Arsenal: Give Olivier Giroud The Credit He Deserves

Arsenal don’t beat Norwich City without Olivier Giroud. Sure there is still cause to be upset, but give him some credit from time to time.

What I am going to say is going to seem much more frustrating than it really is, so at least do me the favor of hearing out the full argument before you go lambasting me in the comments for always defending Olivier Giroud. Perhaps I’m not as hard on the big Frenchie as I should be, but I just want to see credit given where that credit has been earned.

Arsenal would not have beaten Norwich without Giroud. When Wenger brought on Danny Welbeck, the assumption was that he was coming on for Olivier Giroud. Striker for striker. Makes sense.

But it wasn’t. The sign went up and the sub was for Alex Iwobi. Cue the boos. The Emirates went nuts. And to a certain extent, it’s hard to blame them. Iwobi is young and exciting and Giroud was pretty poor all match/all calendar year. But Iwobi wasn’t doing much either, to be fair.

I can overlook the boos. What I can’t overlook are the claims that ‘Wenger should have started Welbeck’ because Welbeck scored the winning goal. Let’s be clear about something. Welbeck does not have that shot on goal if Giroud isn’t in the game. He doesn’t. If you want to argue that point, you’re arguing pure speculation. Giroud’s aerial ability put that ball exactly where it needed to be. Nobody else could have done that. Certainly not Iwobi.

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You can say all day that had Welbeck started, Arsenal would have won 16-0. If you believe that, that’s perfectly fine. But give Giroud the credit he deserves. We know how much of a headcase Giroud can be. His confidence is like is like the china in the analogy ‘a bull in a china shop’. Nothing is going right for him and he doesn’t look like he is going to turn it around anytime soon. But this assist could be what he was looking for, as Giroud himself noted.

Giroud never gets any credit. From the moment he came here. When he is on point, no one says much. He still maintains a fantastic goals per game clip from his time in the Premier League. But when he is misfiring, it’s the tar-and-feather mentality. Sure, Arsenal could use an upgrade. Absolutely they could. But for the sake of humanity give the guy some credit. He was ineffective all game but he never gave up and he set up the game winning goal.

I will also say that throughout the season, despite the lack of goals, he still has a major part to play in the goals Arsenal does score. His size and presence in the box commands attention and gives his team mates room to operate.

I’m not saying we should be content with what Giroud does. Not by a long shot. He has been atrocious for Arsenal in 2016. But give credit where it’s due.

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Cue the comments!

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