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Arsenal: Olivier Giroud Still Absolutely The Best Option Up Front
By Josh Sippie
Arsenal didn’t see a lot out of Olivier Giroud against Burnley, but what they saw indicated a continue in form. It’s far too early to turn on him.
Arsenal‘s 2-1 victory over Burnley was a nervy as they come, but the big players stepped up when it mattered most. Except for Olivier Giroud, because he was sitting on the bench after having been subbed out for Danny Welbeck.
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It marked the first time in his past ten starts that he has failed to score. It was just a frustrating game in general for the big man. He only managed 35 touches and while he created two solid chances, he failed to connect with even a shot on goal.
Such is the conundrum with Giroud. Sometimes the man needs proper service to score his goals. Still though, the security of knowing every single long ball down the middle is going to be controlled by him is a pretty sweet feeling.
Even with that, though, there are people out there calling for his dismissal to the bench, and for Alexis to return to his spot up front. I could not think of a worse idea at this point. Olivier Giroud is our second hottest player right now next to Alexis Sanchez.
His fight has never been more on point and I feel confident saying that this is the best we have ever seen Giroud.
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At some point or another, we knew he wasn’t going to score. It happens to everyone. But to punish him so quickly and drop him inexplicably serves no purpose other than to piss him off. And usually I advocate for pissing him off so as to wind him up, but this is a different story. This would be like the beginning of the season when Wenger wouldn’t let him back in the team.
Giroud has made it perfectly clear that he is Arsenal’s best option up front. There, I said it. If it’s a choice between Giroud up front and Alexis free to roam or Alexis free to roam and Giroud on the bench, why wouldn’t we opt for the former? More quality on the pitch at once.
The other option is to slip Walcott or the Ox onto the pitch, but I have far more faith in the Frenchman than I do either one of them.
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Giroud belongs here. He shouldn’t have had to prove that, but he did. And until we see a major collapse, which I don’t think we will, this shouldn’t be up for negotiation.