Olivier Giroud Became Elite For Arsenal Against Bayern Munich

At a time where you get beat 5-1, it can be tough to find the positives. But it is also the most crucial time to find the positives. Arsenal was destroyed by Bayern Munich. Plain and simple. It was ugly. However, for what it’s worth, Arsenal actually looked good offensively and played toe to toe on the front lines.

And that was not thank to Alexis Sanchez or Mesut Ozil. Neither of whom had a huge impact. That was because of Olivier Giroud. The hulking Frenchy had a game to be remembered in a situation where he does not normally shine. The offense was there around him. Yet Giroud was the focal point.

Statistically, Olivier Giroud had one of the best days of his season. He continued his fantastic goal streak by adding another and what a fantastic goal it was. Before we get started, let’s remind ourselves of the tact that this goal required.

That is the type of goal that fans wanted out of an Edinson Cavani or a Karim Benzema. Surely Olivier Giroud cannot consistently score like that. But he does. He has done this before.  Watch.

Olivier Giroud is a fantastic striker and he proved that against Bayern Munich. Back to the statistics. Olivier Giroud is used to a 60% pass completion percentage. He’s a striker. That’s normal. But against Bayern Munich, he hit 73% of his passes and led the team in keys passes. That’s right, he had more key passes than Alexis Sanchez and Mesut Ozil combined. In fact, he had two of Arsenal’s five total key passes (via WhoScored).

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All of the writers here at Pain in the Arsenal give me a hard time for how highly I rate Olivier Giroud. Every good performance I point out something along the lines of him being world class. I’ll admit that I get carried away sometimes. But let me tell you what he did against Bayern Munich. He became elite. What I mean by that is he should now be unanimously considered elite. By you.

One of the main criticisms of Olivier Giroud in the past was that he could not provide for himself. He could not carry the team. He could not play an individual game. He relied on his team mates for service and it had to be a one touch or the chance was lost. Well, Olivier Giroud did several things against Bayern Munich that shook that mantra.

First of all, Giroud stood up to the Bayern defense. Just like we saw against Swansea City. On any aerial ball, he boxed out and won it. It has become a bit of an accepted fact that Petr Cech will always be able to find Olivier Giroud on a long ball. That’s why he keeps doing it.

Next, Olivier Giroud can create for himself. He actually made some nice dribbles against the German giants. Not only that, but he looked potent in the counter attack. Never blessed for pace, Olivier Giroud marauded forward and found space for his team mates. That has been a major proponent for Theo Walcott over Giroud. Well, not so much anymore. Not if Olivier Giroud can counter like that.

Then, we were reminded yet again of one of Olivier Giroud’s most underrated qualities – his flick-on passing. Remember that one touch passing that Giroud displayed against Norwich City for one of the best team goals in Arsenal history? Well, he provided an equally beautiful one that landed perfectly at the feet of Santi Cazorla. The Spaniard scuffed the chance. But it was still a beautiful pass and he deserves massive credit for creativity.

Related: What Pokemon Is Olivier Giroud?

Olivier Giroud led this Arsenal attack. He carried the weight of the attack when Ozil and Alexis faltered. That is something that very few out there would have ever bet on him being able to do. But he did.

Giroud deserves to be called elite. He has had performances like this before. Usually it just takes something to spur him on. Monaco, second leg for instance. He played brilliantly but that was a make-up game. It was still always a question of if he could carry the offense himself and he proved that against Bayern.

I am not the only one that is (still) singing his praises. Former Arsenal man Emmanuel Petit spoke in defense of Olivier Giroud’s quality. “Do you have many strikers creating five chances every game?” He said as quoted by the Daily Mail. “Yes, he may miss a few but he’s very important. They (Arsenal) can defend one pass and then attack through the middle as he holds the ball up and helps.”

What do you think Gooners? Am I way off my rocker again? Is Olivier Giroud elite or will we keep denying him that adjective?