Olivier Giroud is a rock… Giroud and Alexis Sánchez are always presumed to be polar opposites of an attacking footballer. While Alexis’ personality is characterized by his pace and prolificacy in front of goal, Giroud cuts a more static figure, and one not as versatile.
However, there are a lot of elements which also make Olivier quite similar to Sánchez. The hard work Giroud puts every game tends to go unnoticed because he’s not as fast as Alexis, but that shouldn’t underrate the sentiment. How many times have we given Theo Walcott leeway for not working hard enough? Even if he seems to be running through cement, at least Giroud makes that effort to run.
Olympiacos had a rather standard game plan – forcing Arsenal to pass back to Petr Čech, and when he hoofed it to Giroud, LCB kept tabs on him and won the ball back. It worked a tick until he scored his first, but even when it seemed to be going awry, it’s a testament to Giroud’s persistent that he was prepared to die trying.
It’s really impressive how Giroud managed to adapt and develop his game to stay in Arsène Wenger’s good books. Arriving as a typically limited target man, he improved his movement behind the channels and flicked his way into Arsenal’s passing system. Out of all the Chamakh’s, Arshavin’s and Adebayor’s, Giroud was determined enough to claw his way back into the fans’ approvals. And, he scored a shitload of goals along the way.
It’s about time we stop getting on Giroud’s back. Crave all you want for a new striker, but don’t belittle Giroud’s contribution to justify that. The Frenchman has managed to dodge serious injuries whilst being overplayed, and never gave up when we cruelly turned our backs on him. Sure, he may miss huge chances in important games, or lie around spent on the pitch too often, but what he has done for us so far surely merits more than a ho-hum.
Joel Campbell isn’t quitting yet… The Costa Rican may yet have his doubters (myself included), but that should not blur the shifts he puts in for us. With the odds stacked against him and players like Danny Welbeck, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and five others ahead of him, many would have given up the ghost. Campbell could easily have treated these run of games as a stint, a brief paradise moment after which he’d move to a more mediocre side matching his talents.
Instead – pleasingly – Campbell is trying to reach the raised bar. It’s unlikely for Joel to have any major future at Arsenal, but his attempts to get there is commendable.
Some may even argue that he has overtaken the Ox. He swapped wings with the Englishman and offered much more. After assisting a Mathieu Flamini crossbar miss, Campbell played a glorious pass to Giroud for his second. Definitely more than what Chamberlain offered, that’s for sure.
He’s hardly my favourite player, but if Campbell keeps his head down and keeps producing, he may warrant as big a nod as Giroud does.
‘Flambo’ need to get in shape… With Francis Coquelin, Santi Cazorla and Mikel Arteta injured for the foreseeable future, Flamini and Aaron Ramsey will find themselves partnered in the center quite frequently. And after how they harmonized in the last couple of games, we’d be reasonable to raise our eyebrows in concern.
It’s no secret that Ramsey’s impatient blitzkrieg in the attacking half of the pitch, means that he combines much better with a composed midfield partner. Flamini is hardly that man. The Frenchman has been bursting onto penalty boxes ever since he scored that wonder goal against Tottenham. Both of them are utterly devoid of composure and it showed, because despite our win, Olympiacos had huge pockets of space in the middle of the park. They enjoyed 49% of the ball, an impressive figure when playing against a team like ours.
Maybe Jack Wilshere’s return post-Christmas could settle the dynamic of our midfield, but for now, Flamini and Ramsey need to work out an arrangement. Or Wenger needs to do it for them.
Theo Walcott looks far from ready… It’s understandable of course, considering his injury. But it doesn’t take a genius to note that Walcott is some way away from touching equilibrium. Consistently anonymous and bewildering at times, he left Hector Bellerin with a lot to do.
Also on a side note, isn’t it about time Bellerin is given a breather? The guy hasn’t been up to scratch lately and has played too many minutes for someone with young legs. How many injuries do we want for the likes of Bellerin, Nacho Monreal, Mesut Ozil and Campbell to be rested?
Our Champions League equation… Look, we’ve done it. We’ve pulled ourselves out of a hidey hole. Finishing second means that we’re likely to face a European giant that could knock us out. If that transpires such, I hope we don’t lie down and call it quits. Our point of competing in the Champions League is not monetary anymore. It’s to face off against the best of the best, and look to usurp them.
We may win the Premier League or otherwise, but considering the problems Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea have, will that truly be a barometer of our progress? If anything, it’s a barometer of how low the league has fallen. Is it unreasonable to hope for a Champions League run in tandem with a title challenge? If anything, making it to the semi-finals of the CL could be more of an achievement than winning the Premier League.
Monday will determine who we’re to face, but the match in February will show how sincerely we take this competition. Will we be lackluster and pull a Monaco, or will we huff and puff until the house blows down? Time will tell.
-Santi [Follow me on Twitter @ArsenalBlogz ]
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