Arsenal fans may sometimes be a bit down on the France international striker, but Olivier Giroud will be the toast of his nation this week after scoring the second goal, and what turned out to be the winner, in their final World Cup qualifying match, but will it be enough to convince Arsene Wenger to give the big centre forward a rare Premier League start when Arsenal travel to Watford on Saturday?
Once again the French were not as convincing as you would expect against Belarus, winning by just one goal after Anton Saroka halved their lead and made it a tense and nervy finish, but Giroud’s first half strike ensured they finished top and are heading to Russia next summer.
Giroud played the whole of the game with our summer signing Alexandre Lacazette left on the subs bench after his not so great performance for Les Bleus at the weekend. Giroud is now the joint seventh top score in France’s history and surely will be feeling good and hoping to carry on with Arsenal this weekend.
You would think that he must be in the thoughts of Wenger for the game at Watford, buyt then again I would have expected the boss to have played him more already this season, so will the big man be in the Arsenal team on Saturday or not?
Bob.
Laca all the way. What has the guy done wrong for Arsenal to be replaced by Giroud?
For me Laca has done a good job and should continue to be given the chance to get used to the PL.
Lacca & Ollie up top PPPPPPLLLLLLEEEEEEEEAAAAASSSSSEEEEEEEEEE !!!!!!!!!!
Maybe against Watford we should go out with two strikers in a 3-5-2 formation with both Giroud and Laca starting?
In def: Nacho, Mertesacker/Chambers, Koscielny (if fit, if not Chambers/Holding)
Mid: Sead (if fit, if not Nacho), Xhaka, Ramsey/Alexis, Oezil, Bellerin
Attack: Lacazette and Giroud
you are just spot on mate and I completely agree with you, besides it means laca would have been well rested for Saturday and Giroud can be fresh for Thursday too.
Giroud had several years to nail that spot down. Never scored 20 league goals, no real competition for position (Walcott was horrible and Sanogo was joke).
If he wants to start, then outplay Laca. Giroud has been a reliable force coming off bench, but doesn’t offer the movement, pace, pressing or finishing Laca does.
Don’t understand this sometimes. Agree players like Sanogo did not work out well for us. He was a failure alright, but does that justify words like “he was joke”?
Sanogo was a freebie that didn’t work out, he was not a joke. He just suffered bad recurring injuries. A very small gamble that didn’t pay off. Get over it.
As for walcott, his goal and assist return has been fairly decent for a winger. Certainly better than chamberlain
Injuries he did suffer. But his talent level was well below Arsenal; something our manager should have prioritized ahead of “free.”
I believe his time here hurt his career, he needed playing time at a lower level of football.
As for Walcott, after 11 yrs he should be scoring and assisting with regularity not inconsistency. Several yrs ago you could afford a passenger on wings in premier league.
With all the TV money and influx of top coaches in premier league, no more.
Everyone has to put in a shift defensively now; ALL 90 min, not once in a while. No room for passengers; Ozil doesn’t defend consistently and we can’t afford 2.
11 yrs more than some players careers, and Theo can’t nail down starting place. Why? Less about formation, and more about quality performances.
Maybe its time for Wenger to go back to four four two, especially with central defenders missing. Hopefully Kos is fit, Kola along side of him, Mon a left back, four across the middle , Laca and Giroud up front
I’m a big Giroud fan, and appreciate everything he’s done for us. However, I don’t see why he should displace Lacazette who’s done very well so far. I’d play them together just to throw some teams off, but I wouldn’t start him for now, that’s for sure. He’s great coming off the bench, so let’s keep it this way for now.
I actually really want to see laca play just behind giroud in a 442.