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Olivier Giroud Must Continue to Start for Arsenal
By Josh Sippie
Olivier Giroud is having a terrible, rotten, no good, very bad start to this season. He scored a fantastic goal against Crystal Palace but that has been forgotten. Even for the French National team he was booed off the pitch. For a guy that has admitted to having confidence problems, this is a major problem for his confidence.
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Charlie Nicholas has spoken out about what the proper course of action should be: “I would leave him on the bench and simply say to him: ‘it’s up to you to respond well to this criticism'”.
What Charlie Nicholas is suggesting actually sounds like a pretty solid plan. Giroud would likely respond well to the criticism, as he has in the past (see Monaco). Sometimes it just takes a little wake up call for him to kick it into gear and go on a 16 goals in 21 games spree.
Benching Giroud would not only serve as a wake up for the Frenchman, but it would also be a message to the team. The progress of the season is not okay. Sitting in 7th with one legitimate goal scored is not anywhere near where we want to be and no one is immune to being sat.
But it is not that easy. With Danny Welbeck out until Christmas and Theo Walcott the striking equivalent of a porcupine without bristles, Arsenal do not really have a choice. Nicholas made another point that “Arsenal will make chances for him it’s up to him to take his chance”. Who else do Arsenal have that is as capable as Giroud? As mentioned, Theo Walcott has done diddly this season, even less than Giroud. But Olivier Giroud is a human magnet of criticism and the majority of frustration will always be directed at him.
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However, with the ball at the foot of an Arsenal striker in the box, you want that striker to be Giroud. If Arsenal had any other striking options than sure, sit Giroud, prove your point. But Arsene Wenger can’t do that. Walcott is a counterattacking striker and Stoke City looks to be an opponent that Arsenal treat like they did Newcastle or any of the other lower half teams. They hang out around the edge of the goal box, allowing no proper space for Walcott to make a run.
Crosses become irrelevant for Arsenal with no one but Walcott in the box because we have no presence.
Giroud has to start. And not only because we do not have a choice. He has rebounded before and this could be the start of his rebound. He is a presence in the box. That presence creates space for his team mates as he occupies the defense. We saw it against Crystal Palace. It lead to Alexis’ effort that produced an own goal. Walcott cannot provide that.
Olivier Giroud is going to be shouldering the burden of this attack for the foreseeable future so best to just get on with it and wait for it to pan out. It usually does.
Next: What can we expect from Tomas Rosicky?