You can never have too many mercurial inside forwards. At least, that is the wry observation about Arsène Wenger and the lines upon which he has constructed his latest Arsenal squad.
The list of names is sumptuous and it carries with it the possibilities to tantalise. Andrey Arshavin; Theo Walcott; Tomas Rosicky; Samir Nasri; Eduardo da Silva. Even Robin van Persie prefers to play off a central striker. There is also the new kid on the block, the 17-year-old Jack Wilshere, while Carlos Vela can be thrown in for good measure.
Wenger remains open to the signing of a more orthodox centre-forward in the shape of Bordeaux's Marouane Chamakh, having sold Emmanuel Adebayor to Manchester City, and he already has Nicklas Bendtner, the Dane in whom he has invested such faith, but the manager is primed to attack the Premier League with his own version of total football.
Throughout the close season Wenger has fine-tuned a 4-3-2-1 but he insists the player designated as the formation's spearhead will not be isolated. Van Persie appears to have been earmarked for the role as Wenger, somewhat surprisingly, played him there and Bendtner in one of the support positions in the friendlies against Hannover and Atlético Madrid, rather than the other way around.
"He [Van Persie] will never play on his own up front because when you play with Arshavin you are never on your own," said Wenger, extolling the fluidity of his new-look front three. "When you play with Walcott, you are never on your own. Playing with strikers depends on the support that you get from the rest of the team."
One of the biggest pluses has been the sight of Rosicky and Eduardo in action. Rosicky last played a competitive game in January 2008 against Newcastle United, having endured a nightmarish period with a hamstring tendon problem, while Eduardo has appeared in only four competitive matches since the horrific leg injury he suffered in February 2008 against Birmingham City. To Wenger, they resemble new signings but have the advantage of being schooled in the Frenchman's philosophies.
"There are going to be plenty of options and that's why I think we can be stronger than last season," said Rosicky. "You could see that even if Adebayor left, we have got so many possibilities up front. We're scoring goals [in pre-season], we're creating chances, so I don't think we've got a serious problem in attack or in the offensive part of the game."
The issue of the team's balance will be critical. Wenger will play the captain, Cesc Fábregas, as one of his midfield trio and encourage him to push forward whenever possible but he has suggested that he prizes the value of solidity in the centre of the pitch. Alex Song, Denilson, Abou Diaby and Aaron Ramsey will vie for the two places alongside Fábregas, with one of them in a deeper role in front of the back four, while Wenger considers whether to offer the Internazionale midfielder Patrick Vieira the chance of a return to the club.
"I wanted to see how the formation works because we have many offensive players and maybe we will have to tighten up a little bit the midfield to keep the balance between offence and defence," said Wenger. "I wanted to see how it works in preparation. I am quite happy with how it has gone."
Wenger's critics note that he can only accommodate so many of his creative attacking talents at any one time and that, in many respects, including style and stature, they are similar players to one another. Certainly, Wenger is sensitive to his team's collective lack of height; set pieces proved to be an achilles heel last season.
Wenger may be gambling on the squad's misfortune with injuries not repeating itself. In addition to Rosicky's and Eduardo's problems, Walcott missed half of last season and Fábregas was sidelined for a three-month period. Other players endured lay-offs. Nasri has already broken his leg in pre-season training and he will be out for three months. Is it realistic to expect Rosicky and Eduardo to maintain full fitness?
It is defensively where Arsenal need to improve and Wenger hopes his replacing of Kolo Touré, who followed Adebayor to City, with the Belgium centre-half Thomas Vermaelen will prompt better understanding. The club's support would like to see Wenger enter the transfer market for reinforcements yet a mood of cautious optimism has built within the squad.
"Of course we know what we have to do better," said Rosicky. "We are not blind. But I can see there is positive. I don't see why we should be afraid of somebody. I don't see this point. I see the offensive potential that we've got and I think we just have to focus on ourselves. If the boss decides to buy somebody, that's always good. There will be another option but even if he doesn't buy, we've got plenty of options."
