Arsenal At Crossroads With Oliver Giroud

Arsenal have just witnessed two solid performances from two fading strikers. Where do they go from here with Oliver GIroud after his brace?

Arsenal got exactly what they needed against Hull City. The game was pretty stale for awhile. It was just a whole lot of passing and not a lot of penetration. Arsenal was maintaining possession but there was no edge to their play. It began to look more like a game of keep away than an actual football match.

Then, after so many unlucky breaks over the past few matches, Arsenal got a lucky break of their own. David Meyler attempted a back pass that went right to Oliver Giroud, who put it away for Arsenal’s first goal.

While it was an error that led to the goal, Giroud deserves some credit. First of all, he had to be pressuring Hull’s back line. This is not the first time he has been rewarded for pressuring defenses and keepers. He picked the ball clean away from Artur Boruc once to give Arsenal a goal.

Second of all, he had to finish. As we have seen lately from Olivier Giroud, that is certainly no given. Not when his confidence is rattled.

But he finished. Then, to make matters better, Arsenal received another good break when a cross was tipped the slightest bit by a Hull defender, just enough to fall to Giroud, who launched another class finish. Just like that, goalless Giroud had scored two. He has a newborn baby boy and two goals under his belt. Giroud has to be feeling on top of the world.

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Now what does Arsenal do? It is clear from the rotation that Danny Welbeck is the starting striker as of right now. But should one positive performance upset that decision?

It’s a tough call to make, so we will look at it from both perspectives.

The first option is giving Giroud the striker role back. There are clear benefits to this. His confidence is soaring right now and as we have seen in the past, that is all Giroud needs. Once he has that self-belief, he is one of the best strikers out there. There is a very good chance that he turned a corner with this match and is ready to start scoring again.

The other option is to leave him as the No. 2 option. There is a lot more to discuss with this option. For starters, we have to be keenly aware that without two good breaks, Giroud doesn’t score (although intercepting the back pass was partly thanks to Giroud’s efforts). Plus the finishes were class, as mentioned.

That isn’t the major concern. The major concern is what effect it would have on Danny Welbeck, who is much younger than Giroud and could be Arsenal’s future at the position, should he take it. Giroud knows he is the first choice striker and that Arsenal depends on his goal-scoring ability. Welbeck knows that too.