Arsenal: Olivier Giroud must have extended meeting with Sead Kolasinac

Arsenal has given Olivier Giroud the back seat in the attacking bus, which is a shame, as he needs to meetup with the brilliance of Sead Kolasinac.

There are tons of Arsenal pairings that make the mind wonder what would happen if they were given their chance to shine. For me, most of them involve Olivier Giroud. When Granit Xhaka arrived, I couldn’t wait to see how well his longballs paired up with Giroud’s aerial ability.

When Alexandre Lacazette arrived, I couldn’t wait to see if the two could recreate what Giroud and Antoine Griezmann were able to do for the French national team.

And then there is Sead Kolasinac, who may be the most enticing pairing of them all with Giroud.

It’s no secret that our big bearded Frenchman requires service. He isn’t going to collect the ball at at the edge of the box, dribble through lines of defense and nutmeg the keeper. His primary strength is his head and without proper service, his head is left starving.

The 3-4-3 with the personnel that Arsenal employ does not do Giroud any favors. Danny Welbeck, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez are the most-used creators behind that striker and none of them has a primary objective of sending in crosses. Ozil is a crafty through-baller, Alexis a do-it-yourself-er and Welbeck a runner.

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Hector Bellerin, meanwhile, has never boasted strong crossing, although that has improved as of late, and gone unanswered, as crossing without Giroud is about as useful as not crossing with Giroud.

For that reason, Kolasinac may be the best ally for Giroud to reignite his sputtering form. Which is hard to even call sputtering form because, again, he isn’t getting any service.

Kolasinac’s ability to put himself in dangerous situations on the edge of the box and then chip balls into dangerous areas is what Giroud has to dream of when he finally takes the pitch. But that usually doesn’t happen until the last half hour or so.

These two need extended time together. They need to start building a rapport because it’s hard to see where this relationship on the pitch would not be massively effective. Not to mention that this attack could, certainly use a kick in the arse, and Giroud is an excellent candidate to provide that.

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I love the idea of playing Giroud from the start against West Brom, but it remains to be seen if that will be the case. Even if it doesn’t happen against the Baggies, it would be a shame if this potential partnership was never explored.

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