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John Hartson: Arsenal need a 25 goals a season striker

Written by Jeffrey on April 25, 2011 – 21:30

Former Arsenal striker John Hartson believes the Gunners should sign someone capable of scoring at least 25 goals per season.

Speaking to the Weekend Sports Breakfast, the 36-year old believes the Gunners dropped way too many silly points this season which is ultimately the reason why they allowed Manchester United and Chelsea to again be in a better position in the English Premier League table.

After yesterday’s 2-1 defeat against Bolton, Arsenal are nine points behind leaders Manchester United with the former Welsh international believing they should have at least four more points at this stage of the season.

On what the Gunners need, Hartson concluded by saying that they desperately need a striker who can score at least 25 goals. This season in the English Premier League, Nicklas Bendtner only scored two goals with Marouane Chamakh scoring seven, clearly not enough for an ambitious side like Arsenal.

On the Gunners, Hartson said:

The points they’ve dropped this season, losing to Newcastle at home, dropping four points in the last week – they must be kicking themselves in that dressing room.

Arsenal should be top of the league. I keep hearing people saying Manchester United are not playing well, they’re not at their best and if that’s the case then Arsenal should be way ahead of them in terms of points because they’ve dropped so many silly points.

It must be so frustrating for [Arsene] Wenger thinking everyone is questioning me for not winning a trophy but it’s just these silly points that they’re dropping. They should be on 68 points.

Arsenal for me are very, very close. Maybe a top striker – somebody who will stay in the box and score them 25 goals.

They’ve got wonderful players but Chamakh and Bendtner for me are not quite good enough week in week out to play for Arsenal.

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ishman says:

April 25, 2011 at 22:11

RVP’s scored 17 goals in his last 17 games, not quite sure why Big John thinks we need a 25 goal a season striker on that basis.

If RVP could stay fit for a whole season (admittedly a big if) he’d score far more than 25 goals a season.

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warui says:

April 26, 2011 at 7:28

I agree with you about RVP-he is such a talented striker! My only concern is that in most cases he is injury prone and rarely completes a season-we missed him at the start of the season. If we had another one like him, may be we could have gotten the goals we needed to retain important points. I see see where big John is coming from and buy his idea. That means at any one point, our cylinders are always firing in front!

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Giddy says:

April 26, 2011 at 8:08

a real striker would have scored even more than 20 in those 17 games if you consider the number of opportunities they find within the box but refuse to shoot. again look at henry, he was capable of finishing the ball using both legs something that van persie rarely does.

Reply to this comment »
- gunnit!! says:
  
  April 26, 2011 at 11:47
  
  what do you mean? van persie has scored half his goals with his right foot this season.
  
  Reply to this comment »
  - krysler the gonnner says:
    
    April 26, 2011 at 16:12
    
    well said mate!! robin is one of our best players and striker. why should we argue on that?
    
    Reply to this comment »
Uz says:

April 26, 2011 at 9:36

ishman you said “if RVP could stay fit”….But the truth is that he has never been fit for a whole season.Even at that,he is not a clinical finisher.he hustles alright,works very hard but cant see him in the mould of the likes of rooney,davis villa,torres(whose having a bad time but we all know who he is)etc.This is what john hartson is talking about.
young vela has such abilities and so did Eldorado.however vela lacks experience and would need more time and time is what we dont have!

Reply to this comment »
- ishman says:
  
  April 26, 2011 at 23:01
  
  RVP played the vast majority of games in the season before last so with a good summer break (ie. no world cup or euros) hopefully he can do the same again next season.
  
  Also stats will show he is far more clinical than Rooney (about 14 goals this season), David Villa (no goals in 11 games before the weekend) and Torres (none in 13 before the weekend) this season.
  
  Reply to this comment »
Arselicked says:

April 26, 2011 at 9:44

Louis Saha is a very good striker just like RVP but he is too injury prone and ManYoo saw it fit to sell him.

I’m not saying RVP should be sold but looking at his injury record, we need someone more reliable in the injury front. He will never win us the league. Because he plays only half the games in a season.

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subatomicman says:

April 25, 2011 at 22:13

Van Persie might be able to get there, with an injury free season. However, that might be asking too much of the Dutchman.

As long as Wenger plays the 4-5-1 Arsenal probably won’t have a 25 goal striker. The midfield is way too spread out, not enough people in the box. Hell even when there are 4+ people in and around the box, they usually pass the goal scoring opportunities away.

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kelly says:

April 26, 2011 at 8:40

i agree with him totally chamack and bendtner are too much mediocrity in one team.at least one should leave coz we need a goal poacher and a trigger happy central midfielder.i say sell ebuoe (6-8m) and bendtner(8-12m) and we have enough 4 a decent striker/winger.

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The BearMan says:

April 25, 2011 at 22:22

One player I feel my achieve that on a regular basis, Lukaku, the lad scores for fun. With the Arsenal fans behind him, it will be a Carnival at the Emirates. But can Wenger pull that off and bring him to the Emirates?

Strong, fast, powerful and unstopable!

Reply to this comment »

Giddy says:

April 26, 2011 at 8:12

Well said. Wenger should go and get that boy, or is it the problem with money?

Reply to this comment »
- D.j. says:
  
  April 27, 2011 at 2:50
  
  Problem with money…You know that Wenger does not buy proven talent (since it costs far to much).
  
  Lukaku will probably end up at Chelsea unfortunately.
  
  Reply to this comment »

VIP Alfred says:

April 25, 2011 at 22:28

It’s nt necessarily a 25 goals a season striker that’s needed at Arsenal, we should stop trying to walk the ball into the net. Arsenal need a few big name players who can produce the much needed magic.Guyz am desperate to see Arsenal lift a trophy again.

Reply to this comment »

WC says:

April 26, 2011 at 1:48

A 25 goal striker does just that – he’s selfish and confident of himself with the ball near the goal. So you’re wrong, we do need a top striker and some defense.

Reply to this comment »
- Uz says:
  
  April 26, 2011 at 9:38
  
  good point WC.
  
  Reply to this comment »
Arselicked says:

April 26, 2011 at 9:54

If Nasri scores his 2 clear cut chances, we are 3-1 up and Bolton is giving up hope. We need a real goal poacher, somebody who loves to move into the box and meet the ball. Somebody who will be there to meet Sagna and Wacott’s good crosses and fight for the ball with defenders.

Looking at this team i don’t see that right now. RVP loves to play too deep and plays only 20 games a season, Bendtner disappears, Chamack seems a bit confused in decision making.

Maybe Walcott will give us that but we need more potent options.

Reply to this comment »

rvp says:

April 25, 2011 at 22:49

van persie has been injured the whole season, comes back and in several games he’s up there just two goals behind tevez. Rvp is one of the best footballers in the world. Arsenal dont need a 30 goal a season striker. Chelsea’s topscorer is malouda, he’s got less goals than rvp but chelsea are above us in the league. Man city have the 30 goal striker in tevez who is 2nd after berbatov, but city are below us in the league. So his suggestion makes no sense. What we need is fabregas to leave, he doesnt care about arsenal anymore, after the liverpool game he walked straight down the tunnel. The people that@cared, like rvp and wenger were still on the pitch hurt and complaining.

Reply to this comment »

WC says:

April 26, 2011 at 1:57

You’re wrong. RVP is not two goals behind Tevez, he’s four goals behind. RVP has scored 17 goals in the last 17 appearances, not 17 league games.

Man City is a terrible comparison. This is their real season pushing for the top four, we’ve been here for 15 years. Take Mn City’s money and rate of progress and multiply that by 15 and then come back and compare them to us. Fact of the matter is that they’ve moved rapidly up the table in a season and a half and we’ve gone down in the past 6 years.

Wenger refuses to acknowledge that money is a part of football now. It’s not a coincidence that our fall out of the top two occurred after Abramovich brought his money. Now City and Liverpool have money and Totts seem to be able to spend now and they’re matching us now after a decade of being the North London whipping boys. These teams are spending money and getting results while Wenger is stuck in the 1990s thinking that he can unearth star players for 500,000 quid. Whoever Wenger scouts now, everyone else is as well. Money doesn’t solve everything but it goes a long way to start building a winning team.

Arsene needs to spend some respectable money on key areas instead of thinking some random 19 year old will magically be the next Messi

Reply to this comment »
Giddy says:

April 26, 2011 at 8:15

Let wenger release fabregas he has indeed costed us with some slowmotion whenever we have the ball. morover his heart is elsewhere. Let Nasri play in the central role and mould the entire mildfield around Jack, Nasri and song.

Reply to this comment »
- Paddy O'Neill says:
  
  April 27, 2011 at 17:29
  
  Let Fabregas go – his heart is not with Arsenal any more – I’m still not convinced the backheel into the Arsenal box against Barca was accidental – 46 minutes on the clock you hoof it into row z.
  
  Reply to this comment »
Uz says:

April 26, 2011 at 9:40

RVP,as painful as it may sound,fact remains that he never plays a whole season

Reply to this comment »
Arselicked says:

April 26, 2011 at 10:04

That is our biggest problem. Who is scoring our goals when RVP is injured? Louis Saha is good but ManYoo saw it fit to move him on.

The problem is not Fabregas, the problem is runners in front of Fabregas,. He plays better when flanked by Walcott and Nasri. He needs runners behind the defence and he doesn’t get it from RVP, Arshavin, Bendtner because either they play too deep or the go ‘AWOL’. You can sell him but you will still have the same problems.

Bergkamp had Henry, Lunjberg and Pires making those runs. The reason why we failed to win in Europe was because he couldn’t fly. Rooney has Nani, Hernadez, Berbatov, Park, Valencia. plays who don’t shy away from making runs behind the defence.

Reply to this comment »

Cesar says:

April 25, 2011 at 22:55

I agree with Hartson. I believe we should buy Ramadel Falcão From F.C. Porto. and Sako from PSG. Van Persie is not a Striker and never stayed fit for the hole season in six years.
Falcao is a complete striker, this is his second year with porto and he already has over 60 goals and is the best goalscorer in europa cup(11).Djourou is not bad but not top Class either.

Reply to this comment »

Byo says:

April 25, 2011 at 23:02

Arsenal as is scores enough goals most times. The most pressing needs for the team? Belief, resilience, win ugly and a dominant CB(and maybe a dominant holding MF). Of course, everyone has an opinion.
P.S. The fact that Lukaku scores for fun in the Dutch league means squat.

Reply to this comment »

rvp says:

April 25, 2011 at 23:23

means squat does it? Van nistelrooy scored for fun there, ronaldo da lima did, romario did, ibrahimovic did, suarez, van persie, cruiff, van basten, all top class strikers that scored for fun there poved it in other leagues as well.

Reply to this comment »
- Neville d says:
  
  April 25, 2011 at 23:35
  
  Kezman,helder,
  
  Reply to this comment »
Cesar says:

April 26, 2011 at 1:44

Lakuku does not play in holland.

Reply to this comment »

redwan says:

April 25, 2011 at 23:48

add kuyt and alfonso alves to ur list^ . however the dutch league isnt that bad… better than the belgian league which is where lukaku plays!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Reply to this comment »

Neville d says:

April 26, 2011 at 0:42

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jason says:

April 26, 2011 at 1:05

So true!! its stupid Arsenal have more midfield players than strikers and defenders.

We only have RVP and if he gets injured theres none to replace him and dont tell me Bendtner and Chamakh are up for it.

We in 2007/08 season had RVP, Adebayor and Eduardo.

Whats do we have now?

We also had Toure and Gallas big physical centre backs, now what do we have?

Action needs to be taken now.

Reply to this comment »

mido says:

April 26, 2011 at 1:09

i`ll try to smouth talk drogba toward the emiretes if i was AW,as i feel we dont need a long term one,chamakh will b shown the door unfortunately (which by the way is a good bit of business) as i heard that marseille r interested.bendtner wont go anywhere regardless of what we think of him as hes still young with bags of experience.ooh and i`ll try to get bouffon as well as its the same we dont need long term signing in that departement

Reply to this comment »

Assam Charles says:

April 26, 2011 at 1:31

2 me idealy. I think dats we need. Luis suarez was a very gud catch then in ajax, yet AW would not buy. Now he’s paying dividend in LFC. VP is injury prone but very gud. We can’t really on him. Lukaku is strong n pacy and thats wats missing in AFC. A typical goal poarcher. Fabregas has no passion again. Let him go so nasri wil play d middle. Nasri has scored 4rm shooting alot and has great stamina. Against newcastle 4 – 4. He would have motivated the play, by keeping the ball, wasting time (something he needs to learn Drogba when they up by 1 goal) but instead as soon as we passed after each goal, we rush the game pilling pressure. The manager too has his own fault in terms of sub, bringing in a super sub in less than 15-20mins to go is not the best cuz the players take time to blend wit the flow of the game. Lastly there is no commander in the defence i.e. Some1 that will organise it before every set piece. Bolton’s 1st n 2nd goal will affirm this. We were always chasing defenders.

Reply to this comment »

WC says:

April 26, 2011 at 1:46

RVP could be a 20+ goal striker but he’s going to get injured………….for long periods of time. You can bet your house, student, loan, dog, baby and wife on that. So essentially he’s not going to score the 20 goals every season, just whatever he can in the time he’s not injured.

We need an Ian Wright or Thierry Henry again. Players who you would never bet against scoring every single game. This is how Arsene won his titles, on the back of goal scorers. Alongside Henry, he had Freddie and Pires who hit a dozen goals a season like nothing and who rarely every got injured.

This is the only way to win the league playing attacking football. Unless Wenger adopts a Mourinho defensive approach, he will never win the title unless he has consistent goalscorers in his team. Put those talents with some experience and you have a team that can blow away any team any day of the week. However we’ve come to know Arsene and his failure of a youth project will continue to fall short until he comes to the realization that he’s treating these players like kids and not men.

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TheIceManCometh says:

April 26, 2011 at 2:18

I don’t think the team has a problem scoring goals; it’s defending leads that has been the killer in the closing stage of the season. Van Persie will do fine for the team as long as there is another striker on the bench. What is needed is a defensive midfielder and an outside back; Wenger will sign whoever he thinks will fix our problem.

And to the folks that believe Arsenal always bottle it the same way every season, and that Wenger sits on his ass doing nothing, you need to go back and actually examine what has happened the last couple seasons.

Each season has been different. 07/08 when I thought we had the League bagged up, Eduardo gets Martin Taylor-ed; Arsenal loses a potent goal striker, and worse, loses any focus for the rest of the season. I can’t remember any top side that has witnessed such a traumatic event without a detriment to their play. 08/09 was the first year of post-exodus recovery; Flamini and Hleb left, causing the rebuild around Cesc. 09/10 was a true bottling of the season, key players started to drop like flies (Vermaelen, Cesc, of course Ramsey), Almunia and Fabianski providing a comedy of errors, and the inability to close out games. Of the past six seasons, only the last two have any similarity in causes for failure–namely the team bottling it at the end. Last season it was Almunia and Fabianski providing atrocious performances (and yes, Wenger is to blame for not getting a suitable replacement in that case). This season with a highly-rated keeper, the defense decided the season would end a month before it actually ends. Again, the experiment with certain players has failed (Denilson, Almunia, Rosicky, Bendtner) so offloading is needed with the acquisition of a few key players (and not City, Chelsea, or Liverpool style in getting exorbitantly priced players–if Spurs can get Van Der Vaart for 8 million pounds, then Arsenal can do the same).

Reply to this comment »

Uz says:

April 26, 2011 at 9:45

TheIceManCometh “I dont think the team has a problem scoring goals”…….Do you watch arsenal games or do you listen only on the radio??

Reply to this comment »
- TheIceManCometh says:
  
  April 26, 2011 at 18:33
  
  Has this team throughout the season (from game one until now in every competition) had a problem scoring goals? If you want to just look at the past month and answer that question, then yes, the team has been very inefficient in front of goal. I would like to ask you if you have watched any of the matches besides the games after the Newcastle and Carling Cup debacles (meaning before the months of April and mid-March). If you have, then you would have to either be blind or have poor memory if you don’t realize that this team can score, sometimes at will (Chelsea game, Man City game, Birmingham game, Tottenham game, Newcastle game, Barcelona game, Braga, Blackpool, WBA, I could go on and on).
  
  Reply to this comment »

douglasfc says:

April 26, 2011 at 2:44

anyone heard about Carlos vela?

Reply to this comment »

douglasfc says:

April 26, 2011 at 2:51

For real… ha ha .. start first from the defence. once thats solid. then increase the firepower. do the defence now and the attacking injections later in January window. trying to many things and playing styles creates problems in focus and practice.

Reply to this comment »

bearwoman says:

April 26, 2011 at 4:04

W enger’s style of play is easy to counter.It is always incessant pass and pass a thousand times thru the middle.So when teams opt to play anti soccer,he gets frustrated and say it’s not soccer.
He has chosen to ignore the fact that there are many ways of playing soccer .His way is not the only way. It maybe beautiful to see and eye pleasing but it doesn’ t win games.
Fans come to see a winning team and winning trophies.That’s why at the risk of being condescending,he should take a leaf fro m other top trophy winners on how to win.I know he wants to play like Barca. Bear in mind the Spaniards will be be sick of seeing Barc and RM perienially sweeping everything just like in Scotland.
Btw it will be interesting to see how many goals the gunners score from crosses.The red faced has a varied system. That is why Nani/Valencia must not be isolated and allowed to cross.For that matter the ugly Brit bulldog must not be given time and space to shoot. Everton did a good job crowding him
Nothing will give more infinite plasure than for the gunners to throw a spanne/monkey wrench into the Mu wheels. By that I want the gunners to beat the rfc.Though the gunners will be underdogs,the rfc ,I believe,at heart is scared of the guuners attack. Now if the gunner defenders defend 150% repeat 150% not 100%,there is no reason why the gunners can’t win.
Oh cut down the passes. Shoot on sight. You never know.

Reply to this comment »

kelly says:

April 26, 2011 at 8:53

fact:arsenal has never beaten man u with diaby,song or denilson playing i don’t see them doing it now

Reply to this comment »
- The BearMan says:
  
  April 26, 2011 at 22:28
  
  Arsenal can beat Man U, but Arsenal has to be on there very best game and take control of the game from the very start. Arsenal have to strangle Man U, by not giving them space to play or time on the ball. Arsenal must stifle Rooney and marshal Hernendez. Arsene should create a few changes such as starting Arshavin, Bendtner & Chamakh. Leaving Nasri, RvP and Walcott on the bench. Attack their goal, they are anticipating the passing game. Wenger normally make changes on the 62nd minute, surprise the opposition.
  
  Expect a physical and fast game?
  
  They are banking on finding the same hole in defense? Song is key, he must keep a cool head!
  
  Surprise is the key and be fully alert! Arsenal must treat this game as the final and enjoy the challenge!
  
  Finally make certain Nasri, Walcott and RvP is fully warmed up, before coming into action.
  
  Reply to this comment »
  - Paddy O'Neill says:
    
    April 27, 2011 at 17:37
    
    stifle rooney and marshal hernandez, what with?
    
    Reply to this comment »

Cjmaris says:

April 26, 2011 at 8:24

John Hat is certainly right, without RVP,that attack is nothing to be talked about; considering RVP’s fragile nature we need another striker that will fill that space should he go on injury-F. Llorente is 1 of them!

Reply to this comment »

The BearMan says:

April 26, 2011 at 21:48

Here is the Bear’s predictions: If you consider Drogba as being one of the toughest forward in the Premier League over the past 4 \ 5 seasons. Lukaku will be know as the tormentor of many defenders and defenses. Many players will hate playing against him.

Consider this, imagine coming up against the Shaquille O’Neal of Premier League Football?

Reply to this comment »

Bob the Gunner says:

April 26, 2011 at 22:34

Adebayor is very well suited to play for Arsenal and he can be that striker for us. But too bad really.

Reply to this comment »

azeez says:

April 27, 2011 at 1:00

The fact is arsenal cannot have two rvp in the team, one will get frustated for not playing.Bendtner is not in calibre rvp and he’s whining for not playing.I don’t think the mid field trio of whilshere song and fabregas is working well that much, cos apart from fab neither of the two offer any real threat up the field. maybe we need an offensive midfielder that will play along fab and one of jack and song sit infront of the back four. we definetely need a leftback cos clichy aint offering that much offensively.

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