Arsenal: There is room for both Alexandre Lacazette and Olivier Giroud

Arsene Wenger persists in only having one striker at a time, but isn’t it clear that there is room for two strikers at Arsenal? Alexandre Lacazette and Olivier Giroud can coexist.

Arsenal saw a different face up front against West Ham, and it wasn’t the face of Alexis Sanchez, thankfully. It was the face of the maligned Frenchman Olivier Giroud, making his first Premier League start of the season. Which is, quite frankly, inexcusable.

You may hear some people gripe about his performance, but in the end, Giroud was not put into a system that was conducive to his style of play. He did show a bit of rust, but we know what he is capable of and, taking the match against the Hammers as an example, there is a premium opportunity to utilize both of them.

It’s quite baffling really. Even when Alexandre Lacazette came onto the pitch in the 81st minute, he ran straight to the left wing. As if Arsene Wenger told him specifically “don’t get it in your head that you’re a second striker. You’re not.”

There isn’t much logic in it, trying to explain why they can’t coexist in the same formation. Because there are so many great examples of striker duos working. Consider Henry and Bergkamp. Even consider Giroud and Antoine Griezmann.

Up until the match against West Ham, the problem was that there just weren’t enough positions. But with the back four, there are.

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The midfield five was far too congested against the Hammers. It was almost an excess of creative minds and a lack of viable targets. There were so many bodies just outside of the 18-yard box and only one in the box. And that one was not a mover, he was a target.

So sacrifice one of those bodies and add another into the box. Then you have a target and a mover and four guys to get them the ball. It seems simple. Giroud is great at aerial strikes and at laying the ball off for team mates, Lacazette is great at running off the ball and finding space.

Together, you have everything you could ever need in a striking duo. And it’s not like we’d be losing anything to cope with it. A bit of width from the fullbacks and the occasional wide run from our midfielders would be enough. Giroud may feast on crosses, but he has facilities other than that. He can field long balls into the box, he can hold up and flick on, these are all skills that can be utilized.

Next: 5 Things Learned Against West Ham

The key should be finding a way to cap off possession, and doubling the men tasked with doing just that just feels like an obvious solution.

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