It definitely looks like the Arsenal and France international forward has got it going on in front of goal right now, after Olivier Giroud came up trumps for the Gunners once again today. It was another late show for Arsenal and Giroud, who left it until the 89th minute to grab the winner against Preston North End in the FA cup.
That makes it nine goals in all competitions from the big man and he has only made six starts. His goals per minute ratio is better than ever and that is not taking into account the importance of these goals, which have included the winner against West Brom, the leveller away to Man United and the unlikely equaliser at Bournemouth.
Giroud also provided the two assists against Bournemouth, so you have to give him great credit for his performances and also wonder what is behind this fine form. For years Arsenal fans have been saying that we need more than Giroud to challenge and perhaps the very strong competition he is finally getting from Alexis Sanchez is pushing him on.
Competition for places can be fantastic if the players respond, so is the superb Sanchez and Wenger’s preference for him up front actually making Giroud the player we all wanted him to be? And with Welbeck now coming back can the Frenchman help to fire Arsenal to glory?
Bob.
It’s not Sanchez that is inspiring Super lamp post, I think it’s that big bushy beard that’s he is looking down on… Probably reminds him of all those French ho’s he was muffing at the World Cup ? which would explain why he is looking so super calm and relaxed lol.
Nah, seriously It’s nothing new that Giroud’s performance improves when his place in the starting lineup is not guaranteed, at least his not money motivated like Walcott ??
Competition is a big factor…
But as Henry said which is arguably the most misquoted quote ever ‘you can’t win a title with just Giroud.’
I think a bigger factor is the seasons past he has literally been our only striker late in the season. The big bear is fresh! We can afford to rest him and we have another extremely good option now with Lexi proving he is more than capable of leading the line 🙂
I feel his not starting games earlier was a bad decision by the manager. Maybe it fired him up but it might have soured him a bit as well as he did nothing except pull out 3 points with him being dragged down for a penalty late in one of our early matches and grabbing a point with a late equalizer against MU. He is playing so well now that I hope Perez and Sanchez can both combine with him to spark a big winning streak.
Giroud is motivated by hunger to prove his doubters wrong. This is a player who, all summer saw that Arsenal were all out to sign “another” striker. How must it feel for him knowing his manager, the players and fans all want a new striker? This season, there is no question that when Alexis starts up front as CF, Arsenal are far more dangerous; with pace, counter-attack and cutting edge. Giroud’s lack of pace has cast doubts upon his ability to be effective in a counter-attacking side (by design) this season.
In the first dozen games this season, it was clear for all to see that Arsenal were very dangerous going forwards. The counter-attacking system with pace has laid a foundation of goals and we’ve now scored 44goals in 20 PL games this season. Only Liverpool have scored more in the division (48). When you take a long hard look at that and also consider the situation we now find ourselves (8pts behind the leader & a packed top-6), you will come to the conclusion that we need to continue to score GOALS and at a minimum replicate the (44) in the second part of the season whilst conceding very few more.
Giroud is an important player for Arsenal. There is no better impact player in the league right now. Everyone must be ready to play their part over the course of the season, whether they’re starting or coming off the bench. The most important thing is to make sure we optimize the use of Giroud when he comes on. A few times I have noticed that we have substituted our wingers (Theo & Ox) and subbed Giroud in. Where are his crosses going to come from? He needs wingers to stretch play so he can lose his markers and 9 times out of 10 he does. When he does, he need crosses fizzing in like a boomerang. He is fresh and if he keeps scoring in 2nd halves, he will easily notch 20+ this season.
Giroud is a consistent 13 goals per season, for 4 seasons in the EPL…. aint nothing gonna change that, if that excites you, fine. you can’t argue w the numbers. you can thumb down, get pissed off, cry, whatever… he is going to get 13-14 goals, you just need to build a very strong defence if you expect to win.
correction, 14.25 goals per season, 2012-2016
alexi by comparison this season in the league, 13 goals, 20 apps, thats on par to score 24 goals,
Not sure of your point-
If it’s that Sanchez is better up front than Giroud – I doubt you’ll get many complaints. But since Giroud cannot play wide –
Think the conversation above was correctly pointing out Giroud worth to the team. And ideally played WITH Sanchez