Olivier Giroud’s Arsenal Progress Highlights Massive Error By Arsene Wenger

Olivier Giroud is in the midst of the best season of his Arsenal career. That alone highlights a massive gaff by Arsene Wenger in his development.

Olivier Giroud is beyond any doubt the most criticized player on this Arsenal squad. Despite a very solid goal-scoring record and the undoubted strength he displays on the pitch, there is always something about his game that has been picked out and likened to a lamp post.

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Now, however, he is in the midst of his best season ever. He is scoring consistently, occupying opposing defenses and he is virtually impossible to out-muscle in the goal box. So what gives? Did Giroud take all of this criticism to heart and finally kick it into gear? Did he not hit his prime until he was one year shy of thirty?

It seems like the fault in Olivier Giroud’s progression may be in Arsene Wenger’s hands. Giroud has never been this good. Never. Let’s establish that. And yet, earlier this season he was benched for Theo Walcott. That benching was what finally flipped the switch in Giroud, as he himself points out via SkySports:

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“I told myself, ‘I can’t let this last’. It wasn’t good for me, for the national team or for the Euros. I didn’t want to spend the whole season on the bench. It made me react.”

Arsene Wenger finally did what we thought was impossible, he sat Olivier Giroud for another striker. Which brings me to my point. Arsenal is based around internal competition. It simply makes everyone better. It always has.

With that being the case, why has Arsene Wenger not provided any real competition for Olivier Giroud since 2013?

It would appear that Wenger’s initial intention was to let Podolski and Giroud compete against each other when they were both bought in 2012, but Podoslki quickly fell out of favor and landed as a left wing rotation player despite good goal returns. For the next two years, Giroud had a monopoly on the striker position. He had no competition and as such, he had nothing lighting a fire under his you-know-what.

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The next attempt was Danny Welbeck. Another shot in the dark. Welbeck never established himself as a scoring threat in 2014/15. As such, Giroud remained the guy with no other guys able to step up and be the guy.

With nowhere else to turn, Theo Walcott became his competition and whether Olivier Giroud deserved it or not, he was benched for him. Just like that, the beast was awakened. Now Giroud looks like a mammoth among men in the box. It’s like the second leg against Monaco, just every single match.

And that is because of Theo Walcott and the competition he provided.

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As such, the big question is why Arsene Wenger never stepped up to provide his prized countryman competition earlier. Would that have skipped the inconsistency and moved us ahead to where we are now? We can’t say for sure. But that seems to be the most likely outcome.

Whatever the case, Olivier Giroud is here now. Wenger also has to be careful not to let him become complacent again though, now that Walcott is finding more success on the wings. If Welbeck ever comes back and he can’t become a striking threat, maybe Wenger really does need to sign another striker to keep getting the best returns out of Giroud.