Does Giroud ban mean Arsenal will finally play Podolski?

The moment that the red mist descended on Olivier Giroud yesterday immediately caused a big problem for that game as well as the next three fixtures. Even Arsene Wenger actually saw the incident and agreed that the Frenchman should have been sent off.

Wenger said on the Official Arsenal website: “It was a deserved red card. Madness is a strong word but he didn’t kill him, he touched him and should not have done it. He should have been in control. Olivier Giroud knows he made a mistake and I know him well enough to think that he will not do it again.

“…. He told me he was pushed in the back and that projected him into the keeper. Maybe because the injury he had still plays a part on his mind and it’s unusual for him. Usually he’s a guy who’s in control of his response.

“Honestly, you never need that. In my job you sometimes have to deal with the strengths and sometimes the mistakes of people.”

So Arsenal now have a selection problem for the two upcoming crucial fixtures against West Ham and Southampton and the obvious solution would be to use Lukas Podolski, who is the Gunners best goalscorer in ratio to minutes played. The German international is becoming a very frustrated perrenial bench-warmer, and yet again he was unused in yesterday’s game.

Podolski has made it clear he needs to play or be allowed to leave, but Wenger brushed off any rumours of Lukas leaving in January. He said: “He (Podolski) knows that when we are defending like that in the last five minutes he knows it’s not his turn to come on. We needed to defend.

“I don’t give any importance to rumours. There was a rumour two days ago in France that I offered £62 million for Cavani from Paris Saint-Germain. Everyday there is a different rumour so I don’t give importance to that. In every big club you have some players who don’t play and they are not happy.

“If you find players who are happy when they don’t play you have a problem. He [Podolski] will play. Rosicky had an outstanding game today and he didn’t play for a long time. Our job is always to be ready when you play.”

Well Arsene now is the perfect time for you to use Podolski now that Giroud will miss the next three games. But will he take the opportunity? I’m not so sure, especially considering that Giroud has already missed ten weeks through injury, and Podolski didn’t play once!

Tags Giroud Podolski Rosicky

43 Comments

  1. “Prince” podolski should get his chance to start now! Honestly it would be a “no brainer” to start him in the absense of giroud, who would miss 3 games!

      1. poldi’s left foot is profilic- he just doesnt work hard,
        giroud works hard but doesnt excel

        ….so yes lol u might have a point

  2. Just can’t wait to see “theo” take the pitch again! I do hope he plays a part in the west ham game as giroud faces a ban! Coyg!

  3. Wenger will not give up on Welbeck any time soon.Even if Podolsk plays and scores Wenger will just ignore and persist with his “project “.If Podolsk can fit in the Germany squad he should surely play regularly in an average team like Arsenal.

    1. Welbeck Is one of the few ball winners at arsenal. He is essentially what dlungberg was in today’s team.

    2. Podolsk is a sub in the german squad and with the emergence of german players, I don’t think he will make it in the next European cup of nation

    3. Difference is the German midfield is rock solid and packed with talent.
      They can cover for Podi when he decides not to track back.
      I like him but a little digging into his history reveals that this is not the first time he has been in this situation.

      1. So all he does is score more often percentage-wise than anyone else in our team. Yes, that makes him truly terrible. Idiot!

  4. when WeLbeck 1st joined, he used to make flashy runs behind defenders which was brilliant, seems now, some1’s been pulling his ears and asking him to play “hoLd-up” which he really isn’t gud at (needless to say athing bout his 1st touch) coupled with his current wide role……. Other than that, i woulda said a front line of

    SANCHEZ-WELBECK-WALCOTT

    may have been the best option i can think of at the moment. Beep

    1. Welbeck an average player who ain’t got a clue what he is doing at an attacker… He has never scored more than 10 goals a season in his whole time in the EPL..

      He is not a Top 4 player, Sunderland, Stoke, West Ham etc is his level.. He can’t read passes, no intelligence at all, look at how other strikers anticipate were the ball would drop, Sanchez keeps gambling and he is scoring header from the wing. The too does that and he is not the most natural footballer either.. Giroud does it too..

      Welbeck is just an honest 3rd/4th choice striker at best for any team serious about competing for trophies..

      1. Then what about Giroud … at least Welbeck can run, dribble and pass … the problem as @SoOpa AeoN said, instead of making runs behind defense which he certain capable of, he tries to hold up and I’m sure that something has to do with Mr Philosopher

        1. Then why has AFC looked much more threatening since his return.When he was injured it was Alexis that kept AFC afloat if i remember carefully…and Welbeck was there all along..All dribbles,runs..blabla bla count for nothing if a striker cannot score

          1. i’ve watched welbeck carefully and to me it seems he does not know how to position himself to be useful to receive passes from caz/sanchez. instead of heading to open space, he can often be found in the middle of a crowd of defenders.

  5. Still don’t understand how a man like Wenger who’s seen the likes of Henry, Bergkamp, RVP, Wright has settled for the likes of Giroud, Welbeck and Songo.

    On the other hand, Man U is starting to look good. They have 6 genuine world class players at the moment: De Gea, Rooney, Mata, Di Maria, RVP, Falcao.

  6. It could mean a starting spot for Campbell, Poldi, Sanogo or Theo.

    I guess you could say the good thing about our “front 3” if you will, is that they are interchangeable. They could play Welbeck through the middle and any one of Theo, Poldi or Campbell out wide, or could replace Giroud like for like up top by putting Sanogo in.

    Of course though if Ox is fit, it could mean he goes out wide and Rosicky retains his spot in the starting XI, or even if Ramsey is ready to come back he might start.

    One thign I will say, is that Rosicky gave us something we’ve missed when he came back in yesterday. He’s very direct, always looks to pass the ball forward, always looking for that man who runs behind the defence. Very pleased he’s healthy again.

  7. Wenger Out
    Bould Out
    Giroud Out
    Podolski Out
    Sanogo Out
    Welbeck Out
    Campbell Out
    Flamini Out
    Arteta Out
    Diaby Out
    Mertesacker Out

    All a bag of sh*te who are good for nothing money grabbing prima donnas!!

    1. what has campbell done to deserve that?
      bould hasnt even been given a shot yet!
      bit early to give up on welbeck
      giroud is gd squad player

  8. Podolski usually scores when he comes on so it would be stupid to not use him.

    He is the best finisher we have. He may lack speed but when he is given a chance, he converts

  9. Why don’t we give Podolski a chance this season and then judge him if he doesn’t score/assist??? And by chance I mean either starting with him or subbing him in before the 88th minute WENGER??!!

    Source: soccerway.com statistics (So it’s possible not 100% accurate)

    2012/2013: 16 goals (11 BPL, 1 LC, 4 UCL) 2,682 minutes played
    2013/2014: 12 goals (8 BPL, 3 FA, 1 UCL) 1,594 minutes played
    2014/2015: 3 goals (3 UCL) 317 minutes played

    Also from the eye-test (watching football) Podolski should at least be tried as a sub in the 60-70 minute range. We obviously as fans don’t see everything in training but this is my opinion.

    1. Tried and tested before hes just not good enough or consistent enough….

      good at one game and bad at the others

      he hardly defends, lack of pace…..

      hes just good in shooting….

      give him space and chance and he may score

      mark him tight and hes gone…

  10. Wenger Out!!!

    Together with all the Deadwoods, Inconsistent, not good enough, slow and ageing players….

    giroud, per, monreal, Arteta, Rosicky, Flamini. Poldoski, Campbell and Sanago, Ryo, Coquelin

    At Arsenal we need world class big name big game players…….

    1. Absolutely right. At Arsenal at the moment the fans are content with average players simply because Wenger tells them they are great players!! All of those you mention are average at best and not worthy of a spot in a league chasing team. How many of these would get into Chelsea, City, United or even Spuds, Liverpool or West Ham? Not one of them.

  11. To play SANOGO over POLDI is the ultimate offense, not just to PODOLSKI but to the Fans….unfortunately I have a real bad feeling that this is WENGERs plan….I said it repeatedly WENGER and fans alike criticize PODOLSKI for not running across the PITCH like a headless Chicken thus call him LAZY…well Football as I know it, should have a point man a striker in the front…WTF are GIROUD and WELBECK playing defense for, yes they ran after every Ball and then at the 60th minute they are done….Hope to see not only POLDI against WH and SH but CAMPBELL too, give them enough game time to see their real potential if they have one, if not then sell them.

  12. Giroud is a decent player looking at the number of goals he has scored. He has improved a lot since his arrival at Arsenal. As for Podolsk its better he leaves for the sake of his career since he is not Wenger’s favourite and fairly good teams are willing to buy him.Also Wenger should let Campbell go rather than destroy his promising career.Obviously he is not in Wenger’s plans although he is a good player and it won’t be difficult for him to find a good team.

  13. Regardless of whether Podolski starts or not, still looks like he’ll be moving on to Inter in January. Shame..

  14. Podolski doesn’t run enough, but finishing is lethal.
    Welbeck, runs alot but doesn’t go in goal scoring positions.
    Walcott, good at running and giving assists and sometimes goals, but he too goes missing for around 45 minutes per game, also doesn’t run enough, especially when defending.

  15. It is a puzzling one, podolski is by-far not the most popular but by an arm length the most lethal given the opportunities, it sound’s like wenger feels he’s defensive attitude Is not right but arsenal are only good when they work as a team(defensively), I just think wenger Doesn’t know how to play him with out changing the way arsenal play

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