Arsenal: You Just Can’t Win With Olivier Giroud

Arsenal’s usage and contrasting lack of usage of Olivier Giroud is thoroughly baffling and it’s becoming an unwinnable situation at long last.

Arsenal and Olivier Giroud have a shared history of frustration and nearly making it. But through recent years, both have steadily improved, both in the league table finishing, and in Giroud’s overall relevance.

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But it is still obvious that there are so many ways to better utilize Giroud that Arsene Wenger just isn’t keying into.

For instance, and you can pick up on this on social media during any given game, but why do Arsenal appear so insistent on sending crosses into the box when Giroud isn’t on the pitch and Alexis is up front?

Well, I’ll tell you. It’s because Alexis starts out wide and Alexis doesn’t cross. He penetrates. Or at least that’s one contributing factor.

Then you look at how much he and Welbeck were able to do as a front two and you wonder how amazing it would be to have both of them starting up front and Alexis out wide.

But that will never happen with Wenger. Ever.

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Olivier Giroud is a pretty simple striker. Feed him aerial balls and let him hold up play. He will deliver success in both categories fairly frequently, if not always. He’s like a human backboard who is at his best in the box with defenders around him.

Try to play end to end football or expect him to win a foot race and it isn’t going to happen. This isn’t rocket science, this is just Olivier Giroud. He’s a big striker who can pass well.

I was about ready to lose my mind watching all of the crosses coming in from open play. Those are never going to work. Maybe there just feels to be ten times more crosses without Giroud because they stand out like a sore thumb, but I don’t think that is it.

Even though Giroud is a perfectly capable striker, he is not used to his maximum and then, like we saw against Chelsea, we see even better ways to use him. Ways that will never be utilized.

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Arsenal has so many options at striker and I just can’t help but wonder why we always seem to pick the wrong one. The last two matches have absolutely been in that category of wrong choices. With Hull City next, let’s hope we can get it right. At least it will make us feel better.