Olivier Giroud signed from Montpellier to Arsenal in the summer of 2010. He had been called up to represent France in the Euro’s that same summer and was also being looked at by arguably one of the world’s best clubs, Bayern Munchen, at the time as well. A poor Euro display saw Bayern opt for Mario Mandzukic over Giroud, causing the Frenchman to take his talents to the Red side of North London. Giroud had a rough if not questionable start to his Arsenal career, missing easy chances which one would expect him to put away, especially considering his scoring record in his last season at Montpellier. The Frenchman never fully found his feet in his first season, or at least that was the perception. It was only natural, considering he was still adapting to the Barclay’s Premier League. Regardless of this fact, Giroud found ways to showcase his technical aspects, many of which went unnoticed to the Arsenal fan base, and this is basis from which his game can be looked at. With Robin Van Persie in his time at the club being considered a “9 and a half”, I think it would be fair to call Giroud a 9 and a quarter.
In Van Persie’s time with the Gunners, the false 9 role had become very prominent in football, with the likes of Lionel Messi and to some extent Francesco Totti doing the role great justice. The basis of the position was a Centre Forward that played as a playmaker or number 10 whilst retaining his striking duties. The role is best complimented with two wide forwards, seeing the false 9 drop deeper to potentially create space for the wide men by dragging a Centre Back out of position and allowing them to run inside. To play this role, the forward would need great technical ability and tactical understanding as well as the necessary vision to aid in the build up play of the team. Van Persie didn’t fully see himself as a 9 or 10, calling himself a 9 and a half. He was supposed to be a typical number 9, but due to his different experiences playing wide and as a 10 he knew how to perfectly exploit spaces and drag defenders, while he also dropped deep to help build up play to supplement his immense goal threat. Van Persie’s description of himself was very much similar to that of today’s false 9, with the only difference being this was not necessarily a tactic by Wenger but just Van Persie’s natural style of play. Therefore he was not told to play specific manner as such but did what was necessary per situation he faced. Some days he’d assume false 9 role while others he’d be a poacher. The question is now, how does Giroud tie into all of this?
Any Arsenal fan that has spent time watching Giroud, understands that he uses his physical presence to flick on the ball, the typical English way from long passes. He also uses his body to hold up the ball very well. Where it get’s interesting is the other aspects to Giroud’s hold up play and flick ons. As is commonly said, Giroud, “For a big man, has extraordinary technique”, which can be best seen when playing one twos with the likes of Cazorla, Wilshere, Ramsey and Ozil. He’s adept at quick flicks of the ball and dinked passes. The way the midfield uses Giroud is similar to that of passing the ball off a wall, consistently getting it back, so when Giroud drops a bit deeper, not only does he drag defenders and create spaces for wide players, he also invites the midfield forward and aids the build-up play, allowing himself to be used a wall for passes to be bounces off of and returned to the recipient or in another direction. Now the success rate of this style of play may be questionable considering Giroud’s pass completion rate and key-passes, but his importance to Arsenal’s current system when the is fully fit shouldn’t be questioned. Goal returns are fairly average for Giroud as well, some way off Robin Van Persie again but not the worst. 54 goals in 123 games is a good return, despite his inconsistent finishing, but it is not unfair for Arsenal fans to expect better.
I would argue that Giroud is not an elite finisher, or player for that matter. That could be seen in the first leg of the Champion’s League tie against Monaco, missing clear cut chances that would have seen Arsenal go through. However his response to the scrutiny has been phenomenal. Not only has he redeemed himself with goals but he has also displayed his wide array of technical skills and intelligence. Giroud’s is fantastic at pressing, (scored a few by closing down keepers), and offers midfielders and wide players space to run into as well as being a passing option. He may lack the pace or guile to beat every defender but has good awareness of space in the box, often making the right runs to finish off chances in a poacher-like style. At the beginning of his career at Arsenal, many comparisons to Van Persie were drawn, but these were mostly from a goal scoring point of view, in which I think Giroud is lacking. Yet in overall play, despite arguably being some way off Van Persie technically, he offers similar outlets to the midfield and wide players as RvP as well as aiding significantly in the build up play of the team. If Van Persie was known as Arsenal’s 9 and a half, it’s fair to say Giroud is Arsenal’s 9 and a quarter.
