It wasn’t easy, but Arsenal managed to see off Wigan in a penalty shoot-out and book their place in the FA Cup final. It was a game where the Gunners underwhelmed for large patches, but shone where it counted. They showed character to find an equaliser in the 82nd minute and held their nerve in a shoot-out where Wigan were clearly second best.
One of the Arsenal men who put away his penalty was Olivier Giroud, who has had a mixed bag of a season. He’s put in a few fantastic performances, but he’s also had games where he’s completely failed to make any impact.
Yes, he’s Arsenal’s top scorer, having found the back of the net 19 times in 45 games, but where’s the competition? Yaya Sanogo? Nicklas Bendtner? I don’t think so. Given the fact that he’s The Gunners main striker, I can’t help but feel that he should be scoring more.
He’s playing in front of midfielders like Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Mesut Ozil. For my money, he should have scored at least a goal every two games.
He’s been particularly poor in the business end of the season, scoring just 3 goals in 10 games. I think it’s fair to say that Arsenal have suffered as a result.
The main problem appears to be fatigue. The Frenchman isn’t exactly pacy at the best of times, but in recent weeks he’s looked like he’s running through treacle. I can’t help but wonder who would win in a foot race: Olivier Giroud or Per Mertesacker?
This has led The Mirror to claim that Olivier Giroud is on the chopping board this summer. The source suggests that if Arsenal receive a bid of more than £9.6m for Giroud (the price they paid for him back in 2012, when they bought him from Ligue 1 club Montpellier), they’ll sell.
I can’t help but feel that this would be a decent step forward for Arsenal. If they sell Giroud and bring in a fleet-footed technical talent (or two) in his place, they’ll be much better placed next season. They need an option who can run in behind and play off Arsenal’s talented midfielders.
If that means waving goodbye to Arsenal’s hard-working, well-meaning, but ultimately underwhelming Frenchman, then so be it!
What’s your take? Is it curtains for Olivier Giroud?
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I think Olivier Giroud has done his best for Arsenal but i think it’s time for him to leave the club,we wish him all the best