How the Mighty have fallen… by ED
Believe it or not there once was a time in Arsenal, where we had a string of forwards whom where the envy of every team from Gillingham to Barcelona. Wright, Henry, Bergkamp, Overmars, Anelka, Van Persie, we were titans in the game with the ability to go pound for pound against the big boys, in not only our league but in Europe as well. Fast forward to today we have a winger trying to convince everybody he is a striker, and a centre forward with performance issues, I reiterate the point again how the mighty have fallen.
I tried to hold my tongue after yesterday’s result, but I simply saw red ended up engaging myself in a war of words with a Giroud sympathiser, he made valid points to his credit, but then he preceded to tell me Giroud (when and if he discovers his form is the key to success) I couldn’t help but to laugh. In my last article I compared Giroud to Dial up internet, it does an adequate job if the primary function is to send emails and, quite simply, attempting to stream movies is a step too far, well that’s the same case as Giroud. If you need him to score a couple of goals he’ll do that, ask him to him to lead the line of a championship winning team that’s a step to far.
Let me just clarify why I dislike Giroud, it’s not because he doesn’t score 30 odd goals a season, No its just he’s what I call a luxury striker – aka the ball to feet man. A player who’s ability is so dependent on the attacking players around him, that when they don’t create chances or chances aren’t that regular, he becomes a lost sheep. His inability to create opportunities for himself is probably what pisses me off even more, at his size and his weight (he is a fairly athletic guy) he should be chasing down defenders and have the ability to push passed defenders, cause headaches, be a nightmare, mark and show some more mobility and urgency. His movements are far too predictable and he gets bullied far too easily. He looks more like a wondering nomad as opposed to the man who leads the attack for Arsenal.
And on to Theo Walcott, well he tries, but there is no defending the fact that he is not a striker, more an inside forward. He neither possess the physical ability to hold off defenders challenges (One on One with Kompany, Theo not only gets taken to the cleaners there is a genuine possibility he ends up in hospital), or the technical skills to be able to out manoeuvre defenders (I can count on my fingers the amount of times he has used skill and successfully beaten a defender). His only real threat is his pace and unless you’re a dumbass of a manager or Arsenal go down to 10 like yesterday.. absolutely no chance you hold a high line or press against us – giving Theo the space to get behind your back four…
Don’t say that I don’t support Arsenal, because I criticize one of our players. I’m only comparing them to the standards of present day forwards and to what in the past has made us successful, and I’m sorry if it offends anyone but they are simply not good enough.
Eddie D