Not so long ago in a Galaxy not so far far away
I am not the biggest fan of Olivier Giroud, you know it.
Many times in the recent past, on this same site, I told you how much in my humble opinion the Arsenal needs a different kind of striker or how much better and option Theo Walcott and Danny Welbeck would be, compared to the Frenchman. Yet, I don’t understand and don’t like the huge amount of hate and contempt the player is getting from fans. Really guys, I don’t get you.
How could you possibly throw so much hate towards an honest guy who never failed to work his socks off and commit himself to the team?
He has flaws, of course, but he’s being treated like he was a lazy, petulant primadonna!
He’s been ridiculed for his poor finishing, he’s been slated for his lack of movement, he’s been pointed as the reason why the Arsenal will never win the league (!) and yet he never reacted to that, never said a word out of place but instead he kept his head down, acknowledged his shortcomings in an open and honest way and worked twice as hard to improve the weaker aspects of his game
Never hides and never reacts in anything bit a positive fashion
Each time a former footballer, a former coach or a pundit highlights how poor Olivier Giroud is at this or that, the guy accepts the criticism and moves on, instead of arguing forever and throwing numbers and statistics to defend his performances.
He could do that, because his goals per games ratio is quite solid and because he has always scored his fair stake of goals (17+22+19) but he takes the blame and focuses on the next training session or game.
Goal 59 in 139 appearances – A Ratio of 0.42
What else should he do to get some credit?
What would make you have more patience with this guy?
Olivier Giroud often leaves me frustrated and disappointed when he misses a sitter or wastes a promising attacking move with a heavy first touch but I see how hard he works and I see how committed he is, that’s enough for me to keep supporting the guy despite his flaws and inadequacies.
I feel like Olly never forgiven for anything while other players are allowed to go missing here and there and still get a kind of unconditional love.
That’s not right, that’s the old-fashioned witch hunt a large section of Arsenal fans seem to love: it’s been Aaron Ramsey in the past, now its Olivier Giroud turn to be the focus of all the hate circling above the Emirates Stadium.
If you feel he’s not the right man to lead our forward line – and I do feel like that, if I’m being honest – then question the manager, not the player. If you really can’t help abusing a hard-working, committed and honest player doing his best to help the Arsenal, then you should really ask yourself some questions.
Question the manager not the player
Support the guy, goals will come as soon as he gets some confidence back; all your booing and abusing surely won’t help him in any way, you should have learned this already.
Until next time!
Italian living in Switzerland, Gooner since mid-nineties, when the Gunners defeated my hometown team, in Copenhagen. I started my own blog and podcast (www.clockenditalia.com) after after some experiences with Italian websites and football magazines. Covering Arsenal Women with the occasional rant about the boys.
Interesting.Many thanks Andrea for this. Every blame on Wenger.
Thanks Kazeem but I didn’t mean we should necessarily blame someone…to criticize is one thing, but as a supporter you should back your manager and players until the final whistle of the final game of the season
Wait till the fans push him to a rival club in the league like they did Adebayor, Alliadiere, Nasri (even though his case is peculiar) Fabianski etc and it is then they will know how lucky we are to have him. Don’t Benzema & Cavani miss sitters? Didn’t our beloved Henry miss glorious chances against Barcelona in France? Have you seen Cavani’s attitude in matches? Nasri’s pettulance is child’s play. Saw the guy earn two dumb yellows in the recently concluded South American Championships won by Chile. Giroud is & has been very professional. Worse strikers have the backing of their fans. Let’s back our own who is far better & don’t let’s make another Chamakh out of him by shattering his confidence.
@Gbenga, nice comments we are on the same page…let’s give him chance, if he scores we all shout and make noise everywhere. last session he started the league late due to injury, yet he was among the top 5 goals scorers, what else do we need? let’s help him grow…..
100% agree with you, Michael: support him and help regaining some confidence
I love this article..blame should go to Arsene. Giroud is an employee of Arsenal and we see that he really tries. It is unfortunate that he is the main striker of a big club and he is being compared to the likes of Rooney, Diego, Aguero, Kane etc. worse still he is not British…save for the scorn Danny Welbeck gets sometimes.
I get really frustrated too with Giroud the chances, he decides to pass ball instead of shooting…and other things the man does.
Fans should support him and help him focus on getting the goals instead of putting him under so much pressure and putting his confidence down.
To Arsene: Buy buy buy…….this time a perfect 9 that takes on defenders.
Hi Andrea,
I have to admit that I am one of Girouds critics, but it does no harm to see someone else`s point of view.
I agree that he does try his utmost for the team. You only have to recall the incidents when he has blocked shots on our goal line or made headers to clear the defence to show that he runs all over the pitch. The problem is that he is supposed to be the focal point of our attack and the man we look to to score goals. I do appreciate the point you make. he never hid his weaknesses. He came here with a reputation as the man who lifted a little known French team to the top of Ligue 1 on the back of his goals. He was raw however, but whatever his flaws, he was Wenger`s selection.
He has tried hard to improve, and on his day he is a game changer. Unfortunately he has too many days when it isn`t his day and clearly, Henry is right. If Giroud is the player we rely on to win The Premiership, it is not going to happen. He was bought for £12m and he might be worth £20m now, but it is not a £20m CF we need.
We need a £30m + one. Until we can get one, we need to have a similar value striker to accompany him or sub for him when he has his bad days. In my opinion, that is Charlie Austin.
Finally, I agree that a lot of the vitriol spouted against Giroud is being aimed at the wrong target but I would bear in mind that when Arsene bought him, it was probably all that he could afford.
Victor Thompson
Hi Victor, thanks for reading and commenting.
I am not an admirer of Giroud but I have high consideration of players who work their socks off, I won’t turn against someone like Giroud.
In my opinion, we shouldn’t rely on Olivier Giroud to win the league because we shouldn’t rely on one single player to change our fortunes. We have many, many goals in our team and everyone should participate to ensure we don’t fall short.
Olivier Giroud is ONE of the players we can rely on, shouldn’t be the only one.
Finally, not sure Austin would make any difference to our team, he’s clearly below standards. Had a very good season, like Harry Kane, but it doesn’t mean he could do the job at the Arsenal – even from the bench.
Welbeck and Walcott are better options, and are already ours.
if Harry Kane is that why didn’t Newcastle pay his asking price of £15m and the likes of Manchester united, west Ham n nko go for him.
one player can not give us the epl but collectively we can lift the epl so let all support the team n stop singling out a player.
You mean Charlie Austin?
yeah Charlie Austin I mean.