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Arsenal: What Is John Stones Smoking?
Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud is divisive figure. Some think he’s as good at football as his looks, others believe he’s just got lucky. John Stones apparently falls in to the former category, stating, quite unbelievably, that Giroud is tougher to mark than Luis Suarez or Sergio Aguero.
Before you proceed to read the rest of this article, I should point out that I am a Giroud fan. He is not, as some may have you believe, a model in football boots. Rather, he is a player of great quality who brings much to the Arsenal side that few can match.
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That having been said, Giroud is not a world class striker. He is a very good player who suits Arsenal’s style, but he is nothing more than that.
John Stones, however, seems to think otherwise with his recent comments. When asked to pick his toughest task in the Premier League, Stones, rather than choosing someone like Sergio Aguero or Luis Suarez, highlighted Arsenal’s controversial Frenchman. Stones stated:
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"” I mean they (Aguero and Suarez) are great players, with unbelievable movement. In all honesty, I’d have to say Olivier Giroud, you don’t realize how strong he is. When he gets close to you he can hold you off and his touch is brilliant.”"
Now, Stones clearly has much more experience than old writer does. And Olivier Giroud does have qualities that make him tough to defend. As the Everton defender stated, he is enormously strong and has an exquisite touch.
However, there is no way in hell that Giroud is tougher to defend against than Aguero or Suarez. Suarez has just scored a ridiculous 40 La Liga goals in 35 games, winning the Golden Boot ahead of both Ronaldo and Messi, while Aguero has continually shone his quality, when fit, for Manchester City.
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Giroud is a good player. Don’t get me wrong. But placing him ahead of players like Suarez and Aguero is madness. Sorry Stones, but you’ve lost your marbles here.