Danny Welbeck | Player Performance Analysis vs Galatasaray

Arsenal welcomed Turkish side Galatasaray to the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday to attempt to get their Champions League campaign back on track.  After getting well and truly taken apart by Borussia Dortmund in Germany,  the Gunners desperately needed three points to get back in a good position in the group.  Arsene Wenger’s men also needed something to boost morale after an indifferent start to the season before their big showdown vs Chelsea on Sunday.  The north London side delivered everything their fans could have hoped for thrashing their Turkish competitors 4-1.

Whilst the team performance was fantastic, Arsenal’s new striker Danny Welbeck stood out on Wednesday with his first professional hat trick.  The Englishman was absolutely outstanding on his Emirates Champions League debut scoring the clubs first Champions League hat trick since Nicklas Bendtner in 2010.  The former Manchester United front man silenced many of his critics with three clinical finishes for his goals.

Stats

Welbeck was very impressive statistically in other areas than just his three goals.  He completed 86% of his passes, which as a striker is extremely impressive.  Welbeck showed his aerial prowess winning four of his seven aerial duels.  He obviously scored his three goals, but he also created two chances for his teammates.  Welbeck attempted 10 take ons and completed five of them.

Playing Style

Welbeck showed that he has it in him to become the striker Arsenal have been missing for the last few years.  Whether he can show that consistently is a whole different issue, but on the day the £16m man provided everything you could want from a striker.  He was able to come short, hold up the play and link the play up as well.  Welbeck also did what Olivier Giroud can’t do and that was run in behind the defense as he did for all three of his goals.  The most promising part of this match for the Englishman was his finishing.  The 23 year old’s biggest problem has always been his lack of composure in front of goal, but he was absolutely clinical vs Galatasaray.

Welbeck’s pace and ability to get in behind the defense is a breath of fresh air for Arsenal.  At times last season, Arsenal lacked pace in their team and opposing teams set up for that.  That lack of pace allowed some of the better teams to press higher up against them since the lack of pace lowered the risk of getting in behind the opposition.  That allowed opposing teams to give Arsenal’s technical players less room to play and allowed other teams to win the ball higher up and counter against them more effectively (See Liverpool away and Chelsea away).

Flashpoint

Galatasaray were a mess in the first half and once the first goal went in the floodgates opened.  The first goal was a sign of things to come and it was a great example of what Danny Welbeck brings to Arsenal.  The goal started with Arsenal’s Chilean star Alexis Sanchez carrying the ball down the left.  Alexis ran at his defender before cutting inside.  As soon as Sanchez successfully cut inside his defender the English striker pointed to the space in behind.  The Chilean then released the ball and Welbeck made a run off of defensive midfielder turned center back Felipe Melo.  The former Manchester United man then slid the ball through the out-rushing keepers legs and into the back of the net to make it 1-0 and start what turned out to be a brilliant match the Gunners.

This was a huge victory for Arsenal in the fact that they got the three vital points, but it could be even more important if we look back at this as the match where Danny Welbeck really arrived and really started to thrive.  It is far far too early to say if that is the case, but confidence is always vital for a striker and Welbeck can’t be much more confident now after registering his first professional hat trick.