Tim Charlesworth
The Goonersphere is once again an unhappy place (and nowhere is it quite as determinedly unhappy as the comments section of Online Gooner). Gooners the world over have been sharing their ‘grumps’ on various forms of social media and websites. As despair grips us (again) we are a wondrously miserable lot.
Ever the contrarian, I am determined to find something nice to write about: Olivier Giroud has been the recipient of a surprising amount of ire, and I want to stand up for him. I suppose that there are a number of causes of the criticism:
1. Giroud has often been the lightning rod for our frustration – our big problem over the last few years is that we have been good, but not quite good enough – and Giroud is a player who neatly encapsulates this problem.
2. A striker is the ‘public face’ of the team. Partly, this is because he is conspicuous as the one most likely to score a goal (which is the objective of the game after all), and partly because the striker is genuinely the most important player in the team – that’s why they are more expensive, and why the most famous players are generally 9s or 10s.
3. Sanchez has become our favourite player. Not only is he good, but he also wears his heart on his sleeve. He is particularly popular with those who believe that the players are not giving 100% effort, as this is not an accusation which any reasonable person could levy against Alexis (who positively exudes manic determination). Alexis is just about the only person involved in Arsenal FC who has the universal respect of fans. In the last three games, Giroud has rather surprisingly displaced Alexis from the Centre Forward position, and we are not very happy about this.
4. Giroud’s enthusiastic (and presumably pre-planned) goal celebration against Bournemouth, whilst not a great crime, was both eye-catching and ill-advised in the circumstances.
All this gloom seems to have hidden a rather extraordinary purple patch from our much maligned striker. Let’s consider what Olivier has done in the last three games (his only three league starts of the season, remember)
1. 26th December, WBA home. We won 1-0 thanks to an 87th minute goal from Giroud. This goal was a truly exceptional header, pinpointed into the top corner under severe physical pressure from a defender.
2. 1st January, Palace, home. Olivier scored one of the most elegant Arsenal goals of all-time. It wasn’t in a final, or against a top team, so it won’t be remembered as a truly great goal (like George’s daisy cutter; Thomas’ scrappy chip; or Sunderland’s tap-in), but for pure skill, it was wonderful. It capped a sublime passing move, begun in our penalty area, of which Giroud’s own backheel was the other highlight.
3. 3rd January, Bournemouth, away. An injury time equaliser, after assisting the previous two goals to get us back from 3-0 down as well! It was another exceptionally difficult and accurate header, delivered under physical and emotional pressure.
The WBA goal was worth two points, as it converted a draw into a win – this is the highest value that a single goal can possibly deliver. The Palace goal, amongst its other merits, undoubtedly changed the match in our favour, and the Bournemouth goal was worth another point. Three starts, three goals - and no ordinary goals either, neither in terms of the skills delivered, nor the importance to the match. He had been pretty good coming off the bench too, for the rest of the season. This is about as good as it’s possible for Olivier Giroud to be. He has been a hard working faithful servant to Arsenal, in a difficult period of our history. Unlike most modern players, he has resisted the urge to undermine the club by opining publicly on his frustrations, and this must have been particularly hard this season when he didn’t start in the league before Christmas.
To be honest, I am not generally an admirer of the ‘big centre forward’. Give me Brady, Rocky or Ozil any day, over Stapleton, Smith or Giroud. Nonetheless, I can’t help but admire the skill and athleticism required to score the WBA and Bournemouth goals. Heading the ball precisely under pressure like that is something I could never master with any reliability on a football pitch, and anyone who has tried it will appreciate how difficult it is. A lot of it is about physical prowess, both height and bulk, but don’t underestimate the difficulty of timing the jump and controlling your body in the air to reliably meet a fast moving ball. Giroud has many shortcomings, but I think he is the best attacker of the ball in the air in the Premiership. His skill reminds me a bit of John Terry and Nemanja Vidic in their prime, two exceptional aerial presences. It may not be my cup of tea, but it’s damn fine tea nonetheless.
What exactly has Giroud got to do, to earn the respect and admiration of Arsenal fans? He can only work with the gifts that nature gave him, which were height and strength, rather than pace; agility; or a Mesutic first-touch. It’s not his fault that times are hard at Arsenal, or that the manager played him in a position that people want to see Sanchez in.
It has been an incredible couple of weeks for Giroud, one that he is unlikely to ever repeat. So let’s all say, without agenda or prejudice, ‘well done Olivier and thanks’, bravo, good show: “na-na-na-na-na-na-na” to you, with bells on.
Twitter@TimC1972
Tim is the author of “It’s Happened Again” available on Amazon in both print and Kindle versions. Read a sample chapter at www.itshappenedagain.com
