Olivier Giroud Is A Disgrace

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I wrote last week that we should get rid of Olivier Giroud, because he’s just not good enough. Now, he’s managed to be an even bigger twat than I thought he could.

Less than 2 hours before the big FA Cup tie against Liverpool, he tweeted the following:

There are several things wrong with all this.

The first is the timing of it all. Why post this moments before the big game? It’s a vital game for our season and it’s a game we need to get a decent result from, to give us momentum for the rest of the season.

The second is apologising on Twitter. He’s only done this because he’s been caught out and it’s been splashed all over the newspapers. So well done Giroud, you’ve apologised only once you got caught with literally, your pants down.

The final problem I have with it all is posting it in the first place. Surely this is an issue you should sort out privately with your wife and child? The only reason I can see for him to post it on such a public forum is because his wife hasn’t forgiven him and he’s trying one last ditch attempt to save his marriage.

Now some of you will read this and think it’s all tosh. But I’d like to think Arsenal are a club with morals. I’d be a hypocrite if I slated Ryan Giggs and John Terry but then supported Giroud – I’d be as bad as Manchester United and Chelsea supporters.

What he did for me, is a disgrace and people who do things like that show what kind of people they are. I can’t believe some of the Arsenal fans on Twitter who are actually trying to either justify or accept his behaviour. Whichever way you look at it, it’s pathetic.

Olivier Giroud Is F*cking Awful. Why Arsenal Need To Get Rid Of Him.

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Olivier Giroud is just not very good.

He’s an average striker with an average record. He is not good enough for Arsenal and certainly not for a team seriously aspiring to win the Premier League.

I joked with a friend this week that if Arsene Wenger manages to win the Premier League with Olivier Giroud as our main striker, then he deserves the football club named after him. Reflecting the gigantic miracle it would take to win the league with a rubbish striker.

The performance against Manchester United typified everything that is wrong, and quite frankly annoying, about him.

The first is when he misses chances, which is unfortunately quite a lot. He gestures and flails his arms around, punches the ground, holds his head in his hands, tilts his back and screams – you name it he does it. If he put as much effort into scoring goals as he does at performing his “distraught missed chance face” then he’d be the Premier League’s top scorer.

It’s annoying and pisses off a lot of fans.

The second is his passing ability. Against United, you had players like Rosicky, Cazorla, Özil and Wilshere all trying to play one-twos with him but his return pass was well off the mark. His main job (apparently) is to hold the ball up and keep play going but the vast majority of the time he loses possession.

He also has no kind of intelligent movement. You have a midfield like ours capable of a wide range of through balls and he can’t lose a defender and create a yard of space.

The last and biggest reason we should get rid of him is because he can’t score, which is a pretty important trait you look for in a striker. Against Manchester United his missed (by a country mile) a free header from a corner after only 4 minutes and missed a whole host of chances all night. The worst of which was the brilliant cross by Sagna late in the game which he managed to miss completely.

Any half competent striker (I’m even talking about Darren Bent or Peter Crouch in this category) would have scored at least one of those opportunities. It’s as if Giroud is trying to miss all of these chances.

The problem is when games get tight, like they will do as the season comes to a close, then we need a striker who can take that single chance when it comes.

Is Olivier Giroud that man? Not by a long shot.

Awful Arsenal Bottle It Again And Should Have Lost To United

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Manchester United deserved all three points last night.

They had a game-plan, executed it and had the far better chances. Robin van Persie should have scored after 90 seconds and also near the end of the game, when Szczesny pulled off a fantastic save from a Van Persie header.

The hugely disappointing thing about the game was the Arsenal performance. Manchester United are not a very good team. That’s a fact and the Premier League table doesn’t lie and David Moyes is a manager still finding his feet at Old Trafford. Yet for 90 minutes they weren’t seriously troubled. De Gea had a couple of routine saves to make but was never really called upon to make a defining save.

Arsenal were sloppy, lethargic and lacked any real cohesion. Mesut Özil looked lively and tried his best, but was let down by Olivier Giroud, who has proved yet again he is not good enough for Bolton Wanderers, never mind Arsenal.

We had some chances to score but Giroud did his best to missed them all, as well as make sure he performed his theatrics. We saw the whole range last night; we had punching the ground, screaming to the heavens, holding his head in his hands – and even head butting the ground this time around. Seriously, if he put as much effort into his “performances” as he did with scoring, he’d be the Premier League’s top scorer.

Overall though the team were poor. The only players who can come out with any credibility are Szczesny, Gibbs, Sagna, Koscielny, Mertesacker, Cazorla and Özil. Giroud was, as I have already mentioned, poor, and Wilshere and Rosicky kept on giving the ball away time and time again.

Wilshere’s sloppiness almost resulted in a Manchester United goal, after Rooney fed Van Persie for his header.

Arsenal have more than enough motivation to win this game. They got battered at the weekend, could have returned to the top of the Premier League and even more disappointingly, they faced the worst Manchester United side we’ve faced in the last 20 years.

This was a game we had to win and yet again, we bottled it.

Why Arsenal Have No Excuse Against Manchester United Tonight

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Arsenal host Manchester United tonight in a game which will be at the very least, intriguing. It’s a game that both Arsenal fans and Manchester fans will watch with a hint of trepidation after the weekend – Arsenal reeling from a 5-1 drubbing from Liverpool and Manchester United disillusioned after Darren Bent’s last minute equaliser at Old Trafford.

The position in the league, the bookmakers odds and the experts opinion will all favour an Arsenal win. The problem is that we know that on any given night, anything can happen.

We were top of the league when we played Manchester United at Old Trafford and a sucker punch goal from *ahem* Robin van Persie gave them all three points. And in the defeats against Manchester City and Liverpool, we started the matches slow and heavily paid the price.

So it is extremely important we have a right go at Manchester United from the first whistle and after the disaster at Anfield, Arsene Wenger and the players will know that better than anyone.

Perversely as things stand, Arsenal are only two points behind Chelsea after their surprising draw at West Brom. With all of the drama on Saturday and the world collapsing around us, we can still end the week top of the Premier League.

That’s how crazy football is.

And that’s why Arsenal have absolutely no excuse tonight. They should be still licking their wounds from the massive embarrassment at the weekend and now, will have the added motivation of being able to take the Premier League title challenge by the horns and regain top spot.

Arsene’s team selection will be decisive factor in how Arsenal perform tonight. Nacho Monreal has proven he isn’t on the same level as the rest of the back four. He started the Liverpool and Manchester City games, the two games we conceded an embarrassing amount of goals. Whether Gibbs was rested or injured at the weekend, we have to pray that he is available tonight.

Tomas Rosicky was also another player who should have started against Liverpool. In the big games, like tonight, he is the man who sets the tempo for the whole team. He is full of energy and his desire and determination rubs off on the other players.

Another question Arsene has to ask is should Lukas Podolski start? He’s been mainly on the bench this season and surely with our limited options up front, he has to be considered? Manchester United’s back line isn’t the most mobile and his pace could hurt them. Olivier Giroud however, would be the player Manchester United would like to defend against because of his lack of movement and pace.

All eyes will also be Arsenal’s superstar signing Mesut Özil.

After a great start to his Arsenal career, he has gone off the boil in spectacular fashion. When we’ve needed him to perform and show that he is a world class player, he’s disappeared. Against Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool, all big games, he’s been invisible. Tonight is a game where he needs to get his act together and show us how talented he actually is.

There’s no doubt he’s a top, top player but there is a danger he could turn into an Andrei Arshavin. Except that Arshavin was brilliant for us for about 18 months before strolling around. Things like having Per Mertesacker bollock you on the pitch after the City game because he wouldn’t acknowledge the travelling Arsenal supporters isn’t positive and seems like the actions of a diva.

In his defence, at Real Madrid he was playing alongside world class forwards like Ronaldo, Higuain and Benzema, players who would bury chances to score. At Arsenal, he has to feed…. Olivier Giroud. Another problem Özil has is that he’s had to get used to a new league, a new country and a new climate.

Özil has a lot of credit with Arsenal fans because of his reputation and start to Arsenal career, but it won’t be long before fans get tired of his listless, pedestrian performances.

If there’s one player who needs to step up tonight, it’s Mesut Özil.

Humiliating Defeat To Liverpool Was All Part Of Arsene’s Master-Plan

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As Arsenal fans overreact to the defeat to Liverpool at the weekend, no-one has considered Arsene Wenger’s master-plan.

Arsene Wenger is a hugely intelligent man, a miracle-worker and someone who has given Arsenal the greatest period in their history. We’ve been top of the Premier League for the vast majority of the season, despite the fact Manchester City and Chelsea have spent far more money, and have far stronger squads.

And with Arsenal being unable to beat the big teams like Manchester City, Manchester United and Liverpool away from home, it has reinforced the belief that Arsenal have a fragile underbelly and aren’t mentally strong enough to win the Premier League.

We suffered massive defeats to Manchester City and Liverpool, which were quite frankly embarrassing. We lost against Manchester United at Old Trafford, even though they are a shadow of their former selves.

But consider this for a moment, couldn’t the Anfield massacre be all part of Arsene’s master-plan?

After 24 games of the season, Arsenal had only lost three games and were top of the league. The level of consistency was amazing and after defeats to Aston Villa, Manchester United and Manchester City, we went of excellent runs.

Over the course of the season, there are games you need to win and those you can lose. The games against Aston Villa, Manchester United and Manchester City didn’t leave us in a position where the season was over for us. And the defeat to Liverpool is in the same category.

Arsene Wenger looked at the game at Liverpool and thought we could afford to lose it. We could play in first gear, let Liverpool dominate and get all the plaudits. By getting completely battered by Liverpool, there are a lot of positives we could take from it.

1. Reduced Expectations

By getting smashed by Liverpool, the expectations of Arsenal are instantly reduced. All the experts and media would label us as “bottlers” (not for the first time) and no-one would expect us to win the title.

When have we been strongest and performed the best this season? When everyone has written us off.

Now Chelsea and Manchester City are the “experts” favourites for the league and Arsenal apparently, have no chance.

2. Give Liverpool The Belief They Can Challenge

With a massive win like this, all the plaudits would go to Liverpool. Instead of being a team challenging for 4th place, they are now “title contenders”. So how does this benefit us?

In their remaining games against Manchester City and Chelsea in particular, they will have that extra belief and confidence they can turn them over at Anfield. We all know the atmosphere can be electric at Anfield and with all the fans behind Liverpool they will be a match for anyone. With that extra belief, it could mean the difference between beating City and Chelsea and only getting draw. And that could prove to be the decisive factor when it comes to the final Premier League table.

We can afford to lose against Liverpool, if it will help them get positive results against our closest rivals.

After all, what are Manchester City and Chelsea going to find tougher? A Liverpool side trailing by 10+ points or a Liverpool side who are in touching distance of the Premier League title?

3. The Players Are Rested

Let’s be honest, I don’t think you could name one player who would be tired from that debacle at Anfield. The players were strolling around the pitch and they’ll be fresh and ready to go for the visit of the reigning champions on Wednesday.

4. It’s A Reason To Go On Another Winning Run

As I’ve already mentioned, the defeats against Aston Villa, Manchester United and Manchester City were points in our season where the players needed a “kick up the arse”.

By setting them up to lose, Arsene Wenger has the perfect motivational tool to get the best out of the players against Manchester United. A moral-boosting victory on Wednesday would be the perfect tonic to perform and win against Liverpool in the FA Cup and give Bayern Munich a game in the Champions League.