He may not get another chance to wear the captain’s armband for Arsenal, but I for one reckon that our French international striker Olivier Giroud deserves another chance after he played a major part in getting the Gunners back on track in our FA cup third round clash with Preston North end this weekend.
It was not just the fact that he scored the winner, because the big centre forward put himself about as much as anyone in what was a hugely improved second half showing. Even his lack of imp[act in the first half was not really Giroud’s fault as hardly had a touch of the ball and I remember him running around to try to close the home team down without any help from the rest of the team.
A Metro report shows that Giroud, who was the Arsenal captain for the day, was desperately exorting more effort from the Gunners as we ran out for the second half and this is surely what you want from a team captain.
Seriously Gooners, how long have we been saying that the team needs leaders? This was not a one-off by the French striker either, as he almost single-handedly dragged us back into contention before earning that precious point at Bournemouth.
So is Giroud the perfect example of what Arsenal need in a captain? And if so, why not give him the armband?
Sam p.
giroud is arsenal second best player behind sanchez so that tells you about how good is the rest of the players
ARSENAL bid 56m for Torino striker Belotti!!!! Dats a shocker.
There exists no parallel universe Wenger would ever do this. I think Torino are blatant liars, trying to hype up their player and get a lot of cash.
Olivier has always been slagged off for his lack of goal scoring, lack of pace and his facial expressions. He’s never been given credit for his battling spirit.
A lot of Giroud’s goals of late have come from playing to his strengths, surprise, surprise! Put the ball in the air, and he’ll do something with it. His winner against Preston was classic route one football. If Giroud is starting why not play to his strengths right from the whistle? It’s not rocket science, yet Wenger cannot see it. Tiki-taka does not suit Giroud.
@3rdManJW
AFC don’t play”tiki-taka”…Let’s get this straight. They play what is known as “Wengerball”. Know the difference…
Wengerball is the cheap copy of tiki-taka…
@JMcLovin
That may be true. But it’s not “tiki-taka”
Good call about playing to his strengths. Many talk about his lack of scoring last year during certain parts. Guess what wasn’t happening? Just as you said, lack of crosses. Sanchez also went on a lack of scoring at the same moment which hurt us but not as bad as our defense. I feel our defense this year has let us down a bit as well.
What I have noticed was on the goal where Perez back heeled to Giroud against Preston he sought him out to tell him what a great pass it was. I thought it was Theo that would be the one, next to OG and Sanchez but now I think you can’t drop either of Sanchez Giroud or Perez.
I agree Giroud has a great fighting spirit, but Kos is good on that aspect too. And to captain a team you need to be a starter. Giroud has just started 4-5 matches this year.
Personally, I prefer a defender or midfielder as a captain: it gives more visibility to him to lead the team and adjust teammates positions.
What fighting spirit,aside from that lucky goal did olivier as a striker stress their defence in anyway,do you think arsenal can beat tot with that performance,can you see the dominant display chelsea and even man United are puting, arsenal has a problem look at their performance since Everton but you scamble an unconvincing victory from Preston and olivier is captn fantastic
After Sanchez Giroud is our next important player, we won’t appreciate him until we loose him.
Giroud should not be a starter and IMO it’s better to have your captain on the pitch.
If Giroud was the answer to our problems he would have shown it long before this season.
When he (and Ramsey) plays we become too predictable and to slow. We struggle to win with him in the side. He is a great sub.
Look at our best games this season (Chelsea, Basil etc) and you will notice they were based on pace with Sanchez as striker supported by two speedsters on the wings.
It seems many think because Giroud scored in his last two games that he might be the answer to our problems but if he was he would have shown it last season or the seasons before that. He is also the reason we become slow and predictable in our build up and leave gaps between our lines allowing the midfield to be ran over.
What did Sanchez do wrong that we needed to find a replacement for him?
I think we should start Sanchez in the middle and pair him with Perez who also needs a speedy striker next to him.
Do we really want to put Sanchez on the wing to put crosses in for Giroud? Is that the best use of our best player? Do we think Bayern or Man U would not know how to defend that?
Giourd, IMO is a situational player, bring him on from the bench or against weaker teams when Sanchez should rest. Don’t expect him to lead us to the promised land.