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New role for Giroud?
- Updated: November 1, 2016
Alexis Sanchez has usurped Olivier Giroud as Arsenal’s first-choice striker but the Frenchman still has an important role to play for the Gunners, writes Nick Wright…
Arsene Wenger could not have asked for more from Olivier Giroud against Sunderland on Saturday. The striker turned a potentially nervous finale into a procession for Arsenal, scoring with each of his first two touches after coming off the bench for his first Premier League appearance in a month.
They were “two great finishes”, according to Sky Sports pundit Thierry Henry. Giroud showed predatory instincts when he hooked Kieran Gibbs’ low cross into the net for the first, and he demonstrated aerial strength for the second, glancing Mesut Ozil’s corner over Sunderland goalkeeper Jordan Pickford from an acute angle.
It was a welcome return for a player who has been a frustrated spectator for much of the season. Giroud has played just 123 minutes for Arsenal so far. He is yet to start a single game after a slow return to fitness following Euro 2016, and his goals against Sunderland were his first of the campaign.
It’s unfamiliar territory for Giroud. Incredibly, the Frenchman played in 89 per cent of Arsenal’s Premier League games in his first four seasons at the club, missing just 17 fixtures out of 152. He has attracted plenty of criticism and there have been brief periods out of the team, but for the most part he has been Wenger’s first-choice striker ever since Robin van Persie’s departure in 2012.
That’s changed this season. Wenger’s decision to use Alexis Sanchez through the middle …
