Is Giroud Arsenal’s very own Diego Costa?

The French centre-forward Olivier Giroud is adamant that he can prove to Arsenal fans that he is as good as Chelsea’s Costa or Man City’s Aguero, and is trying to convince Arsene Wenger that he has no need to go for Jackson Martinez to bolster the Gunners forward line.

He told L’Equipe: “I don’t have an inferiority complex. I don’t have their name, but – in terms of stats – I am just behind Costa and Aguero,”

“When people are talking about a player to come and take your place, you take it personally because it’s your position. I hear people say, ‘They have Giroud and Welbeck but they need a world-class striker.’ Meaning, us, we’re not world-class forwards.

“It spurs you on. Recently, there was a buzz around Jackson Martinez. The coach has said good things about him, the player has said he would like to come. I learned that before the Middlesbrough game [a 2-0 win]. It gave me added motivation. I was very happy to score those two goals.”

He also alluded to the (very annoying!) fact that he has an onfield drama when he misses a chance to score. “When I put my head in my hands after missing a chance, that annoys the coaches a little,”

“They want me to be more of a ‘killer’, almost insensitive.

“Diego Costa doesn’t show any emotion. I am more emotional. So I have learned to control my emotions.”

He also feels better playing with Sanchez and Welbeck has made him more relaxed on the pitch: “I’m less isolated. Before, I was the centre-forward and it was up to me to score. Now, the attention is no longer focused on a single player,”

“There’s more pace, more penetration. We’re less predictable and there is more diversity. Danny likes to cut inside. Alexis can make the difference with the ball at his feet. He brings zest and a personality that we didn’t have. He’s a Duracell battery. He never stops. His hunger is infectious.”

Olivier has certainly seemed to be in much better form since his enforced absence through injury, but the question is – Do we still need another striker to take us to the next level?

Tags Costa Giroud Sanchez

25 Comments

  1. The thing we lacked before was pace on the wings, Now that we have that in Alexis & Theo it is much easier for Giroud to score. Hope he does well in Monaco 😀

  2. Did Giroud just say he learned to control his emotions… QPR match mere two months ago? Anyways, no Giroud is not Costa. Giroud has molded into his own player here and he’s now a crucial part of the team. He scores goals, but also has a great assist record, even when he first got here. No need for the comparison. At last he’s starting to score against big teams as well. Maybe a goal today perhaps?

  3. Did Giroud say all these words… Am worried about this article… Remember his is French and has not improved this much in English…

    1. Too right muff – but people who swear by Costa will have to explain his elevation to football God status in the context of 120 career goals in 305 games, a player who is 27 this year and was not even noticed until last season, who has flopped in UCL this year, dud for Spain, where only 2 of his 17 league goals have directly effected the result and goals generally dried up. Hardworking, physical handful, cynical, good finisher, late bloomer flat track bully maybe – actually probably the perfect profile Mourinho would look for – but long way from being spectacular or world class imo.

    2. Stop sucking every other players d*ck @muff who gives a sh*t about costa, giroud is playing very well and he contributes a lot to the team and that’s all I care about

  4. they are different types of player.
    giroud has improved every year- gotta respect that at this level of football

    BUT an no doubt alot of u will act butthurt by this, start pulling dumb stats or bias bs – fact remains….

    costa is world class striker – giroud is not

    1. Forget about strikers for a second. That’s the least of my worries. People ain’t gonna like this but Ospina is backup quality at most. Szczesny is a much more reliable keeper. Szczesny commands his area much better and doesn’t flap at balls like Ospina. One example is the game against Spurs where he gifted Kane a tap in. He was very close to gifting a goal away to Palace. Szczesny can be stupid at times, however he’s a much better keeper than Ospina.

        1. shezza is quality, its just we get very nervous with those lapses in concentration he has, ospina is good but not great.

          going forward do we buy a keeper or let them tussle it out?

          neither are ideal, but neither are bad. i say stick…unless someone special becomes available

    2. Costa is a world class striker. On par with TH14?
      Why do we use the term “world class” so loosely? Costa is better than good. But certainly not world class.Ofcourse opinions vary.. And we don’t need stats to prove that.

      1. A striker’s pace doesn’t determine skill, and skill doesn’t determine goals. Giroud has been responsible for every goal of the season contender. He’s scored 50 goals in less time than Drogba did for Chelsea. He only needs one touch to score, his movement is excellent. He brings midfielders into play and shields them from pressure of defenders and the fans. In my book, he’s definitely top class and is gonna be world class if he keeps improving.

      2. @ sumo

        I know I f*ckin hate when people throw world class around so lightly. Costa is no where near wc class to me. The wc strikers to me right now are aguero, suarez, zlatan, and lewandowski.

        I’d take sturridge over costa any day

  5. I’ll ignore this and take it with a pinch of salt, apparently lots of players at araenal smoke or so says giroud. Press stiring again? On tonight im getting excited now. A very different game and team played but last time we played Monaco at the Emirates we were so poor and lost 1-0 toa falcao headed goal. I watched this game from the stand and my main observation was how much I liked kondogbia. I’ll be watching him again closely tonight, let’s hope arsene gets an opportunity to speak to him post match 🙂 coyg!!

  6. These comparisons can be fun but are actually not worth much.

    Costa is Costa. And Giroud is Giroud. Giroud may improve or even add elements to his game, but every player is who they are depending on their physical and mental attributes. (And Costa may turn out to be a 2 or 3 year wonder and then quickly fade – who knows?)

  7. Comparing Giroud to Costa is not as bad as Lord Bendtner comparing himself to Messi, although both are incorrect.

    Look. I was fierce in my defense of Giroud when people were calling him useless, Muppet, etc. Calling for his sale. He has scored nearly 50 goals for us. He is a very good striker. I defended him completely.

    But even though we shouldn’t undersestimate his ability we should not say he is World Class either.

    In the summer, I’m hoping for someone like Lacazette who scores nearly every game. Also Giroud is nearly 29, so buying a top quality striker is important. Even Martinez who is same age as Giroud has scored 85 goals to Giroud’s 45 goals in 2.5 seasons. In other words Giroud is good but to win the PL we need Top class.

    Let’s support Giroud big time but not make him into something he is not.

    Love Giroud but just being honest

    1. You say “let’s support Giroud big time but not make him into something he is not”. Fair enough, an honest opinion. But aren’t you doing the same with Costa, Lacazette and Martinez? Three questions:

      1) Is Costa a genuinely, no-debate, fully paid up member of the world class club? He is 26, has had one and half impressive seasons with a career 0.39 goals/game ratio. Are you absolutely sure? Cannot deny his first half season performance as anything other than brilliant. But last 4 weeks? For Spain? For the first 5 or 6 years of his career? Nah, he has a fair way to go yet.

      2) Why were you not shouting about Lacazette at the beginning of the season? Nothing to do with an impressive 3 months and some media attention I am sure. I am waiting for the Charlie Austin and Danny Ings shouts from you. Good player no doubt but even our own humble Olly has the Ligue 1 been there and done that medal. I don’t discount him but I think you are premature in elevating him on to a tier several levels above OG.

      3) Why do you think no-one has bought Martinez? He is after all getting on a bit and has been scouted to death no doubt. A goal every other game in Premiera 1 (aka the Porto/Benfica private two horse competition) is very good – but is that all it takes to convince you? I’m am very, very suspicious as to why no-one to the best of our knowledge has signed him – aren’t you at least curious?

      1. @jonestown1

        Thank you it’s nice to see people actually understand the game and don’t just look at the daily mail and see which names are being touted as the next big thing.

        Keep doing what your doing by using logic and analyzing a player instead of just looking at stats. I think costa will flop I always have I never rated him so we’ll see what happens this season and next season.

        And I do think this guy will be shouting for Danny ings cause that’s how he is (but I think Liverpool already bought ings)

  8. Good grief, has he been reading these pages? I await the avalanche of ridicule. Interesting stats (career goals/games ratio – not an infallible stat but certainly one of the more reliable). Costa 0.39 Mandzukic 0.46 Muller 0.40 Benzema 0.48 RvP 0.47 Rooney 0.44 Bony 0.51 Lazcavette 0.36 Aguero 0.51 Ibra 0.54 Cavani 0.54 Martinez 0.54 Lewandoski 0.53 Suarez 0.57 Giroud 0.43. Giroud’s stats are progressing in the 3 seasons he has been with us from 0.36 to 0.42 and is presently 0.61. Don’t think he can maintain this but if he moves closer to 0.50 we don’t really have too much to moan about it considering that he probably comfortably beats most of the above in assists.

    For me OG is bit of a one-off, I look at the other teams around Europe and look at their strikers/formations/systems and don’t really see anyone directly comparable. I know that not all of us like or even enjoy the 1 up top system we play and the derogatory “hold up” role Giroud plays in a front 3 but I can’t readily identify the player who would be obviously and significantly better in doing the same things in our system. Ibra, Lewandoski, Rooney and Mandzukic have the necessary football intelligence, with great technique and team-player attributes to play the OG role. Ibra would be the undeniable dream option but that ship has sailed, Rooney ain’t coming on the market and imo Mandzukic would be a sideways step. Lewandoski, very, very clever he would excite me up front for us – is he “gettable”, maybe. Just noticed by happy coincidence how relatively paceless the four I have named are – substituting pace with guile during their evolution – the Sheringham effetc! No denying there are plenty of faster, trickier more prolific strikers than OG but you will need different systems and personnel to play to the strengths of an “on the last shoulder, selfish, pacey, natural finisher” – you gear the team to them and they become the primary focus. Your wider men need less flair and more endeavour with wide service the primary attribute required, your midfield requires less trickery, guile and craft and more directness becomes the order of the day. You can however become over-reliant – a Costa-less Chelski does look quite toothless.

  9. @arsenal dna,your argument doesn,t stand since giroud gave his interview to l,equipe so it was conducted in french but i know where you,re coming from ,the way it gets translated journalists get what they want from the interview!!

    1. Exactly, reading between the lines he would appear to very self-aware and humble and is not trying to big himself up inviting these false and largely irrelevant comparisons.

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