That's certainly the theory, and is probably why he started today ahead of Mateta, and why he stayed on the pitch throughout.

Thing is, watching him fail to attack a steady stream of crosses from Townsend (which admittedly doesn't happen every week) just felt like the last straw. But there have been so many last straws now that I've lost count.

Two final points. Firstly, arsenal were expected to release the walking comedy show that is David Luiz at the end of last season, especially after he'd in thrown one of his clown routines at Man City. They didn't though, they kept him even though it seemed that anyone else would be better. Even an overpaid, underperforming joke of a player must be retained unless your can certainly get a better one, or at least a cheaper one who is no worse. That rule doesn't just apply to us.

Second, and on a different topic, if Bentekes last contract extension was with one eye on preserving his value as an asset we could sell, that surely will not be a factor this summer? He is not only still crap, but another year older and the world of football will have far less money to throw around now.

Hodgson said at the post match press conference that Benteke had done ‘an excellent job’ for the team and was selected ahead of Mateta for his defensive qualities.
This, along with the substitution of an attacking midfield player by a defensive midfield player says it all really.

Yes , good points. Andros did ok yesterday but Tekkers lack of movement and desire to even try and get on the end of cross was so obvious - Hughes mentioned it on BBC at half time but it's been discussed for over 3 years now so clearly nothing is going to change.
Did you see the WBA goal v Man U a few weeks back. The striker was behind the defender but muscled in front of him at the last minute to head his goal - other than 1st season Tekkers just hasn't tried to do this.
Now in his 30s and on high wages and 4 years of poor performances and goals his resale value will be zero even if under contract.
IMHO David Luiz is much improved this season!!

all we need then is a player who attacks the near post job done

Tekkers scored near post headers at both WBA and West Ham this season.

The thing is Willo, he doesn't attack the ball at the back post either, he just waits there in the hope that the ball will evade everyone else and land exactly on his head. Never mind the fact that he mostly misses those few crosses that do arrive right on his head, the real issue is that most crosses will not land right on his head, but are still perfectly good service. By hiding behind the defender he wastes the vast majority of crosses overall.

Pulling off to the back post is a good strategy for a forward, as the defender can't see you and the ball at the same time, whereas the forward can see the ball, the defender, the goal and any space that might be available to burst into. It gives the forward all the advantages associated with a cross.

From there you can either attack a deep, back post ball, or you can time you movement and dart in front of the defender - i.e attacking the front post, or even just the space in front of the defender. Benteke did it at Leicester last year, when he headed the ball down into the middle of the goal and got lucky to score. He has it in him (or did have), but just doesn't even try.

Edited by TheBigToePunt (01 Mar 2021 10.10am)