Why Oliver Giroud Is Still Important To Arsenal Despite Alexis Sanchez's Rich Form This Season.
By Ewah Chika.
Arsenal are once again playing impressive football with the results to match and one of the reason for that is the change in style by manager Arsene Wenger.
This season, Wenger has gone back to the tried and trusted quick and energetic free flowing football in the opponents final third. This was the system, the French man utilised during the glory days with the likes of Dennis Bergkamp, Freddie Ljunberg, Robert Pires, Sylvain Wiltord and Thierry Henry. This style was quickly abandoned for a slow passing style following the exit of the aforementioned players and their replacements with the likes of Oliver Giroud, Gervinho, Mesut Ozil and Danny Welbeck to mention but a few.
Wenger persisted with this new slow system for years even though it yielded only two FA Cup's in 12 years. This season, the Frenchman appears to have realised his mistakes, signing quick and energetic forward Lucas Perez from Deportivo La Caruna and restoring Alexis Sanchez to his preferred position upfront as the lone striker. Sanchez in return has scored five goals providing two assists in eight games so far in the league. This wasn't the only change as Mesut Ozil has also moved to his favourite No 10 position slightly behind the lone striker (Sanchez) which was formerly Sanchez's position as Giroud played upfront. Such has been the success of this new style that Arsenal white washed Antonie Conte's Chelsea 3-0 outplaying them and making a mockery of the Italian's defence on the day. With Alex Iwobi and Theo Walcott in the wings, Arsenal have played fast paced passing game coupled with the quick thinking required to finish off their opponents. As a result, the attacking players exhibit the fluidity required to beat even the most compact of defences as the attackers interchange positions intermittently making it difficult for defenders to mark them.
Although this system has come with improved results, just like every other football system it failed during the Gunners last league game with Burnley, a game the North London side needed an injury time hand ball from Laurent Koscielny to win . What this means is that though the quick attacking pattern can win games against attacking teams, the system becomes easier for defensive minded teams. This is because, against teams set-up to play defensively deep, Arsenal attackers are afforded little or no space to operate. As Dyche's Burnley showed, Arsenal attackers are not the type to operate in closed spaces as the likes of Walcott, Ozil and Sanchez need space to flourish.
Based on this, it becomes imperative that Oliver Giroud is not discarded entirely by the club as he thrives in such packed situations considering his impressive lay-off, hold-up play and aerial prowess. Although he isn't dazzling to watch, Giroud has that ability to draw defenders to himself thus freeing up his attacking team mates.
With more than 31 games to go before season end, both of Giroud , Perez and Sanchez must realise none is a guaranteed starter as both have their various roles depending on the opposition.
For now, Arsene Wenger must rally and rotate his squad especially the attackers in such a way that each player plays to the team's strength as anything less than that will end up an uneventful year for the club and fans alike.
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