Time for Arsenal to Revert to Using Olivier Giroud as Their Main Striker

Olivier Giroud did not enjoy a good return to home soil against Paris-Saint Germain in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw on Tuesday night. Back in his native France, he might well have expected to start the game. Instead, he found himself confined to the substitutes’ bench, with Alexis Sanchez preferred in an unfamiliar centre-forward role.

When Giroud did eventually make it on to the field, his most notable contribution was to be sent off for two bookable offences. 

Giroud is still waiting for his first start of the season. When Arsenal travel to Hull this weekend, it is imperative he is restored to the side—without him, Arsene Wenger is struggling to find a functioning attacking formula.

One of the reasons Giroud has not been more involved thus far is, of course, his prolonged participation in Euro 2016. France went all the way to the final, and Giroud played a key role for his country, operating as the pivotal figure around which Antoine Griezmann was able to operate.

It’s a similar function to the one he has served at Arsenal for several years now. Giroud is regularly criticised for his lack of pace, but Wenger has compensated by surrounding him with quicker players. The likes of Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey have seen the benefit of playing with Giroud, feeding off his flick-ons and deft touches.

However, there are limitations to that approach. Starting with Giroud means Arsenal play with a No. 9 who lacks the speed to offer a consistent threat in behind. It hampers their efforts to hit teams on the counter-attack, and it encourages the opposition to sit deep in numbers. Arsenal regularly get locked in a game of pinball, desperately trying to find a way through a sea of defenders by playing a wall-pass off the outnumbered Giroud.

It’s for that reason that Wenger sought to mix things up last season. In the first half of the campaign, he frequently used Theo Walcott as a centre-forward. Once Danny Welbeck returned from injury in February, he too was often preferred to Giroud.

Wenger’s plan was seemingly to develop a more mobile attacking style that would give Arsenal a more varied threat. Both Walcott and Welbeck offered pace and movement in the channels, giving Mesut Ozil a target for his penetrative through balls. Crucially, they enabled Arsenal to become more …

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