Arsenal: Olivier Giroud Causing Downright Ruckus

Arsenal would have been dead in the water without some inspiration from Olivier Giroud, so where do we go now with the big man and Alexis?

It seemed so clear, where Arsenal were headed with their striker situation. Alexis Sanchez had taken over and Olivier Giroud was the Plan B, the panic mode option. Arsene Wenger repeatedly insisted that Giroud was not a Plan B but we could see it happening before our eyes. Alexis was truly becoming Sergio Aguero and we all had tickets to the show.

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Things are changing. Pretty quickly. And all because Olivier Giroud had to go off and do some crazy things and assert himself as a serious option right up there with Alexis.

It was a hard act to follow, the scorpion kick that he sent into the net to secure the win against West Brom, but he did it. Not in flash and bang, but in quantity and effort.

Olivier Giroud accounted for all of the goals against Bournemouth. Down 3-0, Arsenal looked set to crumble but out of the ashes rose Giroud, flaming and cawing like a phoenix, not at all fazed by the task at hand. Three goals in thirty minutes? How about a real challenge.

Seriously though, Giroud was absolutely sublime. In a match riddled with pathetic performances – a match that, let’s be honest, would have claimed Giroud and driven him into the dirt not so long ago – the Frenchman really was a torch in the darkness.

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Along with Alexis Sanchez, Giroud formed a powerful duo that took over the game and saw it home without as much of an embarrassment as their could have been. He tallied two assists and a goal, none of which were easy or forgettable, and has now contributed to five goals in his last three starts. Which, by the way, are just his first three starts of the Premier League season.

That’s where we are at. Giroud is suddenly like a bull in a china shop and Arsenal is facing a ruckus of epic proportions, having to decide between Giroud and Alexis for who starts up front. Alexis earned the role. Absolutely he did. But you can’t just not play Giroud with the role that he is on.

The only solution, and the one that I am suggesting, is that Giroud has to keep starting. It would be foolish and unjust not too. A two-striker system would be crazy awesome, but fitting Mesut Ozil into that would be a struggle.

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So for now, just let the big man earn his keep. Because he definitely is.