Arsenal: Remember that time we “upgraded” from Olivier Giroud?

Arsenal were supposed to have upgraded from Olivier Giroud, yet you tell me why he’s lifting trophies and we’re left watching him.

I’m trying hard not to be a Bitter Betty, but I have to warn you that this is going to be my most pissy post of all time. Not only will I mix in plenty of “I told you so’s,” but I will also criticize two of Arsenal‘s most elite players. Ready, set, go.

January, 2018. Under the impression that Olivier Giroud was not good enough to take the Gunners to the levels they needed to be at, we let him fall to Chelsea after not even giving him a chance to form a partnership with Alexandre Lacazette.

We all cheered when Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang arrived, and I did too. But I kept telling you people that we shouldn’t have let Olivier Giroud go. The man is a fighter and he is a winner.

At the time, I thought I was just being petty. I had always been a huge fan of Giroud and seeing him so dishonorably discharged was less than deserved.

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Here we are, 18 months later, with a Golden Boot winner and a Player of the Year, each in the form of an elite striker that outscored Olivier Giroud by an obnoxious proportion because, yet again, he was not given the chance he deserves.

But Giroud did win the scoring title in the Europa League en route to completely derailing the Gunners efforts in Baku.

It was Giroud’s goal that sealed our fate. The moment he headed home we were defeated. Our players looked done, they had nothing left in the tank. And as Pedro and Hazard and all those *censor me, damnit* were hugging Giroud, I was gnashing my teeth. Remember when he set up Aaron Ramsey for the winning goal in the FA Cup just a few years ago? Now he sunk us while our two strikers tried to figure out which was their dominant foot.

I don’t know if I’ve ever seen two strikers more capable of heroics look more pathetic. Aubameyang could have had the ball placed on a literal golf tee, had no one around him, and he’d still have scuffed it straight into the ground and 30 yards wide. And Lacazette? The worst he’s played all year by a longshot.

Not Giroud though. The heat got turned up and Giroud switched on.

Won a World Cup too, that guy. But don’t mind me, I still have my No. 12 Giroud shirt packed away under my bed.