Are Arsenal suffering from Giroud Fatigue?

At various points during a season supporters seem to find one member of the first team who comes under increased scrutiny for whatever reason – wehter logical or illogical. At the start of the season it was Yaya Sanogo (poor lad), then it was Flamini which dovetailed nicely to Mikel Arteta.  Even Mesut Ozil took some flak (who the hell knows why!!). Now all eyes and opinions turn to Olivier Giroud.

Saturday’s loss to Man City coincided with a real stinker of a performance in front of goal from the French striker.  He completely misplayed two gilt edge goal scoring opportunities and performed a comical attempt at what we can all only assume was an attempted assist.  This perceived abject performance has led many Arsenal fans to once again divide opinions on the value of Olivier Giroud. Many are extreme, some seem fair to some extent and I thought I would give my take.

First of all, there is no doubt that he has improved dramatically from last season.  The start of the season saw the improvement displayed on the pitch with some crucial goals early in the season, including the winner versus Spurs.  He was influencing gamesby bossing defences and tucking away some nicely taken goals.  He was getting in the danger areas and remaining far calmer than in his first season.

We all know about Giroud’s ability to hold the ball up as well as the fact the majority of his goals are instinctive one touch finishes.  Wenger’s ability to get the best out of players is clearly evident in Giroud and the effectivness of his best attributes is even stronger. The side has been built to use Giroud almost as a wall to bounce the ball off before either scoring themselves, or making the final pass to a team mate. Aaron Ramsey for one, has has largely benefitted from this and it is certainly one reason for his wonderful goal tally this season.

Giroud also started the season off very well in terms of sniffing out the chances and making sure he is in and around the 6 yard box to capitalise.  Thierry Henry explained that Giroud has a different hunger in his eyes to be “the man to make the difference” and referenced to scoring of a crucial goal or being around in the box to at least test the keeper. He found this balance perfectly for the first few months but has gone off the boil of late. At times the hold up play is there but it seems to be more sporadic now, as is the accuracy of his passing. He also seems to be snatching at his chances again oftentimes arriving a bit late on the ball.  Finally, and probably more important fatigue has kicked in.

Giroud and Wenger can state about his physical stature all they like. Any player forced to play up front alone for 90 minutes in every game will tire, let alone one who takes on the physical battles he does.  Wenger took the chance vs Hull to rest Giroud but that is, and will not be enough.  Unfortunately for Giroud, unless Wenger does something special in January, the burden is unlikely to decrease and the fixtures and workload will only increase his fatigue levels and the chance of injury.

While Giroud struggles in front of goal, he will mentally tire as well. When the goals go in, a striker won’t feel the tiredness as much as the adrenaline is there: a few missed chances though and things aren’t quite so rosy.  To be fair to Giroud, he kept battling on Saturday but I have always felt he was the kind of player who can be affected by missing chances.

I rate Giroud highly and his play this year has been crucial to this club’s early season successes.  On the flip side, when he is off colour, we suffer. We have lacked the goalscoring threat of a front man and Theo Walcott will be a massive player for us in the coming months.

Also if our midfield engine isn’t running so well like say against Man United away, the lack of fluidity leads to the likelihood that Giroud won’t make the runs that ultimately lead to the chances or assists he is good for.

The biggest issue for me, and the one cited by the majority of those who criticise Giroud, is that he lacks the clinical nature and firepower that we probably need to win a title.  As I’ve said, I am a big fan and when the other players click, he plays an important part in our play.  However, there will be times when we will need our striker to breach the opposition backline on his own – essentially imposing himself without the help of the midfield.  Unfortunately Giroud lacks pace and doesn’t accelerate away from defenders which limits his ability to go in behind.

Many will claim that we have developed a way of playing that makes Giroud indispensable to the side and a more dynamic player might not have that physical presence, or the link up play to get the best out of the midfield.  To that I have two points.

Firstly, just because you are geared one way, it does not mean someone else can’t adapt to it and then add more. Are you telling me the likes of Suarez, Aguero and Diego Costa to name a few couldn’t embed themselves into the way we like to free midfield players in and around the box? Of course they could and they will score far more, often when a goal is most needed and the intricate play isn’t working.

Another point I’d state is that just because we play one way now, doesn’t make it the most potent. In some games, as I’ve said, our system with Giroud is great and will continue to be. However, in Mesut Ozil we have the best assister in World Football, a guy who can thread a perfect pass from any angle.  If we had a quicker, more dynamic and most importantly – lethal finisher, he would thrive even more.  I also think Cazorla is at his best when looking to find runners rather than play 1-2s and break the lines himself (Santi has missed Poldi and Theo more than anyone).

Imagine Suarez being fed by Ozil and Santi. Wow. You can see why Wenger wanted Suarez in the summer. He didn’t want him to sit on the bench and I think that is telling that Wenger knows what someone of that ilk could do.

In summary, Giroud is a very good striker who contributes effectively for much of the time.  However, there are times when his lack of clinical play are unfortunately not be enough to win us the big games.  If we could add someone of the ilk of Suarez,  – a mobile, clinical finisher – we would have a fantastic and varied strike-force. Finally it gives Giroud a chance to rest and frankly a fresh Giroud is far better than one who is right now on course to be burnt out by February.