Oliver Giroud is on red hot form right now scoring in all the league games he played so far this season. Last year, many fans and pundits criticized Wenger for buying Giroud as a replacement for Robin van Persie. But Giroud is proving all the critics wrong and staying ahead of RVP in goal scoring charts this season.
Here is a stat picture comparing Giroud with former Arsenal strikers (first 38 games),
It is nice to see his stats are second only to the legendary Thierry Henry’s. A replacement for RVP? May be he is more than that.
Well it may sound cliched, but if you are an Arsenal fan, then you have every reason to be optimistic. Giroud had a decent first season in the Premier League and considering the fact that he came from Ligue 1 and directly replaced Premier League’s most prolific goal scorer, the French International has done justice for the club. 17 goals and 12 assists in all competitions is always better than what Torres and Andy Carroll achieved after their big money moves.
Here is another picture comparing Giroud’s first season with RVP’s 08/09
There are some striking similarities here, which shows Giroud as a far better player than what people think of him. Although there are various criteria’s to be noted from the above image and comparing Van Persie’s 4th season as an Arsenal player and Giroud’s 1st season won’t do justice. But to look on the positive side, Giroud has already shown quite a drastic improvement in his finishing and ball control (which was a deal breaker last year) and to add to that; Ramsey’s ever so improving performances in the midfield only means that Giroud will receive more help from his midfielders and throw Ozil and Cazorla into the picture, the French International will have one of the best midfield behind him.
So can Giroud challenge Arsenal’s former strikers and end up as one of the best?