Who is Arsenal’s Best Penalty Taker?

by Guest Writer

Who is Arsenal’s best current penalty taker?

The Gunners are currently flying high in the Premier League and sit fourth after seven matches, just three points behind leaders Manchester City. Arsene Wenger’s men have scored ten goals this season but are yet to receive a penalty kick, although they felt that they should have received one in their recent 5-2 victory over Leicester City at the King Power Stadium. We take a look at some of Arsenal’s current stars and give our thoughts on who is the best spot-kick taker in the squad.

Mesut Ozil

The former Real Madrid man is one of the most composed players on the football pitch and has a number of brilliant attributes, including vision, energy and passing ability. Ozil has taken penalties on a number of occasions for the Gunners and although he missed three in a row at one stage in his club career, he tends to be very accurate and finds the corner of the net. As a German, he should be an expert in taking penalties and he still remains one of Arsenal’s best spot-kick takers.

Aaron Ramsey

Ramsey has scored penalties at both club and international level, showing that he is more than capable of coping with the pressure of taking a spot-kick. His calm, collected finish against Macedonia in Wales’ 2014 World Cup qualifying campaign would suggest that he could become Arsenal’s full-time penalty taker, or at least act as a competent back-up to the likes of Alexis Sanchez or Olivier Giroud. Ramsey has started to play a more integral role to Arsenal’s attack in recent years and the Welshman will still continue to score goals, even if he doesn’t take penalty kicks.

Alexis Sanchez

The Chilean has had a few penalty nightmares but is one of Arsenal’s most confident stars and has more than enough ability to dispatch with relative ease from 12 yards. His regular inclusion in team of the week lists only highlights his immense talents. His penalty against Queens Park Rangers a few years ago was perhaps one of the worst penalty kicks during Wenger’s tenure at the club but it doesn’t rank as the worst spot-kick of all-time. Sanchez, like many others, must learn to remain calm before a penalty kick. Here are some moments when having a Snickers before the penalty would have helped.

While you could claim that Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott are also competent penalty takers, these three are Arsenal’s top men from 12 yards out. It wouldn’t be a huge surprise to see one of these guys take the spot-kick when the Gunners are finally awarded their first decision of the campaign.

Guest Writer