I’ll certainly give Giroud some credit for longevity, doing a pretty good job at 36 years of age.
1 Like
This is the new “Wenger forced van Persie out” debate.
There will never be an end. People will be arguing about Giroud forever.
And for the record, Wenger didn’t force shit and van Persie is a traitorous bastard bloody
3 Likes
thanks dude
really nice anticipation and acrobatic
great goal
Get over it. This was what, 7/8 years ago? And he wasn’t the sole reason we didn’t do it anyway.
Red card was worth it tbh 
4 Likes
I have to admit that Giroud stint at Milan is making me reassess him a little more.
I do think he’s a better player now than the one we had. He’s more refined and intelligent with the things he does. He moves more intentionally and everything he does on the pitch now is more calculated and precise.
His hold up play is also much better than at Arsenal too. Even at Chelsea you could see he started to improve on the hold up element by actually learning how to effectively play with his back to goal. At Arsenal I always felt like he played with his back to goal and the did a lot of “flick and hope” or “touch and hope” stuff without ever really knowing if it’ll come off.
5 Likes
That’s a great finish. Giroud is brilliant. I didn’t appreciate him at Arsenal but arguably we didn’t play to his strengths.
1 Like
Like others have said in here, I actually give him a lot of props for his Milan stint, particularly at the age he is doing it. Tbh it’s arguably probably the most impressive period of his career.
Main issue I have with him, and its not even directly him, is the way he gets bigged up when what he is doing is more towards “doing a job”.
1 Like
Think that has so much to do with how Wenger played as well. He stopped being an elite coach who improved players dramatically towards the end and started just buying loads of square pegs.
Giroud was never really a “Wenger striker” so when we signed him it always felt like Wenger never really saw him as being the man. Over the years we’d tried Walcott, Welbeck, Podolski and Sanchez ahead of him at striker.
I think his Arsenal legacy is deeply damaged by how prominent a starting role he played for us over such a disappointing time. If Giroud was utilised with world class goal scoring wide men around him you’d appreciate his role as a facilitator more but he wasn’t. If Giroud was used as an alternative option to a world class striker you’d appreciate him more. If Giroud was taught how to be more effective with his back to goal and to play with more intelligence when he distributed the ball he’d probably be viewed rather favourably.
But he was the replacement for RVP so he was never going to be judged by anything other than the otherworldly standards of RVP.
2 Likes
At 23 years Giroud was playing in Ligue 2. He is kind of a late bloomer. improved his game over the past year by year. Was amazing though the season montpellier won the French title 
. Fascinating to see how Giroud’s legacy will be when he hangs out the boots. A late bloomer, touted not as talented as Benzema, , but in terms of international level, Giroud has achieved much success than the former. Benzema has himself for getting bad with that tape scandal . Giroud World Cup, Champions League, Europa League, Premier League, Puskás awards. Great highlights reel goals collection once he retires as well 
.
2 Likes
Think him and any Forward not called Zlatan would have been unlucky being the Van Persie Replacement. Van persie was sold to Man United the same window we signed Giroud, Cazorla and Podolski. Those 2 had a decent first season goal tally. Giroud, Podolski, plus Cazorla scored 34 PL goals, 24 PL assist in their debut PL season. But Van Persie won Utd. The Title . Wenger should have at worst sold Van Persie to Juve. At Least we dis ended the trophy drought in their second season once we Signed Ozil.
3 Likes
His wiki makes good reading tbf
He then joined Arsenal, where he won three FA Cups to help end Arsenal’s nine-year trophy drought, and is the club’s eighteenth-highest all-time goalscorer. Giroud signed for crosstown rivals Chelsea in 2018 in a transfer worth £18 million (€20.7 million), winning the FA Cup, the UEFA Champions League, and the UEFA Europa League, finishing as top goalscorer in the latter in 2019. Giroud then signed for AC Milan in 2021, helping them win the 2021–22 Serie A, which ended the club’s 11-year league title drought.
4 Likes
He ended a lot of droughts. What a man. And that doesn’t even include the World Cup and Puskas! Quite obviously one of the best players of our generation.
2 Likes
PSG need to get him in to end that Champions League wait.
Or Ligue 1 with Montpellier who haven’t won it since!!
2 Likes
You needed to be able to interact with the other attackers to play that centre-forward role for Wenger imo. Just being a good goalscorer wasn’t enough. We like to think putting any old goal-getter upfront wins us titles. The truth is the Wenger centre-forward needed to be a lot more complete. Similar to Suarez and Firmino types. Alexis and Walcott did good impressions at times but they both had their drawbacks.
And that to me is why Giroud was never truly appreciated until he left Arsenal. His first season at Arsenal doomed him as he wasn’t clinical when put in front of the goal although he did show flashes of his touch play. First-year aside he played his role well.
Robert Lewandowski
1 Like
6 Likes
Wenger tried a lot of players, but insisted that lone striker formation was another issue.
Was hoping he’d come home
1 Like
Nah I’m good
2 Likes