Just how revealing were Olivier Giroud’s recent comments?

It’s telling that despite Arsenal’s strong start to the season, concerns still exist about the squad’s strength in depth.

It seems that people are unwilling to back the Gunners as title contenders, because of the lack of options on the bench. Arsenal’s first team could well go toe-to-toe with the biggest club’s in Europe (it certainly has done with Bayern Munich and Barcelona in recent years and it’s now even stronger), but can it see out a 38 game Premier League season with dollops of Cup action on the side?

It’s certainly a big ask.

Let’s start with the midfield, Arsenal’s strongest area. Now that Mesut Ozil has joined up with the club, I think it’s fair to say that the Gunners have one of the strongest midfield’s in world football – particularly in terms of creativity. Even with injuries, Arsenal should be fine in this department.

Then there’s the defence. It could be argued that Arsenal need another, more experienced keeper to keep Wojciech Szczesny on his toes. Given that Sebastien Squillaci and Johan Djourou have left the club, Wenger should also be looking at centre-backs.

But the most pressing need is up front. I’m sure Arsenal fans are already tired of that nagging sense of fear and dread whenever Olivier Giroud, their only fit out-and-out striker, gets brought down. If Giroud picks up an injury, or hits a bad patch of form, Arsenal could be in trouble. When you’re forced to turn to Nicklas Bendtner, you know things are bad.

Interestingly enough, even Giroud is keen for more competition: “When the name of Suarez was circulating, I honestly thought it was a good thing for the team. We could have complemented each other. Suarez would have been a cannon… and he can also play out wide.”

As for the Gonzalo Higuain rumours, he said: “We (Giroud and Higuain) would have been in direct competition because he is a pure central striker. Of course, at the time, it would have bothered me a bit. But I was not afraid of competition.” (Source: The Mirror)

These quotes more or less speak for themselves. Arsenal are desperately short of options up front.

David Moyes has been criticised regularly this summer, but he does have access to a squad brimming with options. I doubt whether Manchester United will catch the eye with their football this season, but it’s easy enough to see them grinding out the results they need.

Arsenal, on the other hand need to wait it out until the January transfer window and hope that they’re still in the running. It’s not much, but it’s an improvement on the last couple of seasons!

What’s your take? Who should be on Arsenal’s shopping list this January?

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