Is Olivier Giroud a good enough striker to help Arsenal win the Premier League title? And the simple options are either yes or no:

There has been a lot of debate recently about the quality of Olivier Giroud, sparked by his below par performance against Monaco in the first leg of that Champions League tie. Then it reignited when Thierry Henry said that Arsenal’s spine needed strengthening in the summer if they wanted to win the biggest trophies, such as the Premier League trophy and Champions League.

There’s no doubt we need a world class goalkeeper, and despite the impressive performances of Francis Coquelin, we could do with another defensive midfielder to help with the 50 odd games we have in a season. It would be unfair to ask Le Coq to perform week in, week out over an entire season.

In midfield and attack we are fully stocked, with Coquelin, Ramsey, Wilshere, Cazorla, Özil, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Theo Walcott and Alexis Sanchez – then we have Rosicky, Diaby, Arteta and Flamini to add depth to the squad.

So it is up front where we are struggling. We only have two recognised ‘centre forwards’; Danny Welbeck is an excellent team player who works hard and grafts for the team, and Olivier Giroud is our main target man.

So the big question is do we have a striker who can score 25 plus goals a season? One thing we’ve missed over the last two seasons (three arguably) is a forward who can score goals on a regular basis, and also make the difference in tight games.

Robin van Persie, Emmanuel Adebayor and Thierry Henry were the last strikers to score more than 25 goals in a season (with all three managing to score close to – if not more than – 30 goals in a single season). They all also scored in big games, finding the net against sides like Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City.

Olivier Giroud’s performances against the big sides have been okay, but there is evidence that he doesn’t score in the big games – and these are the games that matter. He didn’t score in the FA Cup final last season, he didn’t score at Old Trafford (twice) even though he had a host of chances, and hasn’t scored against Chelsea or Tottenham. He did score against Liverpool and Manchester City away however.

The game last weekend at Old Trafford was particularly frustrating. Granted, Manchester United had more of the game in the first half but Arsenal did well to get themselves back into the game in the second, playing with more confidence and taking the game to the home side. We found ourselves in a lot more attacking positions and Giroud wasted three good opportunities to score. Take one of those and we would have come home with all 3 points.

I am not questioning his commitment and effort, but the fact is Olivier Giroud is limited in areas such as finishing. I love the guy, but you can’t help think that a more clinical striker would give Arsenal something more and push us on to the biggest honours. I realise that it’s not so black and white – he is an excellent target striker who holds the ball up well for example – but I do feel he is holding the team back.

He’s never professed to be a world class striker and when I watch Arsenal you can see Özil getting frustrated at not having a world class forward to feed in. Özil is the assist master and someone who will create chance after chance after chance. At Real Madrid, he had a lightening fast warrior in Cristiano Ronaldo to feed and that team used to score a ridiculous amount of goals. With Olivier Giroud in the team, you feel that we are not maximising the talents of our most expensive player.

So do you think Olivier Giroud is good enough to get us to the biggest honours? Or do we need a better striker?

Cast your vote and leave your thoughts in the comments section below!

Just like when I successfully predicted that Falcao will be a flop at Manchester United and Danny Welbeck would shine at Arsenal, I can guarantee that the man of the moment Raheem Sterling will NEVER join Arsenal.

The reasons he would never come to Arsenal are numerous, but here are the five main ones:

1. He’s a loudmouth

He doesn’t shut up does he? When Liverpool offered him £100,000 a week, he came out and conducted a lengthy and unauthorised interview with the BBC about how he wasn’t all about the money and just wanted to win trophies. The interview was close to 30 minutes long (28 minutes to be exact) and I have unfortunately had the misfortune to watch it all. It’s basically Sterling being advised to go on the charm offensive, rattling off from a crib sheet to try and improve his then damaged reputation. It didn’t work and he ended up being slated by the fans and by the press.

Arsene likes loyal players who respect the club and manager, so people like Sterling who start mouthing off whenever they feel like is something Arsenal will want to avoid.

2. His agent / advisor seems like a lovely bloke

Sterling’s representative Aidy Ward conducted an interview with the Evening Standard and make things worse, clearly trying to drive a wedge between the player and the club (as well as the Liverpool fans). He came out and said he didn’t care about the club and their image, and apparently called Jamie Carragher a “knob”.

He said a few other slightly controversial things and because of this there’s no way Arsene Wenger would entertain a player and agent like that. It’s more trouble than it’s worth and Arsene is known to like a harmonious dressing room. It’s the same reason he didn’t take a punt on Mario Balotelli when he was available last summer.

3. He’s unproven at the top level

Why do teams want Sterling? Because he’s English and fast. But the fact of the matter is that to date he’s had half a good season. And that was when he was playing alongside Luis Suarez and Daniel Sturridge in top form. He’s 20 years old and what is being sold is potential.

He’s been inconsistent this season, and scored 7 goals in the Premier League this season. So is that worth spending £40-50 million on? Get real.

4. Theo Walcott is better for Arsenal

Slightly controversial I know, but for Arsenal, Theo Walcott is the better player. He’s quicker, and been with the club for almost 10 years. While his game has been criticised people forget not too long ago he was our best player. Injuries have hampered his progress but once he’s back in the groove he will be back to his best.

Theo knows the ethos of the club, how we play and how Arsene Wenger wants him to perform. Added to that, his finishing is better than Sterling’s.

5. His ego is massive

Arsene isn’t a fan of players with big ego’s and Sterling’s is through the roof. When Liverpool offered the contract and he didn’t sign, it wasn’t big news. What made it big news was when he caused controversy and conducted the BBC interview without Liverpool’s knowledge. What kind of person does that? I’ll tell you who, someone who things they’re big news and the world revolves around them.

Former Liverpool players like Jamie Carragher, John Barnes, John Aldridge and Mark Lawrenson have come out and said things like he hasn’t done anything in the game and not achieved anything because he’s a young player who still has a lot to prove. He’s nowhere near the finished article – and it’s like someone like Hector Bellerin coming out now and shouting the odds and engineering a move (although that’s a disservice to Bellerin because he’s actually been consistent and developed as a player this season).

But you get my point, it’s akin to a youth player breaking into the first team and then demanding a move away or bigger pay day. It’s ridiculous and shows that Sterling has a massive opinion of himself. If his performances reached the top level then fair enough, you can do a Wayne Rooney and hold the club to ransom, but sadly for Sterling he’s not even close to that level.

We’ve been on such an excellent run of late – we’ve been 10 games unbeaten in the Premier League, winning 9 of those games and drawing 1 against a Chelsea side who parked the bus at The Emirates a couple of weeks ago.

That fantastic run has seen Arsenal shoot to 2nd in the table, and tonight they had a golden opportunity to go level with points with Manchester City, with a game in hand. A win in that game would put us in pole position to secure 2nd place – meaning we wouldn’t need to play a Champions League qualifying game in early August.

As it stands, the defeat to Swansea means that if we lose our next game (which is at Old Trafford) then we’d drop to 4th place with a game in hand. Then we’d need to win against Sunderland (who are fighting for their lives) and West Bromwich Albion – a game which is right before the FA Cup final against Aston Villa.

Arsenal know how to make things difficult for themselves don’t they?

After seemingly being in a position where 2nd place was a certainty, we could now conceivably finish 4th once again. Finishing 2nd would be fantastic and signal a big improvement on previous seasons, whereas another 4th place finish would just be frustrating and give those Arsenal fans who want Arsene Wenger to leave more than enough ammunition to go on the attack.

So what are your thoughts? Have Arsenal been fantastic and should we be thankful they are in the position they are now? Or is it the same old Arsenal again who bottle it when it matters most?

Have your say in the comments section below!

First of all, Thierry Henry is an Arsenal legend and probably the greatest player to have ever worn the red and white of Arsenal. So when he says something, you listen.

He’s won everything the game has to offer (although not the Ballon d’Or which still irks me to this day because he should have won it at least twice) and his opinion is something which should be respected. It seems however that his remarks regarding Olivier Giroud have sparked some kind of debate amongst Arsenal fans.

His opinion was that like Chelsea, Arsenal need to invest in a new spine. That includes a world-class goalkeeper, midfielder and striker – and in Henry’s opinion, Olivier Giroud is not the man who can fire Arsenal to Premier League or Champions League glory.

But is that a fair conclusion?

Let’s look at the previous Premier League winners and the top goalscorers:

2014 – Manchester City – Luis Suarez (31 goals)
2013 – Manchester United – Robin van Persie (26)
2012 – Manchester City – Robin van Persie (30)
2011 – Manchester United – Carlos Tevez / Dimitar Berbatov (20)
2010 – Chelsea – Didier Drogba (29)
2009 – Manchester United – Nicklas Anelka (19)
2008 – Manchester United – Cristiano Ronaldo (31)
2007 – Manchester United – Didier Drogba (20)
2006 – Chelsea – Thierry Henry (27)
2005 – Chelsea – Thierry Henry (25)

So as you can see, from the last 10 seasons the champions that year had the top scorer a total of four times.

But interestingly, in every one of the last 10 seasons the top scorer has been playing for a team that has always ended up on the Top Four, and most of the time their team has finished at least second in the league.

So a world-class player who can score at least 20 goals a season is vital if you want to really compete for the Premier League title.

This season, with 4/5 games remaining, Olivier Giroud has scored 14 league goals. Chelsea’s top scorer, Diego Costa sits on 19 goals, although he has missed quite a few games through injury – and at the moment it’s Sergio Agüero who is top of the charts on 21 goals so far.

So is Olivier Giroud the man who can lead Arsenal to Premier League or even Champions League glory?

Sadly, the answer is no.

As you can see from the last 10 seasons, only on 3 occasions has the top scorer only scored around 20 goals. Most of the time the top scorer has scored at least 25 goals, scoring closer to 30 goals in a whole season. As it stands, unless Giroud scores a brace in all our remaining games he’s well off that total.

Now I’m not disputing his quality and what he brings to the team. Currently, he is our main striker who brings others into play – he does score goals and how we are playing at the moment suits his style. But there’s no doubt that if we had a world-class striker, we would probably be much closer to Chelsea right now.

It’s a point which has been raised time and time again, but would Giroud get into any other top sides? Would be get a place at Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool, Tottenham and Manchester City? The answer is probably not.

Monaco was probably the biggest indicator that we badly missed a world-class finisher. You cannot argue that if we had Aguero, Suarez, Diego Costa or Wayne Rooney then we’d be a better team.

We’ve spent mega money on Mesut Özil and Alexis Sanchez who are both world-class forwards, but we just need that special striker to finish off the team.

Like it or not, Arsene Wenger needs to spend big this summer on a world-class striker who can score from nothing – which we’ve missed, especially in tight games which we’ve failed to break down the opposition.