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Sitting Olivier Giroud for Theo Walcott was a terrible decision but a fantastic sign
By Josh Sippie
If ever you are going to sit Olivier Giroud, it is probably best not to do it against Newcastle. The Frenchman had 8 goals in his last 6 matches against the Magpies but that was not enough to sway the gaffer’s opinion as the speedy Theo Walcott was given the trot out in his stead.
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Given that the game was played almost entirely in the Newcastle goal box, you can guess how Theo Walcott did – pretty terrible. He managed just 17 touches and 3 shots in 70 minutes, plus one colossal mistake as he skied the ball over the net when all he had to do was tap it in.
Olivier Giroud came on for the final 20 minutes and he managed 14 touches and just as many shots as Walcott, providing a much more palpable threat from the moment he touched the pitch.
So we can all agree that sitting Olivier Giroud was a terrible decision by Arsene Wenger, not much more needs to be said in that regard. What does need to be said is that, although the decision in and of itself was awful, the fact that Arsene Wenger actually switched things up like that is a fantastic sign.
For so many years, Arsene Wenger was the most reluctant manager towards making changes. No matter what happened, he would stick to the same formula. A lot of that had to do with not having many options but even when he did have viable options, he was not so keen to change things.
After the Southampton New Year’s Day debacle, Arsene Wenger changed a lot and it shook the team and launched them into a phenomenal second half of the season. Putting in Walcott over Olivier Giroud is not going to do that. It may to Giroud but not to the team as a whole. But it shows that Wenger is at least aware that what he has been doing is not working and something has to change.
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Long term changes are not going to happen in the club, we have not made any signings to merit that and to be honest, no one in first team is going anywhere, unless it is Joel Campbell, but is he really even in the first team?
It was a highly questionable decision. Of all the changes Wenger could have made, he made the one that seemed to bow into the disgruntled pundits hands in trying to provide another option up front. He would have been much better served making changes elsewhere, perhaps shaking up the midfield by giving Alexis a shot at playing centrally.
Either way, if these types of performances continue pouring out of the Arsenal side, you can bet we will see more shake-ups. Preferably though, lets not keep off our best goal scoring threat in Olivier Giroud against a team he has tremendous success against.