Olivier Giroud - Another Alan Smith or "Le Chapman"?

[Its Up 4 Grabs Now]

He looks poor but he's so obviously not suited to playing the lone striker role I'm reluctant to be too critical of him rather than Wenger. If we're gonna persist with 1 up front every single time then surely it's gotta be worth playing Podolski there. Could be reading too much into nothing but he's looked a bit fucked off recently (perhaps at being stuck out wide while Giroud or The Fivehead fuck about up front?) & his defensive work has dropped off alarmingly – which was one of the main benefits of playing him left rather than up top in the first place. Regardless of where his own best position is Podolski looks far and away our best striker and we're more desperate there than out wide. Needs must.

[northbank123]

He was hopeless today and poor by any standards. Drew a great save out of Cesar for the goal but really should have netted it comprehensively, also thought the same where he got a very light flick on just before Cazorla's chance.

That said, regardless of whether or not he's good enough he clearly isn't a lone striker in a game like this. Either stop with the fucking same negative formation every game or don't sign players who are not suited to us. Either way we're stuck with the current squad until January at least so to get the most out of it Wenger needs to stop being so fucking tactically rigid and generally useless.

[goonersid]

He got no service today, I can't fault his effort, unfortunately he just ain't good enough.

[SteveO 35]

He was hopeless today and poor by any standards. Drew a great save out of Cesar for the goal but really should have netted it comprehensively, also thought the same where he got a very light flick on just before Cazorla's chance.

That said, regardless of whether or not he's good enough he clearly isn't a lone striker in a game like this. Either stop with the fucking same negative formation every game or don't sign players who are not suited to us. Either way we're stuck with the current squad until January at least so to get the most out of it Wenger needs to stop being so fucking tactically rigid and generally useless.

Exactly right. The reason why RvP was so exceptional was that he managed to make this sorry formation work for the Self Harmer. There are probably less than 10 strikers in world football with the ability to do that. Look at the goals Van Persie conjured up from nothing last season - the 2-2 leveller against the Spuds being one such important example. If anyone thinks Giroud has the ability to do that they are kidding themselves and nobody else

[DarylAFC]

He was hopeless today and poor by any standards. Drew a great save out of Cesar for the goal but really should have netted it comprehensively, also thought the same where he got a very light flick on just before Cazorla's chance.

That said, regardless of whether or not he's good enough he clearly isn't a lone striker in a game like this. Either stop with the fucking same negative formation every game or don't sign players who are not suited to us. Either way we're stuck with the current squad until January at least so to get the most out of it Wenger needs to stop being so fucking tactically rigid and generally useless.

Exactly right. The reason why RvP was so exceptional was that he managed to make this sorry formation work for the Self Harmer. There are probably less than 10 strikers in world football with the ability to do that. Look at the goals Van Persie conjured up from nothing last season - the 2-2 leveller against the Spuds being one such important example. If anyone thinks Giroud has the ability to do that they are kidding themselves and nobody else

Thing is no one, not even Giroud himself, has ever claimed he's the new RvP. It's unfair to expect him to be.

Wenger needs to realise that Giroud is not RvP. Stop playing him as a lone striker (partner him up with podolski?)

[Eboue-Why?]

He was hopeless today and poor by any standards. Drew a great save out of Cesar for the goal but really should have netted it comprehensively, also thought the same where he got a very light flick on just before Cazorla's chance.

That said, regardless of whether or not he's good enough he clearly isn't a lone striker in a game like this. Either stop with the fucking same negative formation every game or don't sign players who are not suited to us. Either way we're stuck with the current squad until January at least so to get the most out of it Wenger needs to stop being so fucking tactically rigid and generally useless.

Exactly right. The reason why RvP was so exceptional was that he managed to make this sorry formation work for the Self Harmer. There are probably less than 10 strikers in world football with the ability to do that. Look at the goals Van Persie conjured up from nothing last season - the 2-2 leveller against the Spuds being one such important example. If anyone thinks Giroud has the ability to do that they are kidding themselves and nobody else

Thing is no one, not even Giroud himself, has ever claimed he's the new RvP. It's unfair to expect him to be.

Wenger needs to realise that Giroud is not RvP. Stop playing him as a lone striker (partner him up with podolski?)

Giroud will always give you 100% and he'll also give flick ons and the occasional shot but he does remind me of Andy Carroll but maybe not as good in the air. We are never gonna be a team that feeds off flick ons unless we revert to 4-4-2 and have someone like Walcott running behind for the flick...never gonna happen in a million years. Therefore I hope I'm wrong but he could be another wrong signing.

[donaldo]

Maybe Giroud thinks he is RVP.He actually took a free kick 10 yards outside the box yesterday

[Henry Norris 1913]

was andy carroll ever top scorer in any top european domestic leagues?

I don't remember it could be wrong

[SteveO 35]

So whether we rate Giroud or not, we're in violent agreement on one thing - the fella can not be played as a lone striker.

So who does that leave to point the finger at. This was our main summer signing and here we are a few weeks into a new season able to see what the bloke who has worked in football for 30 years can't see?

Chamakh is not good enough for that role, nor is Walcott, nor is Gervinho. So we have 4 strikers all incapable of playing as a lone striker and we persist with it. And this is the product of a manager who people fear we'll never be able to replace adequately.

If you're Rooney, RvP, Tevez or Ronaldo you can play up front on your own - pace, an ability to turn a defender on a sixpence and leave him for dead, tenacious, physically strong and with the ability to create a goal from nothing. So if we're going to play that way, how the fuck are we ever going to get it to work when we shop in the discount bin.

Top strikers are worth £25m+ for a reason - they win you matches on their own. We are trying to play with a formation that requires a world beater up front and filling it with no-marks that have had one good season in the French league (and that applies equally to Park and Chamakh before Olivier's Army get all uppity again)

[SteveO 35]

was andy carroll ever top scorer in any top european domestic leagues?

I don't remember it could be wrong

So on that basis Kevin Phillips is a world beater then......

[Clash]

Maybe Giroud thinks he is RVP.He actually took a free kick 10 yards outside the box yesterday

One thing Giroud did okay yesterday was a couple of defensive headers in our own box. What with Vermalaen's tendency to irresponsibly bomb forward and also with him being incresingly dodgy at the back, maybe the 2 of them should swap positions?

We all know Wenger likes to find new positions for players. t's no more crazy an idea than putting Bendnter on the right wing! Or Mannone as goalkeeper!

[Clash]

was andy carroll ever top scorer in any top european domestic leagues?

I don't remember it could be wrong

True. But calling the French league a top league is somewhat generous. And as Carroll has never played in it achieivng top score there is a bit tricky.

[DarylAFC]

So whether we rate Giroud or not, we're in violent agreement on one thing - the fella can not be played as a lone striker.
So who does that leave to point the finger at. This was our main summer signing and here we are a few weeks into a new season able to see what the bloke who has worked in football for 30 years can't see?

Chamakh is not good enough for that role, nor is Walcott, nor is Gervinho. So we have 4 strikers all incapable of playing as a lone striker and we persist with it. And this is the product of a manager who people fear we'll never be able to replace adequately.

If you're Rooney, RvP, Tevez or Ronaldo you can play up front on your own - pace, an ability to turn a defender on a sixpence and leave him for dead, tenacious, physically strong and with the ability to create a goal from nothing. So if we're going to play that way, how the fuck are we ever going to get it to work when we shop in the discount bin.

Top strikers are worth £25m+ for a reason - they win you matches on their own. We are trying to play with a formation that requires a world beater up front and filling it with no-marks that have had one good season in the French league (and that applies equally to Park and Chamakh before Olivier's Army get all uppity again)

Yes. Thing is it's unfair on him really. He has well and truly been dropped in the deep end. We're a club in crisis, going down the shitter and lost the best player we've had for years.

He will never replace RvP. I know that. You know that. He knows that. Why does Wenger not see this?!?

I do rate Giroud. I think he's a good player and needs a good run of games before we see him at his best. But we do need another striker. He needs to be quick, our lack of pace is worrying. But he can't be like Walcott (basically, shit.)

[northbank123]

I like Giroud a lot because he works fucking hard every game and you can see how much he wants to succeed. In a way it's irrelevant whether or not he was good enough for us to sign because he's our only out-and-out striker until at least Christmas and probably longer.

Somebody raised the situation of Carroll above and I think there are similarities: at the end of the day they clearly both have the potential to be effective but clearly won't be if they're played in a system that asks them to perform a role they're not equipped to. In my view the only way we could have sought to justify continuing with this dead system is if we had kept RvP or signed Falcao. That's how difficult that role up top is. It makes it so easy for teams to set up negatively against us at our place and make it difficult, and has done for years. Thankfully Southampton were living in their fantasy world where they think it's a good idea to play an expansive game against everybody, but other than that we've struggled to score.

TWO UP FRONT.

[SteveO 35]

He will never replace RvP. I know that. You know that. He knows that. Why does Wenger not see this?!?

I do rate Giroud. I think he's a good player and needs a good run of games before we see him at his best. But we do need another striker. He needs to be quick, our lack of pace is worrying. But he can't be like Walcott (basically, shit.)

And this is the issue with Wenger - his complete inability to send out a team and maximise the sum of its parts. I'm sure deep down even Tony Pulis would like to send his team out and play like Barcelona, sweeping all before them. But whilst they can attract Crouch but not David Villa, and Geoff Cameron rather than Xavi, they play to a system that suits their players.

Martin O'Neill is another manager that makes the most of the players he can attract whether its Wycombe Wanderers or Celtic, and David Moyes whether is Preston North End or Everton.

Wenger seems absolutely intent on trying to emulate Barcelona or Spain regardless of the fact that we have Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud. Barca can get away with playing the likes of Song and Mascherano in defence because most of the time their possession is of such a high quality that they never get exposed. Pique looked ***** at Old Trafford but people talk about him like Beckenbauer these days. Johan Djourou would probably look OK playing in their defence most of the time

Now that we don't have one of the individually great strikers in world football at the club, surely he needs to see that he needs to get Podolski playing closer to a front man. Fuck me he is even starting to make him look shit, as he's now almost a deep defensive midfielder given that Santos is incapable of playing left back (anyone noticed how Podolski was fine with Gibbs there but now looks crap with Fatty behind him)

A good manager would line up the formation to suit the players, not the other way round. And if this 4-5-1 formation really is the way you want to play regardless of the oppo, then for fuck sake spend £25m on a guy that might have half a chance of playing that role effectively