Arsenal: Olivier Giroud facing undeserved test of resolve

Long-time and finally-appreciated Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud is knee deep in decision making, but the biggest choice is one he shouldn’t have to face.

For what felt like an eternity, Olivier Giroud led the line at Arsenal. I don’t say that to be critical of him, but rather to be critical of the system Arsene Wenger employed in the process. The big Frenchman was isolated up front, with no competition and no rotation. And he did his job.

He was rarely appreciated, he was mocked and booed, and this by country and by club. It was not an attractive situation to be in for a striker who had won the Ligue 1 golden boot at Montpellier. He was an emerging sensation that could not have anticipated how ungrateful the Premier League was going to be.

Let alone how much freedom he was given and, again, how relatively little competition was pitted against him. It wasn’t an easy situation.

And now, with everything changing and all the fans finally on his side, Giroud faces the biggest decision of his career, and it is a cruel decision that he should not have to face.

Arsenal have not given Giroud the playing time he has earned and they haven’t given him any more chances to earn it. Arsene Wenger noted at the onset of the year that he had a selection headache every match, choosing between Giroud and Alexandre Lacazette, but that has proven to be either massively false or massively misinterpreted.

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Likely the former.

Despite being phased out of the team unjustly last season and despite the history he had with the Gunners, Giroud stuck with the club and rejected potential moves to Everton or back to his native France. It was an admirable display of love and loyalty, as well as a display that has gone completely unrequited.

The World Cup is approaching and yet again, Giroud has been warned by the French camp. This time by assistant coach Guy Stephane, who pretty much told Giroud the same thing that he had been told over the summer – if you don’t find more playing time, you can easily be replaced before the 2018 World Cup.

Perhaps even by Alexandre Lacazette.

It’s a decision that Giroud should not have to face, whether he should stay where his heart is or go somewhere else where he will be given a fair shot at succeeding. But this comes down to playing for his country or playing for the club he loves, because as it stands, he can’t have both, and that is the most unfortunate part of the whole ordeal.

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It pains me to advocate for this, but Giroud has to leave. He has given Arsenal his everything and then some. He was once unappreciated by the fans, now he is unappreciated by the powers that fill out that starting XI and make the decisions on the sideline. At the very least, France has stuck by him and given him every chance in the world to be a centerpiece, which he has taken and run with.

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