It’s been three years since Olivier Giroud joined Arsenal and on Monday evening, the Frenchman will be reaching an important milestone in his Arsenal career, making 100 appearances for the team.
Before I start talking about Arsenal’s “pretty boy”, it’s important to mention that the striker has achieved a remarkable feat which was only surmounted by three other players in Arsenal history: he has scored 42 goals in 99 Premier League appearances for the club, only Thierry Henry, Ian Wright and Emmanuel Adebayor hit more.
Olivier Giroud is known for his size, physical style of play, heading ability, shot power, strength and link-up play. He is also really good at holding up the ball and distributing it to his teammates in the most elegant of manners.
The 28-year-old has had a love-hate relationship with the fans from the moment he stepped onto the Emirates pitch. One week, he’s the striker Arsenal always needed and is a Gunner through and through. The next Saturday, he’s not good enough and should stick to modeling.
Of course, this is a case for many players since the Gunners’ style of playing often creates criticism; there is an inconsistency and instability to the form of the Arsenal team as a whole. As we have seen in the past, sometimes they look like title winners, and sometimes they are played off the park at home.
But what is so special with Olivier Giroud’s situation is that because of the trust Arsene Wenger has placed in him, they lack quality depth in his position. Danny Welbeck is the other striker on the books at the moment, but is currently out due to an injury. When he returns, his squad position will be evaluated further – however, so far at the Emirates, Welbeck has failed to prove himself and Giroud has been the man upfront in Arsenal’s attacking line.
Sure, Giroud has been poor sometimes, but he is not as bad as some fans say he is. Let’s review the highlights of Giroud’s career ever since he’s moved to north London.
Giroud was the Ligue 1 top scorer with 21 goals in the 2011/2012 season, gifting Montpellier – his club at the time – their first ever league title. He then moved to Arsenal for an estimated £9.6m.
He scored his first goal for Arsenal on 26 September, in a 6–1 win against Coventry City in the League Cup. His first Premier League goal was the equaliser in a 3–1 win against West Ham, in which he also assisted a Theo Walcott goal. Giroud continued to impress in his first season, scoring important goals against the likes of Tottenham and Liverpool and added many important assists to his name.
The Arsenal fans even rewarded the player when they created a chant mimicking The Beatles’ “Hey Jude”, a true show of their admiration. The Frenchman ended his first season in an Arsenal shirt with 17 goals and 11 assists in 47 appearances. Not a bad start for someone who’s accused of being a flop day in day out.
The 28-year-old produced another impressive campaign the next season and scored 22 goals, five more than his first season with the club. After a strong pre-season, he scored in each of the Gunners’ opening four league games. He also netted crucial strikes away at Newcastle and Aston Villa during a busy festive period and contributed to Arsenal’s run to the FA Cup final with goals in the victories over Coventry City and Everton. His goal was also the winner against Tottenham. The season ended with Arsenal lifting their first piece of silverware in nine years.
The 2014/2015 campaign is where Giroud shined and really started to silence his critics. Giroud started the season by scoring the third goal in Arsenal’s 3-0 win against Manchester City in the 2014 Community Shield, a 25-yard shot which goalkeeper Willy Caballero couldn’t stop, thus winning Giroud’s second title for Arsenal. Shortly after scoring the equaliser in a 2–2 draw against Everton on 22 August, he was ruled out for four months after breaking his left tibia.
Giroud returned to action quicker than expected, and he came back strong. He scored Arsenal’s only goal in the 1-2 home defeat against Manchester United. He continued to prove he was a “big game player” when he scored once again against City, in the 2-0 win at the Etihad, the win that arguably turned the tables for Arsenal that season, preceding that incredible run of victories in the second half of the season. He helped Arsenal once again in the FA Cup when he scored two goals in the space of three minutes as Arsenal defeated Middlesbrough 2–0 to reach the quarter-finals of the FA Cup.
However, Giroud got a lot of stick for his performance during the 3–1 shocking defeat against Monac,o when he missed several good chances before being subbed, 60 minutes into the game. Four days later, Giroud’s glorious run came. He scored against Everton and kept up his fine form by netting goals against Queens Park Rangers, West Ham United, AS Monaco & two against Newcastle United.
As a result of that, Giroud was announced as the Premier League Player of the month for March, alongside his compatriot, the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger who won Manager of the Month. Giroud continued to shine and scored the fourth goal for his team in the scrumptious 4-1 home win against Liverpool and Arsenal’s fourth goal after appearing as a substitute in the team’s 4–0 FA Cup final victory over Aston Villa at Wembley Stadium.
This season, former players, pundits, and fans have been ravaging Giroud by blaming him of not being good enough and saying that if Arsenal really want to win a title, they should sign a striker of an even higher caliber. The Frenchman’s first-touch bicycle kick against Crystal Palace last week was delightful and is maybe a sign that this will finally be the season where Giroud crosses the 20 league goals milestone.
