Olivier Giroud has come under more scrutiny in the last few weeks than possibly ever before, Arsenal have really struggled to make an impact in the final third and the French Striker has taken the brunt of the criticism from the Arsenal faithful.
This is a season that many expected Arsenal to finally end their 11 year title drought, however they have once again faltered at the business end and now barring a miracle will have to lick their wounds and go again next season.
The biggest criticism of the French international is his application on the big occasion, he tends to go missing in the big games when Arsenal need him most. He has had a steady goalscoring record since his arrival from Montpellier in 2012, without really setting the league alight. His best season in respect of goals return was in 2013-14 season where he notched 16 league goals in 36 games.
This season he has been far from convincing. Yes, Giroud has had his injuries but he is now in his worst spell at the club failing to score in his last 14 games and has only 12 league goals to his name in 29 games, that is nowhere near the level your first choice striker should be at if you harbour title winning ambitions.
It has been proven that it is a necessity for title winning sides to have a 20+ league goals striker, something that Giroud has never looked like being. The 6ft 4in centre forward is a good option and he does give Arsenal a different outlet especially when it comes to his aerial ability, with that being said it can not be ignored that he just does not suit the brand of football Arsenal and Arsene Wenger look to play, he is like a fish out of water. He especially had a day to forget away at Sunderland last weekend.
It is something that has been hugely apparent for the last two seasons, Arsenal lack a World Class striker, but where do you find one at the kind of price that Wenger deems sufficient? The likes of Robert Lewandowski, Lionel Messi and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are all at big clubs and would fetch a big fee, more than Wenger has ever paid for a player.
If Arsenal are to finally end their failure in the pursuit of the premier league title they will have to go big in the transfer market this Summer, something that many fans don’t hold out much hope for.
0 goals in 14 games says it all – he is nothing more than an off the bench forward – at the very most – 99% of his goals have come against lower league teams or mid table teams in the prem very rarely does he score against the top 6 big clubs in the prem or any of the big clubs in europe save for a few scraped goals that he rebounded off to score when the opposition have cocked up – offers nothing on the pitch and when he’s up against a proper defensive unit he is crap and barely scrapes a shot on target let alone a shot at all SELL HIM AND BUY A REAL DIRECT FORWARD FFS WHO CAN TAKE AND RUN IT ROUND DEFENDERS AND CREATE THEIR OWN GOALS FROM NOTHING!!
In fairness, I think it’s the coach who is misusing Giroud. The team does not play to his strengths. The man is not suited to the ‘pass-through-the-centre’ style of Arsenal. He is better at attacking the ball floated into the box from the wings. But even when he comes in from the bench and you expect the team would switch play to suit him, it doesn’t happen. Mr Wenger does not make the use of the option afforded by Giroud’s style and strengths..
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0 goals in 14 games says it all – he is nothing more than an off the bench forward – at the very most – 99% of his goals have come against lower league teams or mid table teams in the prem very rarely does he score against the top 6 big clubs in the prem or any of the big clubs in europe save for a few scraped goals that he rebounded off to score when the opposition have cocked up – offers nothing on the pitch and when he’s up against a proper defensive unit he is crap and barely scrapes a shot on target let alone a shot at all SELL HIM AND BUY A REAL DIRECT FORWARD FFS WHO CAN TAKE AND RUN IT ROUND DEFENDERS AND CREATE THEIR OWN GOALS FROM NOTHING!!
He never was
In fairness, I think it’s the coach who is misusing Giroud. The team does not play to his strengths. The man is not suited to the ‘pass-through-the-centre’ style of Arsenal. He is better at attacking the ball floated into the box from the wings. But even when he comes in from the bench and you expect the team would switch play to suit him, it doesn’t happen. Mr Wenger does not make the use of the option afforded by Giroud’s style and strengths..