Is Olivier Giroud really a £12 million 'flop'

Arsenal are having an indifferent season this year with very inconsistent form in the league, at times they look like world beaters whilst at other times they look like a mediocre team heading for a relegation scrap.

Long gone are the glory days of Arsenal seven years since they last won a trophy and it's been a while since they even challenged. Wenger is trying to rebuild a team that can challenge for the league and he has some good young players with potential however they have become a club that has had to sell their best players to buy new players in recent times. This frustrating process has led to some very discontent Arsenal fans who are becoming impatient with the lack of success at the club. Many fans are still scorned by the transfer of their captain and talismanic striker Robin Van Persie to rivals Manchester United who this season has carried on where he left off with the Gunners scoring for fun at United.



Giroud leading the line against Sunderland
Image:http://www.flickr.com/photos/ronmacphotos/7810895894/

This brings me on to the man who has had to carry the weight of being Van Persie's replacement on his shoulders, Olivier Giroud signed from last years Ligue 1 winning side Montpellier for a fee believed to be around 12 million pounds. He looked like a good prospect and a welcome addition at the club previously scoring 21 goals as he led his side to the league title in France. Of course at this point Van Persie was still at the club and everything looked rosy for the Gunners, that was until the Dutchman departed for United.

Giroud was immediately lumbered with the expectation of being in the same class as Van Persie and fans expected him to bag the same amount of goals as RVP as well as creating chances for those around him in the same way his predecessor did. However coming to play in a more physical league like the Premiership Giroud was always going to need time to adapt and learn the English game.

He struggled for the first couple of months with very inconsistent performances missing some easy chances but at the same time he also showed some ability in flashes, in particular against West Ham in October where he scored his first premiership goal and also set up Theo Walcott to score in the teams 3-1 win. He was constantly being compared to Van Persie in his first two months at the club though and despite showing some talent fans bemoaned his inconsistency and a minority of Arsenal fans and fans of other teams in the league rather unfairly labelled the Frenchman 'a flop' without giving him time to prove himself.

Following a good run in the side over the Christmas period Giroud has started to improve dramatically on his early season form and his first touch, passing, movement and finishing have all improved as he has learnt more about the English game. He is slowly starting to show Arsenal fans what he can produce scoring a brace in their 7-3 win over Newcastle at the end of December he scored another two goals against West Ham in a 5-1 victory on the 23rd January and most recently scoring another brace in a man of the match performance against Brighton in the FA cup 4th round.

I think that Giroud is obviously a very talented striker who has just taken time to adapt to Arsenal's playing style as well as having to learn to deal with the physicality of the Premiership. He was just unfortunate that he arrived at the club as one of Arsenals greatest strikers of the modern era departed. The comparisons and expectations of him were unfair and I think that fans that labelled him a flop are actually more upset with the club for the lack of success and allowing their biggest asset RVP to go and they took those frustrations out on the Frenchman.

It is understandable that fans are sick of being told to be patient as Wenger tries to build a team as every time he seems to be getting somewhere he loses one of his key players like Fabregas, Nasri or Van Persie and he has to try and find replacements and start again.

Fans can't expect immediate success that the likes of Manchester City and Chelsea have experienced as they simply don't have the funds to keep up with them and that is the harsh reality of the Premier league. The club obviously backs Wenger though who is trying to create something on a stable base without putting the club at financial risk which is admirable in this modern era.

Arsene Wenger has highlighted Olivier Giroud to have some quality's that Arsenal legend Alan Smith also possessed, he may be some way off that standard, but in my opinion Arsenal have good a striker who is very good technically and he can finish chances well. He proved this with his stunning first goal against Brighton over the weekend. Arsenal fans can surely take comfort in the fact that he is beginning to improve and they will be hoping that this upward curve can continue for the striker and with patience they will hope to be rewarded with 20+ goals a season from Giroud as he leads the Gunners line.