Arsenal Is Holding Olivier Giroud Back

Arsenal have given Olivier Giroud every chance in the world to succeed, but by that token have they actually hindered his professional progression?

I understand that this title is not going to be a popular one, but it is not click-bait. After seeing Giroud fail to score yet again, it occurred to me that it may not be the Frenchman’s fault at all. It is Arsene Wenger’s fault. By not providing Giroud with a serious competitor for the four years he has been here, Wenger has left Giroud to saunter about within his own psyche.

That is not healthy, not for anyone. Giroud may have a confidence problem, but you would too if you were forced to the front of the formation every day – rain, snow or shine – and told to score. At some point, you have to be spurred on by competition. It’s human nature.

Arsenal have done a tremendous disservice to Giroud and it will haunt him.

Think about it, every major striker out there has someone nipping at his heels, keeping him honest. Complacency is a nasty thing and so is confidence, but when you are left to your own devices, it multiplies like a disease. Now, when you’re on a streak, you can’t be beaten. But when things go wrong you have to mentally psyche yourself up to overcome your own misgivings. That is no easy feat.

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Again, all we have to do is look at the evidence. Very rarely do we see Giroud get benched for anyone, but there were two times that we did see him get replaced, albeit briefly. The first was when he sustained the rarest of injuries last year. Danny Welbeck was given starting striker duties and when Giroud came back, he knew that he had to retake the role. He did.

It was one of the best streaks we have ever seen. 15 goals in 19 games. That is a fantastic return. But he faded.

The same happened this year. After being replaced by Theo Walcott – although briefly – Giroud picked himself up and went on a similar streak. But when Walcott eliminates himself from competition, the edge of replacing Giroud is gone. They need him too much.

Back to what I was saying about everyone having someone. The best example out there is Robert Lewandowski. Before Lewandowski scored five goals in nine minutes, he was struggling to compete with Thomas Muller for time up front. It was so well documented that Arsenal was inevitably linked to the Pole. But when they cut him lose, the streak burst forth. Now, Bayern is different from Arsenal, as Lewan is different from Giroud, but you see my point. Even he needed a little pressure.

Elsewhere, Zlatan has Cavani. Benzema has Ronaldo/Bale, even Messi has Neymar/Suarez. These are guys that hold each other accountable for any potential downfall.

It can be traced back to Giroud’s Arsenal origins. Giroud arrived in 2012 alongside Lukas Podolski. It was a born partnership where the two could have propelled each other to maximize their potential. In fact, in the first year, Pod put up a better goals per appearance clip (16 goals in 42 appearances) than Giroud (17 goals in 47 appearances).

Again, it was looking good. But Wenger absolutely refuses to have two people at the same position, competing outright, so the German was slowly moved to a winger. Why? That competition could have been magnificent at Arsenal for years, but Wenger’s OCD prevents such depth.