Former Chelsea and West Ham United striker Carlton Cole was recently shot down during a debate about the quality of the Arsenal attacking contingent.
Prior to their 5-0 thrashing of Crystal Palace last time out, Arsenal had struggled to click as an attacking force in recent matches.
Across consecutive defeats against West Ham United, Fulham, and Liverpool, the Gunners only found the back of the net once, despite creating a multitude of presentable chances.
The north London club’s first choice striker, Gabriel Jesus, has only netted 3 times in the Premier League. Gabriel Martinelli took his league tally to 4 goals with his late brace against the Eagles. Meanwhile, Bukayo Saka has only scored once in his last seven Premier League outings.
It is fair to say that this relatively poor return from the Arsenal front three can be put down to disappointing form, rather than a lack of quality. However, Jesus has admitted that goalscoring is not one of the great strengths of his game.
It is perhaps unsurprising then that Mikel Arteta is on the lookout for a new striker. Arsenal have been linked with a number of potential attacking acquisitions.
However, Carlton Cole has recently claimed that West Ham United boast a better front three than the Gunners, with Mohammed Kudus, Lucas Paqueta, and Jarron Bowen all at the Irons’ disposal.
Ex-players clash in Arsenal v West Ham debate
Speaking on talkSPORT, Cole stated, “Paqueta on the left, Bowen down the middle, Kudus on the right. Would you say that’s top-six quality?”
Fellow pundit and former Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Jamie O’Hara then hit back with, “it’s top-six quality, yeah. But it’s not Arsenal quality.”
Cole said, “let’s talk about Arsenal’s front three. You’ve got Saka, who is a really good player, obviously.”
“He’s better than Kudus,” asserted O’Hara.
“Well, Kudus has just come, so I’m going to say okay for now. Bowen, I think he’s better than Jesus,” insisted Cole.
O’Hara responded, saying, “he’s not better than Jesus…What are you talking about?…Jesus is a top striker, Bowen is a really good player for West Ham.”
Undeterred, Cole continued, “on the left, we’ve got Paqueta, who is better than Martinelli.”
O’Hara was having none of that, stating, “he isn’t better than Martinelli. Martinelli’s having an average season, but he’s world-class on his day…Are you saying that West Ham’s front three is better than Arsenal’s?”
“I’m saying that, yeah,” claimed Cole.
“Honestly, you’re talking garbage, mate,” quipped O’Hara.
Arsenal attack boasts plenty of quality
There is no doubt that Arsenal need more from their first-choice front three throughout the second half of the campaign. In terms of raw quality, though, the Gunners have plenty to boast about across their attacking line.
In Saka and Martinelli, who are both just 22-years-old, they have two of the most exciting young wide attackers in European football. Already, at this early stage in his career, Saka has racked up more than 200 appearances for Arsenal, scoring almost 50 goals, and has been capped 32 time by England.
Martinelli, meanwhile, has 9 caps for Brazil and featured for them at the 2022 World Cup. He has also made himself a nailed-on starter at the Emirates Stadium, despite competition for his place in the side coming from the likes of Leandro Trossard and Emile Smith Rowe.
Whilst Jesus is not the most prolific of strikers, he also brings a lot to the team, with his flair, link up play, and ability to bring the best out of those around him.
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