Va va voom: Welbeck can be the new Henry for Arsenal, reckons Wenger
Arsene Wenger aims to transform Danny Welbeck into a deadly marksman like Thierry Henry after training his new striker to “kill” opponents.
The Arsenal boss has told Welbeck to look to Henry for inspiration, after the club legend joined as a winger in 1999 then scored a record 228 goals from up front.
Welbeck opened his account for Arsenal at Aston Villa on his third start after a £16million deadline day switch from Manchester United.
He was sold by United boss Louis van Gaal, who bemoaned he does not score enough.
But Wenger insists Welbeck is a good finisher and reckons he just needs a goal-scoring instinct after being played out wide.
Wenger is now training Welbeck to “kill” opponents and conquer his nerves in front of goal.
“Thierry is a good act to follow,” said Wenger.
Legend: Thierry Henry scored a record 228 goals for Arsenal
“I think Danny has an interesting potential and let’s see how he develops.
“He has a good mentality, good physical potential, technical potential, he contributes to our team play because he doesn’t lose the ball up front and those are important qualities.
“He rushed a bit his finishing until now because he didn’t score.
“It is more a nervous problem maybe because in training he scores goals like a real striker.
“He is a good finisher.
"I think as well he has played at Manchester United in the position wide the last two or three years, never through the middle.
“Then you lose a little bit that instinct to score.
“And you lose that pressure which is animalistic – you need to always be in the middle and wait for your chance to kill the opponent.
“On the flank you have less of that responsibility. He did a different job up and down.
“When you play on the flank you have to cross the ball for someone to score.
“When you play in the middle someone has to cross the ball for you to score. It is a different job.
“But when you play in different positions you learn always.”
Arsenal blitzed Villa with all three goals in 192 seconds in a devastating first-half spell which stunned the hosts who had started the better.
Welbeck was pivotal as he fed Mesut Ozil for the opener before the German – who excelled in his preferred central midfield role – returned the favour for the striker to pounce from close range.
Then Villa defender Aly Cissokho turned a Kieran Gibbs shot into his own net as the Midlanders’ unbeaten league start was ended.
Now Wenger is hoping Welbeck can continue his promising form in front of goal.
Asked if he wanted Welbeck to be more selfish, Wenger added: “Selfish is a word I don’t like, it is just to get that instinct.
Welbeck had come in for criticism after failing to score against Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund in his first two Arsenal games.
He said: “I’m glad to get the goal, but if you look at all strikers they miss chances. That’s not just me who is going to miss a chance.
“The most important thing is to get over it and move on to the next opportunity.
“When I signed I was away on international duty.
“I’ve not really had much time to get together with the boys and have many training sessions because there’s obviously been recovery days and all sorts of different things.
“Once I carry on training much more and get into the matches I will develop a much better understanding with the players.”
Source: Mirror UK
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