Negative Arsenal fans could look at Saturday's 7-3 win over Newcastle United and focus on how the defence conceded three cheap goals that should have easily been avoided. The team were also out-passed much of the match by a depleted Newcastle side, and struggled to control the game for long periods. However, you only need to look at the scoreline to know that those issues aren't of much concern to Gooners at the moment.

After the slightly random season Arsenal have had, fans welcome any win. Whether it's a scrappy 1-0 away at Wigan, or a 7-3 thumping of Newcastle, all are enjoyed. The fact that Arsenal did struggle for much of Saturday, yet still scored seven goals, is somewhat reassuring. When Newcastle had their lulls, Arsenal were devastatingly clinical in punishing them. Initially, not playing on Boxing Day meant Arsenal didn’t look as sharp as their opponents. However as Newcastle wilted in the last 10 minutes, Arsenal's superior fitness from the week off was used to their advantage.

Theo Walcott has grabbed a lot of headlines for his excellent hat trick, with a lot of the media using it as the definitive reason for Arsenal to sort out his contract and play him as a centre forward all the time. There’s little argument to be made against Walcott being played as a centre forward after he’s scored a hat trick, except for the fact Olivier Giroud came on and scored two, and hit the bar, as the main striker in the space of 16 minutes. Both his goals were assisted by Walcott playing on the right.

With both Giroud and Walcott making strong cases to play as the lone striker - plus the possibility Arsene Wenger could add another to the squad in January - a case can be made for the team switching formation to change the point of attack to accommodate both Giroud and Walcott as strikers.

Rather than using the wings, Arsenal would play more through the middle in a 4-4-2 rather than the current 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3. As a traditional partnership up front, the thought of Giroud and Walcott is undoubtedly an exciting one. Giroud's hold-up and link-up play is good, whereas Walcott has the pace that Giroud doesn't. In theory, playing the two up front should work as their different skill sets complement each other.

Unfortunately, modern football and the current Arsenal squad mean that such a change isn't as simple as it looks on paper. If Giroud and Walcott lined up as a front two, Santi Cazorla would probably be the man to be pushed out to the right wing, where some of his creative ability would be negated. Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere would be the two in central midfield, and while I rarely have a bad word to say about either player, I doubt both could dominate some matches as a midfield two. Plus, with many teams, especially in Europe, favouring an extra central midfielder, Arsenal could be exposed there.

When being asked about comparisons between Walcott and Thierry Henry, Wenger alluded to the Frenchman being part of a front two and being able to be the more explosive striker, rather than having as much pressure on him to hold the ball up and link play like Walcott needs to as a lone front man. Back in Henry’s most successful season, Arsenal had two from Patrick Vieira, Gilberto, Edu and Ray Parlour patrolling the midfield, allowing the team to use a front two effectively.

To accommodate both Giroud and Walcott, while it clearly isn't Theo’s first choice and is important in contract negotiations, it’s better to have Walcott on the right of a front three. His perfect cross for Giroud emphasised that. However having the option to play Walcott down the centre against a team that has a high defensive line is undoubtedly a useful one.

Hopefully Walcott will accept that he won’t play as a centre forward in every game with Giroud increasingly impressing in the role, but that he can still score plenty of goals from wide areas and work effectively with the Frenchman from the flank. His form in the last few weeks means he will get plenty of chances down the middle should he sign a new contract, with his versatility making him a great asset to Arsenal.

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