Olivier Giroud is the George Best of the modern era! Well, that would be a tad bit flattering for a man whose first name could easily be mistaken for that of a girl. The French forward was a relative unknown when he first arrived onto the Premier League scene, despite being a Ligue Un winner with Montpellier in his previous season.
Giroud has emerged as one of the most underrated footballers in the league. The towering Frenchman is arguably the best striker in the Premier League with regards to his aerial ability, and he currently boasts a goal a game ratio in the Champions League this season and the best minutes per goal ratio in the league.
So it is surprising that the Real Madrids, Barcelonas, and Leicesters aren’t lining up massive bids for this sensational striker. In a parallel timeline where the business of football was purely based on statistics, and bereft of sensational factors like star value influencing player purchases, the famous ‘Moneyball theory’, Giroud would easily be rubbing shoulders with the top valued strikers in the game.
George Best once famously said, “If I had been born ugly, you would have never heard of Pelé.” Even Wenger might agree that this is embellishing Giroud’s and Best’s ability a bit much. However, I certainly feel the curse of being born with dashing good looks has hindered his credibility as one of the best strikers in the league.
When Arsène Wenger claimed that Giroud is ‘among the best strikers in Europe’, many people rolled their eyes and mistook that for silly banter. However, in the eyes of an educated critic, Giroud has many of qualities of a great striker apart from the fact that he is not the quickest on the pitch. For someone who owns a pair of “Moon boots”, he has an excellent left foot and is a decent finisher on his right as well.
Giroud’s unique role helps Arsenal
He is statistically the best header of the ball in the league. It is his glaring misses and apparent lack of flair that critics are quick to pounce on. Many fail to notice his overall contribution to the team, besides the goals.
Arsène Wenger also mentioned how Giroud works a lot for the team; and that has come to be his biggest asset. He is a vital cog with a unique repertoire of skills that has become one of the mainstays in how the Gunners play. He plays to his strengths, literally, and uses his big frame to hold up play in tight situations.
This proves very pivotal in situations where the chants around the ground are “One-nil to the Arsenal”, and Arsenal are barely hanging onto the lead. Or just long enough to bring Arsenal’s midfield runners into the game. He has an array of flicks and dabs which beautifully link up play with the others around him. And when in synch, it looks like poetry in motion.
He has adapted quite brilliantly to the Arsenal style by making subtle runs to either create small openings for himself or draw defenders away from other midfielders making runs into the box. He doesn’t mind getting his hands dirty as well, always darting back to help out in his defensive duties. He has a key presence in defending set-plays and is usually the one heading countless set piece deliveries away from danger.
Giroud’s strengths are underrated
Olivier Giroud is an inspiration for all, not just footballers in specific. In a time when gifted footballers in the ilk of Mario Balotelli are throwing away their careers, the attitude of players with limited abilities who try to make it work is a breath of fresh air to an audience that is constantly on the lookout for the next feel-good underdog story.
Giroud’s level of confidence and self-belief through the toughest of times should be saluted, analysed, and replicated. His quality to spring back from any situation, not just from professional setbacks, but personal turmoil as well is impressive. ‘I'm rubber you're glue, your words bounce off me and stick to you’, must definitely be his mantra. He has certainly been besieged by a series of hardships, where many footballers would have crumbled under pressure.
This fantastique striker grows by leaps and bounds. It must be hard to don the club shirt and lead the line before a game when you are constantly trying to shut out the negative feedback week in, week out.
Fans are venting their frustration on social media on a daily basis demanding a better striker to replace you, websites are linking Arsenal to every striker on the planet, a certain club legend and idol states that you are not good enough for Arsenal, FIFA gives you the same overall rating as that of Mikel Arteta – hindrances that are reasonably hard to overcome.
The burden of succeeding prolific strikers such as Ian Wright, Thierry Henry and Robin van Persie also takes are difficult to shoulder, broad and sturdy though they may be, People declaring that you are nothing more than a £10 million lamp post would be enough to dampen most people's spirit. Despite all this, to be a hat-trick hero in a do-or-die game in the biggest competition in the world just shows that Giroud is no pushover.
Giroud has impressive determination and self-belief
Giroud is definitely the king of redeeming himself and bouncing back from tough situations. I’m not sure if Giroud listens to Kelly Clarkson, but he must believe the saying “What doesn’t kill you, only makes you stronger”. A broken tibia early last season surely must have been his toughest test at Arsenal.
Sitting out for three months on the sidelines strangely made him a better player. Once he returned, he looked sharper, more determined and considerably more mature. Giroud hit the ground running, slamming in an impressive 17 goals for the season, including 10 in his first 15 games after his return.
Now not many lamp posts can boast of such an impressive scoring spree after an injury.
He never backs down
Playing an international friendly would never be a daunting and anxious task for any footballer, let alone someone who has 40 caps for his country. On 7 September, Giroud had a nightmare of a game against Serbia. He missed a hat-trick of chances and got booed by his own fans who were witnessing the game in Paris. The others as they say, “took to Twitter”.
It seemed as though the whole country had turned its back on Giroud during that game. Coming back to Arsenal, Giroud immediately responded to his critics by coming off the bench in the last 20 minutes against Stoke City and scoring a class goal, which just shows how well Giroud compartmentalises.
There are somethings in life that are certain – death, taxes and Arsenal’s UCL round of 16 exits. During last year’s Champions league knockout game against Monaco, in what can plainly be put down as Giroud's worst night in an Arsenal jersey, coupled with the fact that the Arsenal defence let in three sloppy goals in the Champions League knockout phase against a team that probably merged with Parle to make horrible salty biscuits triggered widespread rage and criticism of the Arsenal forward.
He still claims to be haunted by the events of that night in the Emirates. However, he leapt back immediately by opening the scoring in the very next game against Everton in a crucial league encounter showing the French marksman’s resilience and ability to take criticism. He then went on to score 7 goals in his next 6 appearances.
Giroud strives to be a model example of grit, determination and resolve. This is the tenacity that Wenger acknowledges in Giroud. He certainly has the bit between his teeth and enough steel in my estimate to take Arsenal to the league title come May and, who knows, perhaps even the Holy Grail of football, La Uno for Wenger and Arsenal in Europe.
Giroud needs to continue to learn and evolve; he is not yet quite the finished product. He is taking great strides in that regard and looks to be a solid asset for Arsenal FC in the future. Plus, it’s just an added bonus that he’s that damn gorgeous!
