Is Olivier Giroud the Number One Striker Arsenal Has Been Waiting For?

For just about all of the last couple years, Arsenal fans worldwide have been calling out for a striker-messiah. Someone like Edinson Cavani or Gonzalo Higuain who can score at will and do backflips through the defense before getting the ball passed whatever nondescript goalie you can throw at him.

While no backflips have been had, Olivier Giroud has come back from his injury and proven to be one of the top strikers in the entire Premier League. Let’s take a look at how he squares up against some of the league’s best through Squawka’s player comparison. Since Giroud has only played in 7 games compared to everyone else’s 10-15, I’ve set the stats at per 90 minutes played.

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As you can see, in Giroud’s short time since coming back, he stacks up with some of the best strikers in the league. And keep in mind, Giroud’s supposed to just be an aerial threat, which he clearly is, given the stats, but the chances created and key passes stat prove that he is more than just a big body with an accurate head (with some nice hair to boot), he’s also a chance creator.

He’s a link in the chain and not just a clunky final link. I think we can finally ditch affectionately calling him a ‘lamp post’ because I’ve never seen a lamp post make passes like he has. But perhaps I’m just not looking at the right lamp posts.

Whether Giroud can keep up this pace or not is yet to be seen, but with such excellent offensive tools around him, he could potentially match last years totals, even with a shortened season.

Giroud is proving that we don’t need Cavani or Higuain or whoever else Gooner’s can conjure up as a striker solution. He is the striker solution.

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