Arsenal: Olivier Giroud the right answer that keeps getting marked wrong

Arsenal had to turn to Olivier Giroud for rescuing again, but if he is continuously the right answer, then why isn’t it more widely accepted?

Arsenal were not the hungry, out-for-blood side that they were supposed to be following the disheartening, soul-sucking loss to Manchester United. Southampton were able to sit back and allow the Gunners to meander around like the hungover undead.

It took an 87th minute Olivier Giroud header to turn the tides and get the Gunners the point that spared them complete humiliation. It would only be partial humiliation for them.

This isn’t the first time this has happened. Even this year, Giroud also had to rescue us against Leicester City. Going back to last season, Giroud remains as our player most likely to contribute to a goal. Meaning that no one produces goals more frequently than him.

This is a point that I labored over last year. I haven’t been harping as much about it this year because we have Alexandre Lacazette, and that’s legit and all. Still though, two striker formations are a thing.

My whole hypothesis last year was, why wouldn’t you want the guy most likely to score on the pitch as much as possible? I get you want to have an impact off the bench, but Jack Wilshere and Danny Welbeck provide that in ample quantities. And if you want more, buy it.

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Giroud is relegated to 10, 15 minute cameos despite his continued track record of scoring with a high frequency. It makes no sense, leaving the most efficient goal scorer on the bench for the majority of the game.

The counterargument is that there is no guarantee that he would continue scoring at that rate given 90 minutes. That’s obvious. But to that I say, why haven’t we tried to find out yet?

Giroud spend four years at the club with absolutely no competition. He was sent out there no matter his mood or his form and if it went well, great. If not, tough luck, sucker. Now that he finally has competition, he is stepping up his goals per minutes ratio like never before. Literally.

Yet, now that he has competition and is stepping up his goals per minutes ratio like never before, he is also never being used.

The solution may not be to start Giroud. But how the hell can we know unless we try it? I don’t get why Wenger seems to think that having Giroud and Lacazette together on the same pitch may trigger a doomsday machine. Too much Frenchness in one attack? I don’t get it.

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But so long as there is a possibility that Giroud provides an answer, it should be explored. Yet there is clearly no inclination to do that.

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