitter: @Challies11
Introducing the neat little app that’ll pay you to view content tailored to your interests:
ThisisFutbol.com are seeking new writers to join the team! If you’re passionate about football, drop us a line at “thisisfutbol.com@snack-media.com” to learn more.
Agreed, he’ll come good when the rest of the team learns to adjust.
Quite right. 3 points in defence of Marouane Chamakh:
1. Character: Even when Marouane Chamakh is clearly not in the form of his life he has always shown commitment.
2. More character: The overall criticism has not changed his public loyalty towards the club.
3. Versatility: The very fact that he is another sort of striker should be appreciated and maybe better anticipated/used by his collegues.
The first half of last season showed that he can be important for the team. Especially in the away match at Aston Villa he showed his worth.
what kind of an idiot would use 1 goal to draw statistical conclusions from?