Depending on how you took in Thursday’s Europa League thriller between Manchester United and Barcelona at the Camp Nou, whether sitting through the whole 90 minutes or merely breezing through the highlights, this should shape your perception of Wout Weghorst’s performance.
The cynics will point out that the rangy Dutchman was responsible for missing the best chance of the first-half; firing straight at Marc-Andre Ter Stegen following Bruno Fernandes’ defence splitting pass. Those of you who tuned in from start to finish, however, will have realised that, what Weghorst lacks in goals, he more than makes up for in other departments.
“I think it worked tonight. Wout did well in that position,” Ten Hag said following a game United dominated for long spells, his 6ft 6ins ‘number nine’ playing more as a ‘number ten’ in Catalonia (Mirror).
“It gave us variation with Jadon (Sancho) and Bruno coming into the half spaces and getting on the ball, and the full-backs joining in. We had a lot of variation, and a lot of opportunities.”
That is a rather detailed way of saying that Weghorst, with his height, work-rate and movement, is a brilliant outlet when opening up spaces for his more technically-gifted team-mates. It’s a role Andrea Petanga, another physical, old-school targetman-style striker, plays to near-perfection at Serie A surprise packages Monza.
Mikel Arteta wanted Andrea Petagna at Arsenal
Petagna, a 27-year-old Italy international, turned down a move to Arsenal during the summer of 2020, according to Calciomercato. That Petagna has scored just 12 goals in 86 games since then, for Napoli and now Monza. But, like Weghorst at Man United, the 6ft 3ins colossus is proving that there is more to life than sticking the ball in the back of the opposition net.
Mikel Arteta, Calciomercato add, was central to Arsenal’s pursuit of Petagna. The Gunners boss, in his first season as head coach, wanted a powerful, back-to-goal sort of centre-forward. The perfect foil for Arsenal’s array of buzzing playmakers. A long-term Olivier Giroud replacement, perhaps.
Petagna may lack Giroud’s finesse and technique. But you only need look at his match-winning assist during Monza’s 1-0 win away at Bologna last weekend to realise what the former AC Milan starlet brings to the table. Petanga first stretches the Bologna defence with a clever run. He checks inside, shrugs of an opposition defender and eventually bundles the ball into the onrushing Guilio Donati.
‘Andrea has obvious strengths’
It was not an assist out of Kevin de Bruyne’s playbook, but this is what Petanga does. Call him a battering ram. Call him a professional nuisance. But if it’s good enough for Ten Hag and Manchester United, then it’s certainly good enough for Monza too.
“Andrea has obvious strengths. He lets us climb (up the pitch),” Monza coach Raffaele Palladino tells Sky Italia. “He misses the goal but I’m sure he will arrive soon. He’s doing really well.”
The chances of Arsenal renewing their interest in Petanga look slim. Three goals in 18 games is not enough to catch the eye of a team with title ambitions. But, with Eddie Nketiah lacking Gabriel Jesus’s off-the-ball effectiveness and supreme link-play, a centre-forward in the Petanga – or perhaps Weghorst – mould could still be a useful addition to a talented yet rather thin Arsenal squad.
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