Enough Is Enough: Wenger Should Hand Arsenal’s £100,000-a-week Attacker A Start Against West Ham

Should Arsene Wenger Hand Olivier Giroud A Start Against West Ham United?

Olivier Giroud has struggled throughout his time at Arsenal but lately, he seems to have developed quite a penchant for bailing them out of trouble. And yet, his influence goes unrecognised for the most parts. The Gunners were on the verge of losing against Southampton, as an early goal from Charlie Austin held the Saints in good stead. Arsenal needed a miracle and that was when Arsene Wenger chose to haul Alexandre Lacazette off to bring on Giroud. That sent sighs of exasperation across the visiting fans. However, all that changed when the former Montpellier striker delivered a goal.

Bringing Giroud on proved to be exactly what Arsenal needed. One cannot undermine Lacazette’s influence on the team but he was playing for a lot more time than Giroud and yet he failed to provide the necessary power up front – something which the substitute did in just few minutes. Also, this is not the first time this has happened so far. Time and again, Giroud has come in to see the Gunners through sticky situations, thus making a case for Wenger to hand him a start against West Ham.

He has not started regularly this season and yet, he boasts of scoring 7 goals – 3 in the Europa League and 4 in the Premier League. His goal-scoring exploits have seen him equal Ole Gunnar Solskjaer’s record for most goals scored by a substitute for one Premier League club. One really does have to hand it to him; no matter how many hurdles come in his way, Giroud manages to soldier through and stay with Arsenal. He could have left then last summer but he chose to stay back and fight for a spot even though he knew the Gunners were about to sign Alexandre Lacazette.

This kind of commitment and impact truly deserves to be rewarded. Arsenal play West Ham next and surely, Wenger can allocate a starting spot for Giroud, who earns £100,000-a-week. David Moyes’ side will not be easy to contain, making it the perfect opportunity for him to show what he is capable of. Also, it will also provide a chance for Lacazette to take some rest, especially since he looked rather shoddy against the Saints.

Giroud’s latest resurgence could allow Wenger to tweak his formations and possibly deploy two strikers – him and Lacazette. Of course, that might be a major risk but he has been using Giroud as a super-sub for quite some time now and perhaps it is time to allow him to take greater responsibility to prove himself.