Arsenal Is About To See The Best Of Olivier Giroud

Arsenal witnessed a monster of a man in the box when Olivier Giroud outmuscled Leicester. But he didn’t score. So what happens when he does?

I had made the case a couple days back that Danny Welbeck’s potential performance against Hull City is exactly what Arsenal need to get Olivier Giroud back to scoring. Well, Welbeck may have jumped the gun a bit. His last second heroics against Leicester will serve the same purpose.

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Welbeck scored in the same manner that Giroud has made his living – with his head. While Giroud had been a monster in the box all match long, he had not been able to score. All that does is wind him up all the more. And with Welbeck’s return, Giroud is keenly aware of his own positionsmortality at Arsenal

This could not be happening at a better time. Chances are, Giroud will not play against Hull City. If he does, it probably will not be a full 90. That means the next time we will see this fully wound up Giroud, it will be in Arsenal’s first leg against Barcelona.

Perfect.

Let me elaborate a bit more. Giroud is not scoring, and that has to be getting frustrating. But the good thing about Giroud is, when he gets frustrated enough, he takes it out on the game itself. Think of what he did in the second leg against Monaco last year. He did whatever he wanted.

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Against Leicester, it was essentially the same thing. Giroud won 13 of 19 aerial duels. Think about that – 13 aerial duels! To put it in perspective, it’s not like he was competing for those air balls with Oompa Loompas and the Lollipop Guild. He was competing with Robert Huth and Wes Morgan.

Let me give you some numbers to think about. On the season, the three in question have a very similar aerial success rate. Wes Morgan wins 56.19% of his aerial duels, Robert Huth 55.95% and Olivier Giroud 53.28% (via Squawka). That means that Giroud was claiming these balls from guys that have done it with more success than him all year.

Essentially, it means that Giroud pulled himself up to a new level to overtake them. Mark that off his to-do list.

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When Danny Welbeck hit the goal that won the game for Arsenal and after all the celebrating, you better believe that somewhere within Olivier Giroud, a chord struck. This is why Welbeck was purchased. He was supposed to be Giroud’s competition at Arsenal.

If Welbeck starts against Hull City, and I’m praying he does, what if he does well? Enjoy the fireworks to follow. Giroud is a mammoth when he finds that extra dose of inspiration. He is going to be able to build off the momentum of pure physical domination against Leicester while simultaneously harnessing the strength of someone fighting off a replacement.

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Now the only question that remains is whether or not it will come off against Barcelona.