Pain in the Arsenal
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Olivier Giroud Primed for Bounce Back Performance Against Stoke City

By Josh Sippie

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Olivier Giroud is not enjoying life right now. Despite notching Arsenal’s only goal of the season, and a spectacular goal at that, not much is going his way. The Frenchman has been frustrated in the Premier League. He has been unable to breakthrough against opponents that were supposed to give him no trouble at all.

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And now, he has been booed off of the pitch by French fans as Karim Benzema came on to replace him. Replace “French” with “Arsenal” in the previous sentence and you have the most sacred dream of the “Olivier Giroud Out” army.

But at the depth of his despair, Olivier Giroud has a lot turning in his favor. For one, Nicholas Anelka has defended his countryman, stating that “[Wenger] thinks [Giroud] will score a lot of goals, which he already has done. When you look at the statistics he’s not so bad,” (via the Express).

But that is not all that is in his favor. The last time Olivier Giroud hit rock bottom at Arsenal, he came back with a vengeance.

I am, of course, speaking of Monaco. That horrid, rotten, no good, very bad night. Arsenal had finally received a favorable draw in the knockout stages of the Champion’s League. Then, Olivier Giroud used his mighty morphing powers to become a lamp post and ruined everyone’s day.

It was not good.

But Giroud bounced back. In the next 7 matches, Olivier Giroud scored 7 goals. We may have even seen our Frenchman at the best he has ever been against Monaco in the second leg. While it was not enough to see us through, Giroud looked like a man possessed. He willed himself onto the ball and overpowered a Monaco side that was dead set on defense. That is no easy feat. Monaco had a stout defense that allowed the fewest number of goals in Ligue 1 last year. They even shut down Zlatan Ibrahimovic and the PSG attack.

But our Olivier Giroud fought his way through.

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Giroud is arguably at rock bottom again. Arsenal fans are ripping out their hair over the fact that no striker has joined the fray. Even the solace of International play has provided boos reverberating up and down his very essence. Giroud needs a bounce back.

Olivier Giroud knows that it is up to him to spearhead this attack. He is also very aware that he does not have much support in the Arsenal faithful out there. This is a huge opportunity for Giroud to start something special and saddle up a streak like the one he rode last year.

Stoke City sit in the relegation zone. They have not found their stride. This would be an excellent opportunity for Olivier Giroud and Arsenal to put the start of the season behind them. It is time to come out with a comprehensive victory.

Next: Is Wenger under too much pressure?

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