Arsenal 2-0 Stoke - Match Reaction

[Penguin]

But isn't this a problem we have with Giroud as well? See the West Ham game. We tried to adopt the same concept with Chamakh where we're bouncing passes off him like a wall to bring in our midfield players. That didn't work either. It's a flawed gameplan and why I have doubts about signing a Costa, Cavani or Benzema if we were still to approach games like this. They'd be an upgrade but they don't play in teams that play this style, they don't have that explosive burst or agility so I often wonder if they'd have the same problems. They're too big and bulky. I can only see an RVP, Tevez, Aguero or Suarez type that would suit our play.

I would say that's a problem of Giroud not being good enough rather than the gameplan being wrong. The reason why we get this tippy tappy back and forth is because that's the only way Giroud knows how to play. There's no variety to his play, he'll always knock it back to the closest midfielder with his first touch. If he mixed it up a bit by taking a touch and turning a defender he would automatically get more room because the defenders would be scared of that. But he doesn't so they get as tight as they want to him.

That takes me back to my second paragraph above. Basically we need a more complete striker rather than specialists with big weaknesses or gaps in their skill-sets.

We can't get any of those so the next solution is to develop a player. If we won't use Sanchez in that role, then at least give Theo a shot and sharpen him up. You may get the games like Newcastle or Chelsea this season but you may also get the other Newcastle results where he scores a hat trick or the West Brom game. It's better than nothing and as Wenger said himself....

And that's how they played. It was compact and tight but we created chances and it's encouraging to hear that he's seeing things differently or trying something new. Theo was finding the little pockets of space and that's something we won't get from a striker like Giroud. Giroud's role is to hold the ball up so players like Ramsey, Ozil, Cazorla and Wilshere find the small pockets of space. But when those guys are firing blanks or looking for Giroud to find space we get this tippy tappy back and forth. We can't really sacrifice a striker just in hope that players like Ozil and co will find their shooting boots. Even Ramsey is getting deployed on the right simply because Wenger wants him find space to get a shooting opportunity. He makes smart runs but there has to be another way.

True. I do actually want to see Theo get a run in the team. He's a breath of fresh air after having to watch Giroud for so long.

[Power n Glory]

I would say that's a problem of Giroud not being good enough rather than the gameplan being wrong. The reason why we get this tippy tappy back and forth is because that's the only way Giroud knows how to play. There's no variety to his play, he'll always knock it back to the closest midfielder with his first touch. If he mixed it up a bit by taking a touch and turning a defender he would automatically get more room because the defenders would be scared of that. But he doesn't so they get as tight as they want to him.

That takes me back to my second paragraph above. Basically we need a more complete striker rather than specialists with big weaknesses or gaps in their skill-sets.



True. I do actually want to see Theo get a run in the team. He's a breath of fresh air after having to watch Giroud for so long.

Totally agree on Giroud's limitations and it can be so frustrating to watch. It's why the stat about him scoring on his first touch is interesting and highlights how much he depends on service. You're also right about him knocking the ball back with his first touch instead of trying to turn a man and it does allow defenders to close him down and get tight with ease. He acts more like a screen/blocker for our smaller midfielders rather than a striker. We need someone better.

But we also need variety in our play. It's been said before Giroud arrived; we won't always be able to pass the ball into the back of the net. We've had games where Henry struggled as the loan striker, Ade, RVP....on occasions they'd sometimes come up with the magic but it won't always happen. The best run we had in CL was when we weren't trying to pulverize our opponents with impressive possession stats. We sat back, soaked up the pressure and just countered. We returned to that against City last season and it would be good to see more of that approach from other teams. Or at least if we're trying to dominate possession in our opponents half we at least press hard to win the ball back like that time we played Chelsea and put 4 or 5 pass them. I think we need to come away from this one side fits all model. That's down to the manager to fix.