Only started 1 Pl match this campaign
With our French Centurion linked to Dortmund as a make-weight in a potential Aubameyang deal Gunners Towns appreciates why Giroud is so sought after ……………..
OLIVIER GIROUD; THE QUINTESSENTIAL PLAN B.
It’s silly season again, and the rumors are swirling faster than a typhoon. As always, we seem to find ourselves in the thick of matters as the Sanchez-Mhkitaryan swap heads towards a conclusion, and we wonder whether anyone else, Aubameyang, Malcolm or Mahrez, will join the team to make up for what may or may not be a huge loss.
One topic making waves around does not center around us but does around our hated rivals from the blue half of the city, yes there is no space for ‘lilywhites’, Chelsea. From day to day their ‘supposed’ transfer targets have switched, from Carroll to Barnes to Crouch. It is clear from all these stories that they are seeking a target man with exceptional heading abilities to deputize for Morata, the king of deputy strikers before he got to England. Their fascination for such a player may have even began in the summer when they chased Llorente until he eventually ended up with ‘those guys from North London.’
The fact that Chelsea is going all out to find a player with such qualities to deputize for their leading striker, with the more mobile Batshuayi seemingly headed out, emphasizes why the need for a deputy striker of the highest order who gives you something different is very vital. It also emphasizes why Gunners worldwide should be glad we have a man like Oli G in our ranks.
Olivier since he joined the club in 2012 from the Leicester of French football, Montpellier, has been slammed several times because he has not been that 30-to-40-goals-in every competition striker fans were clamoring for when we lost R.V.P to United, in an unfortunate situation about to repeat itself with Sanchez. Fans who clamored for the heady days of Thierry leading our line with pace, invention and effortless efficiency never were fully satisfied with the good-looking fella from across The Channel.
Oli joins Theo in the 100 Club = Could both go?
He has scored important goals and has contributed immensely to the beautiful football which we seem to not play nowadays, sadly, with his perfection of hold-up play and involving teammates who can run beyond him. His foresight, short passing ability and ability to ‘usually’ score from nothing eventually endeared him to the fan base, yet every transfer window we clamored for a shiny, ‘top quality’ center forward.
Some fans and the media may ultimately have been right to claim Giroud was not the leading marksman our club craved, yet in the past year and half or so, with the addition of Alexandre Lacazette, we saw a Olivier fall into and make his own, a role which ultimately he may have been built to fill for Arsenal from the get go. He came off the bench in several instances to save us from losing games, taking them by the scruff of the neck with his physicality and ruggedness.
At the beginning of what is turning out to be a disastrous season, in the first game of the season at the Emirates which is turning out to be the home of block-blusters, Giroud came off the bench and attacked what was a tiring Leicester City defence with his height and aerial prowess to help dig the team out from what was a deep hole. The last time he performed his ‘superhero’ duties, we were trailing away at Southampton, in one of Sanchez’s worst games for us save for that beauty of a cross, and he came on to beautifully head the ball into the goal to once again save us from ourselves.
Supersub v Leicester
Usually when a leading marksman, who is usually an Alpha, is pushed out of the first team picture by a new arrival, you hear snippets in the media especially from his camp, about how upset he is with his being usurped from the lineup and usually talks negatively, affecting the larger squad. Yet, not once did we hear a bad word from Oli or anyone from his camp as he handled his demotion to the bench, with class and patience, despite the fire of competition burning deeply in him. The most painful matter of the fact is that in the French National team, Giroud starts ahead of the guy who has replaced him in the first team of Arsenal, and the French have had some wonderful performances with Oli as focal point of a wonderful attack. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not.
Against teams which set up deep to defend with no aim of playing the game, a target man with an eye for goal is usually one way to counter this, and Giroud has played that role perfectly for us on occasion. With all the changes that may happen when this transfer window concludes in a fortnight, we may finally see the tail end of a proper fighter and Gunner, as he may have to make way if the rumored Aubameyang transfer does go through.
Played for the cannon on chest
It will be a huge loss as arguably, apart from Manchester City, no other team has a proper plan B striker off the bench who can positively alter a game like Olivier Giroud can. Should he leave, it will be a huge loss, but for this often-maligned man, fighting for the crest on his chest was never in question as he never ducked a challenge or left us hanging, as he could have this summer when Lacazette joined and many of us will forever have nothing but immense respect, love and gratitude for the ‘French god of war.’
I’m a 20 year old from Ghana in West Africa. I strongly believe I fell in love with The Arsenal in 2000 after watching that heartbreaking loss in Liverpool, thanks to the now pestiferous pundit Michael Owen. Or maybe, I love The Arsenal because Gunner rhymes with the name of my country. Shrug. I am an avid supporter of Monsieur Wenger and still see him as a visionary. Also, I believe the result must not always trump the means and glory days on the European stage are just a few steps away. Thanks to all who take time out to visit and read.
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