Arsenal forward Theo Walcott has stated that Olivier Giroud is annoyed at his lack of first-team action.
The Frenchman was injured at the start of the Premier League campaign, and manager Arsene Wenger opted to field a makeshift forward in Alexis Sanchez in the role, which has worked out extremely well.
The Chilean has now stamped his mark on the centre-forward position and Giroud can’t displace him from the starting XI at present, despite his own upturn in form when coming off the bench.
Olivier has bagged himself four goals off the bench this term, with those goals earning his side a draw with Paris Saint-Germain, a draw with Manchester United, and two goals against Sunderland after coming on with the scores tied with 20 minutes to go.
Theo Walcott has now moved to praise the striker, before revealing his frustration at being limited in his chances.
“Olivier’s strengths are fantastic,” Walcott said.
“I know he will be frustrated with the amount of games he has not played but, if you look at his scoring record and how effective he has been when he has been on the pitch – again [on Sunday against Bournemouth], coming off the bench and grabbing an assist.
“It just shows he keeps on reminding the manager what he can do.”
Is it just a matter of time before Arsene Wenger shares the centre-forward role between Giroud and Alexis? Will Christmas force the manager to give Sanchez a break at some point? Will the return of Welbeck and Lucas Perez limit Olivier further?
Pat J
People keep saying this, but in my view, they work best together because they are completely different players, offering different (much needed) skills. When either is off the pitch, we simply need and miss those skills. OG holds up the ball, is an excellent target man, and brilliant aerially, whereas Alexis can shoot on goal from all distances and angles, and is more nimble, and sees more opportunities – maybe why he is better coming in from a little deeper than Giroud. How many times during the Bournemouth game could we have done with a good target man, and bizarrely only had one for the last 20 minutes?
Giroud should continue doing what he does by coming from the bench..
He had his chances for years…
He needs to shut f up, as there is no need to remind him that he went 15 games without scoring and never reachet the 20+ mark with team mates like santi and ozil.
Giroud didn’t say a word if you bothered to read it. Walcott said he might be frustrated, and he says that because he had a similar experience last season. Maybe OG’s not the one who should shut the f up mate.
For anyone who’s interested. The way I see it is you need a more than capable striker on your bench, whether he wants that for himself, well of course he doesn’t. He needs to put Arsenal ahead of his own desires for now, we gave him ample time as our main striker, so lets see how we get on with him being in the back seat for a change. He will get another chance to prove that he’s first team quality all the way, and when he does, he needs to be one of the premierships deadliest finishers.
If Welbeck comes back and stays fit, and Perez keeps scoring in the League Cup, then Giroud will be leaving in the summer. If he keeps scoring when brought on from the bench we may even make a nice profit as well!
A couple of bench level players promoting each other …. We need a starting attacking option at the level of Sanchez to seriously challenge foe EPL and cl … And have for 5 years
Iwobi giroud Walcott vs Willian costa hazard is easy to see the gap in class
but it is there even with Nolito aguerro sterling .., and guardiola knows he needs to strengthen his attacking options
Only Lalanna ferminio mane looks closer … But Klopp gets way more work out of his forwards
I understand the point you try to make but IMO we should compare Willian-Costa-Hazard to Ozil – Sanchez – Walcott. Starters to starters. Groud and Iwobi are not guaranteed starters.
Hazard and Costa had a poor season last season but are great players and playing better this season with a new manager, lower expectations and fewer games. I would still pick Ozil – Sanchez over those two.
Ole Solskjaer was of great value to Man U under SAF. Yet he was often a super sub. Super subs should not under rated in their value for a team. Look at Giroud’s contribution from the bench, it is a much better contribution than when he starts. I think coming into a game where the oposing players are tiring makes it easier for him.
To me, and I have never been a Giroud fan, he could prolong his Arsenal career if he learns to embrace the role of super sub.
There are few strikers who can come in during the 70th minute and pose a real threat. Most need a run of game in order to get their timing on etc. Giroud seems to have this gift. He should embrace it. He doesn’t have the talent to compete with Sanchez for a starting role. Sanchez has only played one-third of a season in this role and is already much deadlier than Giroud. He has scored with his head, tap ins, from distance, and created his own goals. Giroud doesn’t have all of those skills. And Sanchez is still learning the position and studying film, he will only get better.
Losing Giroud as a sub would be a loss, losing him as a starter would be a relief.