Arsenal finished off a fantastic day of Premier League football, by putting three past London rivals Chelsea in a fantastic performance for the Gunners. All three goals were scored in the first half at the Emirates, in a game which Arsenal completely dominated with a strong and passionate team performance.
Everything was on point for the Gunners today, whether it be the passing, the creation of chances, the tackling and the shooting. Wenger seemed to have the right tactics to beat this new era of Chelsea side down to a tee. However one thing that continues to question many is his decision on substitutions or more specifically Olivier Giroud!
It’s a subject that has been raised before this season, in the fact that many don’t understand what an earth is going on with the French international striker at the moment. Giroud doesn’t seem to be able to put any effort into his work rate on the pitch, he looks slow, lazy and effortless in his attempts to move forward with the ball.
Arsenal admittedly found the second half against Chelsea much harder than the first, but the football was still very much free flowing and we were creating chance after chance. The introduction of Olivier Giroud however saw our attack break down as if we had lost a man on the pitch. His positioning was all over the place, he looked lacklustre in his attempts to keep the ball and ultimately he gave the ball away more times during his short cameo appearance, than most players over the 90 minutes.
Giroud was completely off the ball today in his short appearance and sadly for the Frenchman, it’s been that way for at least the last few games. Giroud returned late back to Arsenal training this season, after receiving an extended holiday break after the Euros. But that break ended over a month ago now and he just hasn’t looked to regain his full fitness since. Giroud seems unfit and disinterested so far this season and his lack of minutes over the campaign can only be put down to his own fault.
With Lucas Perez now on the team and Alexis Sanchez grabbing the goals as a converted striker, I think Giroud needs to really step up his game and realise that if he isn’t careful, the likelihood of ever being Arsenal’s first choice striker again may soon be falling out of his hands.
By AH