Monthly Archives: December 2017

Why Olivier Giroud deserves more playing time at Arsenal

The call for French Forward, Olivier Giroud to start more in the Premier League than in cup competitions seems justified after the striker came off the bench to salvage a vital point for the Arsenal fc against the Saints a few weeks ago and will definitely give manager, Arsene Wenger, a big selection headache as the Gunners travel to London Stadium on Wednesday. As fate would have it, Olivier Giroud started ahead of his compatriot, Alexandre Lacazette, and struggled to make an impact in his first Premier League start in many weeks. Lacazette went on to regain his starting berth against Newcastle, but Giroud got the nod, as he’d always had, in the lower cup competitions when West Ham came to town a few days ago.

The Frenchman has played more of a substitute role since he moved to the Emirates in the summer of 2012 from French side Montpellier for a reported fee of £9.6 million. He has featured majorly in the cup competitions having started every game in the Europa League and the League Cup, and has started only one Premier League game so far, this season having started 13 times from the bench.

The former Montpellier striker has always delivered when called upon and a typical example was when he came off the bench in the FA Cup final last season against Chelsea to assist Aaron Ramsey in scoring the winning goal as the Gunners secured a record-breaking thirteenth FA Cup triumph.

The French international boasts of a Premier League goal per minute ratio every 63 minutes and his goal at the St. Mary’s last weekend saw him equal Ole Gunnar Solksjaer substitute Premier League record of 17 goals from the bench.

Giroud is a regular starter for his National team and has been urged by France Coach, Didier Deschamps, to leave the Emirates in other to get more playing time if he wants to be guaranteed a starting berth at next summer FIFA World Cup in Russia.

His link-up play and aerial presence makes him a big threat in the opposition box and a valuable asset to the Gunners, but if Wenger can’t guarantee him a starting berth, he might heed to the words of Didier Deschamps in other to boost his chances of earning a starting berth for his country in Russia next summer.

The 31-year-old has featured in 21 games for the Gunners in all competitions so far, this season and has scored seven goals. With his current hamstring injury outlay, he certainly would be getting any game time soon, so he can focus on recovering as there would be many more games when his services will be required in the course of the season.

This guest post was written by Patrick from IPC Publishing

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Posted in Arsenal, Football, Premier League

Europa League Preview as BATE Borisov Come to Town

Dec 7

Posted by enigma106

So the Champions League group stage fixtures are over and this time, we will not be scared about playing Bayern Munich or Barcelona for a change. However, we would have to be mindful of the eight teams that have gotten a second chance in Europe via the Europa League. CSKA Moscow, Celtic, Atletico Madrid, Sporting CP, Spartak Moscow, Napoli, RB Leipzig and Borussia Dortmund failed to qualify from their respective groups and would have a keen eye on the draws for the latter stages of the competition.

Arsenal on the other hand had done enough to finish as group winners, despite the fact that they put up a putrid performance against FC Cologne, and that feel-good factor has somewhat faded since that disappointing defeat to Manchester United last weekend but that’s football for you – the games can’t come soon enough.

Wenger would have half an eye on the Southampton game for the weekend, so ideally, he’d want to rest his big guns, allowing the fringe players and youngsters to get another run out in front of the home crowd. I’d expect to see David Ospina again in goal with Petr Cech getting a breather. The Colombian goalie hasn’t covered himself in glory this season, and he has certainly put up some questionable performances this season, but that’s what being a second fiddle goalie gets you these days. With club captain, Per Mertesacker, fit, he’d want to get a run out while the likes of Rob Holding and Calum Chambers would be looking for more chances to impress. I’d be hoping to see Reiss Nelson in a more advanced position than right wing back, and I’m sure that’s not going to happen, with Ainsley Maitland-Niles getting a run out in the unfamiliar left wing back position.

I guess I’d have to brace my eyes for another shite fest from Francis Coquelin and Mohamed Elneny, but with Theo Walcott still ‘ill’, Alex Iwobi and Danny Welbeck should flank Olivier Giroud. After the run of games we had of recent, the loss to Man Utd was like a reality check but the lads actually worked their skins off but couldn’t get past the impressive David de Gea. I don’t expect BATE’s goalie to have that kind of quality.

This is a dead rubber fixture for us in all sense of the word but it’s always nice to get a win under the belt. Let’s hope for a better performance that what we have been witnessing in recent Europe League matches from the Gunners.