Are We Too Harsh on Giroud?

He sucks with the ball. He is NOT the most graceful footballer. He cannot dribble. He lacks much technique to work in tight spaces.

But correct me if I am wrong.....he scores goals and is a striker which is more than can be said for some other people.












The Giroud case is a tricky one, because the insults he gets are fully valid. He just isn't the most brilliant footballer and is a serious downgrade from Anelka, Henry, Wright. Whenever I see him in a tight spot, I just know he won't do anything of note. Henry LOVED having a defender try and corner him because he knew how to get out of it.

This is all true, but when I look as positions on a football field I look at roles and what different players are supposed to be doing.

A defender's job is to tackle, stop the flow of chances and distribute the ball out. The midfielder's job is to tackle, pass, and set up goals. A winger's job is to get balls into the box or ATTACK and get into that 18-yard. And you can give me false nine or false fifty, a striker's sole purpose is to score goals. That is why they are positioned so far up the pitch and why they are right into the jaws of the two central defenders that they have to deal with.








Giroud scores goals. He may not always do it against the better teams, but he SCORES GOALS. His mind is fully clued into what I want from a striker. He reads the game, anticipates the direction of the ball and gets himself in the right positions to strike. These are all hallmarks of a quality striker. And it is the role and job of a coach to know the qualities that a player has as well as their drawbacks and build their system around the good things.

Giving the ball to Giroud at his feet and expecting him to score that goal that Henry did in the Bernabeu WILL NEVER EVER HAPPEN. But if you put in a good cross into the box there is a very good chance that he will finish that off. And people need to recognize and appreciate the skill of the target-man. Sure, it may look like tap-ins, but there is a lot of thought that goes into scoring those goals. It does not make these guys great footballers since they are not doing a lot ON THE BALL, but it makes them HIGHLY important in a team that wants to win matches and we are in the business of winning...nothing else matters.

As I said on the hangout, Arsenal's Champions League chances depend really on the link-up between Sanchez and the Zillage. Giroud is not someone who can make it happen on the big stage. But....if you give him that great ball INSIDE THE BOX, I see no reason why he can't put it past Neuer, Casillas or Courtois.

Know your player, and adjust your strategy to their strengths and not their weaknesses.



HH

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