Another game goes by and another set of fans have issues with the way the club is being run. It has been a poor season for Arsenal this year and they seem to have regressed further and seeing Leicester win the league title when the Gunners were in such a strong position certainly will hurt the faithfuls.
Arsenal have been poor in the second half of the season, but a lot of the slack has come onto the shoulders of Olivier Giroud. The French striker wasn’t at his best and is on a long streak of not finding the back of the net.
The former Montpellier striker has scored 20 times in 42 games for the London club this season, but being a stop striker means he has to get more goals for his team. Giroud has often been criticized for his ability to miss out on easy chances as well.
Giroud is supposed to be someone who bangs in 20 goals in the league, but has struggled to reach that number this season with just 12 goals in 29 appearances for Arsenal in the league campaign. There are rumors floating about that Giroud could be on his way out of the club with Wolfsburg being the most likely destination.
The French striker is expected to take over from another former Arsenal star, Nicklas Bendtner, who was sacked by the club. The pertinent question would be being Arsenal willing to let go of their only quality striker?
No French power in the strike force
Giroud was never the most prolific striker in the world, we have to clear that out. The Frenchman has averaged a goal every other game but that is not enough these days when it comes to being the only striker for a team.
The dynamics of football have changed, we used to have striking partnerships, but in the Premier League, especially for the big clubs, it is very hard to get that sort of football pairing these days. No one, not one of the “big” clubs have two world class strikers playing together regularly.
Look at Chelsea or Liverpool, even Tottenham or Manchester United, the clubs play with one striker who is supposed to get all the goals and bring others into play. Liverpool have two world class strikers in Daniel Sturridge and the much vilified Christian Benteke but you could count on both hands how many times the duo have played together.
Even Wayne Rooney has not played as a striker all throughout the season and more often than not ended up playing behind the main striker. Giroud isn’t the best at setting up people or with his movement, but his heading is wonderful. His accuracy in front of goal isn’t the greatest either and that has often been the bane for Arsenal fans this season.
Giroud probably is someone who would thrive if he was paired with someone nippy who can run behind and stretch defences. The need for someone to do that is of paramount importance for Arsenal but with Alexis Sanchez, Theo Walcott and Alex Iwobi having the pace to do all that, Arsenal will probably not go in for a strike pairing and stick with the one striker up top.
They need someone who is stronger in holding the ball and is willing to make the moves across the defence and unfortunately, Giroud is not the man for that role. The London club need a fresh face to lead the top of the attack and the quicker they search for that person, the better it will be for them.