Olivier Giroud on a hot streak set to test Spurs
‘Olivier Giroud after only 3 months in England is already the second most effective striker in the Premier League so far this season.’
Here goes Dave again off on one of his over optimistic rants, trying to defend Wenger’s bargain basement wheeler dealing. Everybody knows Giroud is a slow cart horse, who could not hit a barn door and has flopped for Arsenal:
ARSENAL FLOP OLIVIER GIROUD PLEADS FOR MORE TIME – (Daily Star 13th Sept)
Giroud is the new Chamakh: Why we need to go shopping again (Sabotage Times -1st Oct)
Swap Arsenal’s Giroud for Liverpool’s Borini… for flop of season (Emirates 24/7 – 3rd Oct.)
Missing v Stoke Match 2 – Branded a Flop
I never held with any of the early season knee jerk fan or media reaction. I had watched him for Montpelier and suggested a year ago this month that Wenger should sign him as the long term successor to RVP. His movement is top draw both for himself and in his awareness of pulling defenders and making space for colleagues. His finishing so emphatic in Ligue 1 was always there and once he found his feet was bound to return. In addition certainly at Arsenal we expect our strikers to contribute in the final third as creators of goals and well as finishers of goal. Giroud like Henry, Bergkamp and van Persie before him has this firmly in his locker. Last season whilst topping the scoring charts in France with 21 league goals he contributed a healthy 9 assists. This incidentally was the 6th best in Ligue 1 and 5 more than his team mate who so many Gunners pine for Belhanda. In fact in winning the league Monteplier scored 68 times with Olivier having a direct hand in 30 of them (44%.)
However the statement I made at outset was a bold one and no mistake. I have him as the 2nd most effective striker in the EPL to date this season. Given how may top attackers we have in our league this might seem and outrageous claim and you may be right but cut it any way you like you can judge a striker by goals scored or goals created, whilst on the pitch, This last part is key as it is a tad tricky to score or assist from the stands or bench I find!
So first I wish to assess which of the EPL’s top striking talent claim the honours so far this season in relation to goal contribution per minute on the pitch in all club football, league, Europe and Capitol One Cup.
| Premier League Striker | Club Minutes on pitch 2012/13 | Club Goals 2012/13 | Minutes per Goal |
| Dzeko | 643 | 7 | 91 |
| Van Persie | 1136 | 11 | 114 |
| Suarez | 1331 | 11 | 121 |
| Ba | 966 | 7 | 138 |
| Defoe | 1171 | 8 | 146 |
| GIROUD | 898 | 6 | 149 |
| Jelavic | 845 | 5 | 169 |
| Fletcher | 914 | 5 | 182 |
| Torres | 1534 | 7 | 219 |
| Aguero | 811 | 3 | 270 |
| Tevez | 1180 | 4 | 295 |
| Rooney | 914 | 3 | 304 |
Fairly clear results tell us that Dzeko is easily the most potent finisher from the Premier League so far in 2012/13. He has scored virtually a goal and game in terms of his ration to minutes on the pitch. This is even more impressive given so many of the minute are coming on as a substitute. The next 5 names are fairly high profile strikers and our own hotshot Olivier Giroud comes in nicely at No.6,hitting the back of the net every 149 minutes, considerably better then what is deemed a top class ratio of a goal every other game. It is Interesting to see that Tevez, Rooney and Aguero are currently all worse than a goal every 3 matches ratio. I am sure players of this quality will come good but I have not seen the headlines criticizing these guys lack of contribution for the 2 Manchester sides.
The only Striker contributing more than Olivier Giroud.
However as I hinted earlier having a pure finisher is not the Arsenal or certainly the Wenger way. For me this would explain his lack of interest potentially in Hunterlaar? No at the Emirates we expect more from our strikers so all round contribution to team build up play and assists as crucial.
This next table therefore adds in goal creation to the equation and effectively combines goals and assists to measure how often a striker makes a game changing/telling contribution for his club.
| Premier League Striker | Club Minutes on pitch 2012/13 | Club Goals 2012/13 | Club Assists 2012/13 | Minutes per telling contribution |
| Van Persie | 1136 | 11 | 4 | 75.73 |
| Dzeko | 1136 | 7 | 1 | 80.37 |
| Giroud | 898 | 6 | 4 | 89.8 |
| Rooney | 914 | 3 | 7 | 91.40 |
| Suarez | 1331 | 11 | 2 | 100 |
| Defoe | 1171 | 8 | 2 | 117 |
| Ba | 966 | 7 | 0 | 138 |
| Jelavic | 845 | 5 | 1 | 140.83 |
| Tevez | 1180 | 4 | 3 | 168.57 |
| Fletcher | 914 | 5 | 0 | 182 |
| Torres | 1534 | 7 | 1 | 191.75 |
| Aguero | 811 | 3 | 1 | 202.75 |
The above I hope clearly demonstrates that so far this season, in which I only see Giroud improving, as his compatriots like Pires and Henry did coming to England, Olivier is already extremely effective where it counts. He is one of only 3 players, the other being RVP and Dzeko, who has scored or created a goal at a better than a one per 90 minutes ratio. There is no fudging of the figures here to make him look good and I have not left anyone obvious out. I could have included midfielders such as Mata, Nolan and Fellaini but I am comparing front line strikers.
So the only other factor which I thought might be interesting to add into the picture would be the cost of the players concerned, or at least the relative transfer market value. I hope the below table suggests that despite not spending the huge money Wenger perhaps has at his disposal, he has at least on the face of it spent £13 million very wisely.
| Premier League Striker | Market Value (www.transfermarket.co.uk) |
| Wayne Rooney | £65,000,000 |
| Kun Aguero | £45,000.000 |
| Robin van Persie | £38,000,000 (Odd!) |
| Fernando Torres | £35,000.000 |
| Edin Dzeko | £25,500,000 |
| Luiz Suarez | £25,500,000 |
| Carlos Tevez | £20,000,000 |
| Demba Ba | £13,000,000 |
| Olivier Giroud | £13,000,000 |
| Steven Fletcher | £10,500,000 |
| Jermaine Defoe | £10,000,000 |
| Nikaca Jelavic | £9,000,000 |
So there you have what I hope is a fairly enlightening piece which heartens you ahead of a huge weekend for the club, facing the old enemy at the Emirates. In February the heroics of a team under pressure and 2 nil down revived and energised our season and sent us on a long run of top form.
I have a sneaky feeling that Olivier Giroud many well be the next Frenchman with a penchant for scoring against our North London neighbours. Well Olivier if I am right you need 8 ‘mon ami’ to match Gooner legend ‘Alan Alan Sunderland,’ and overtake Bobby Pires on 7 North London derby strikes.
Gooner ”Hair’ Legend Alan Sunderland holds the goals record v Spurs
Of course we are only 3 months in to his Arsenal career but even his sternest critics, and there were many of you, must admit that the signs are positive. I have followed and watched him longer than some, and so far nothing has suggested to me that Wenger has done anything other then secure a top talent at a fabulously low price. We will know in May whether I am right or wrong, but in the context of some of the inflated transfer deals we have seen in the past 2 years the smart money says……
Until next time thanks for reading.
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Olivior Giround is perfect
Enough about his looks! What do you think of him as a player?
You’re definitely right gooner,am sure olivier will silent his critics after he has adapted well. I love this. Keep it up fellow gooner. I love my team,i love olivier Giroud.
I agree with you Dave, the media and a lot of people have been so quick to label Giroud a flop. Agreed he is a strike who foremost should be scoring goals but when he isn’t his movement off the ball and team work rate is fantastic. He just needs to get his feet wet and the EPL wont know what hit it.
There are a lot of similarities between Bobby P & Olly G, their Gallic good looks aside. Both have been brought to England just as they are about to hit their prime, both eased in pretty gently, both have had critics at the start. Pires shut his critics up with his performances, so I certainly hope Giroud does the same.
Now that my fanboying has been done with, let me say that your analysis is near perfect & thanks for the research. But this wont stop the sensationalists among us from labelling him as another Chamakh, who I feel is a victim of circumstance rather than a no good has been, but I digress.
And yes we have missed someone who will always score against “them” since Pires & to some extent Adebayor, hopefully one of our new boys will don the mantle from here on.
Giroud is the 3rd most effective striker after Dzeko and RvP. YOu made a calculation error with RvP. His minutes/contributions is 75.73 :p
Mathematical error.
Anyways considering Giroud is new at Arsenal and hasnt played much minutes, he is the perfect striker for arsenal if he receives proper support.
I think Arsenal need a second striker, should buy Adrian to support OG.
Updated thanks
Great article showing FACTS to back up your point. Giroud has played very well so far this season IMO. Wenger always says it takes 6 months at least to adapt to EPL so Giroud is well on course for a fantastic goals and assists return for his first season in England.
You are very much ON POINT….
Wow! I like to leave finding out AFC statistics to the masters of their craft – AFC bloggers, and Dave, you are the within the cream of that particular milk bottle hun. I will now enter the mighty Giroud into my Fantasy Footy team right now – bound to score or assist against the Spuds and we all know the French like to fry theirs! Luv frm @helensays x
Buy el Shaarawy as a second striker and btw Dave,man,you forgot Podolski in that list.
No I did not I was just running with main strikers and Poldi only played there once so no valid for this blog
legend in the making!
You can paint him as a great player if you want……but…..the true test of a striker is to score 1 from every 3 (good)chances created, can you supply some stats for this please? i.e goals to shots ratio. I’m not so short sighted as to forget at least 3 “easy” chances he has missed which is the real reason the media was on his case.
I really don’t mean to be down on him as i do think he needs this season to bed in and we’ll see his true worth next year and i also thought he was man of the match against Fulham last week. Fair enough you write a positive blog as there are many negatives and i applaud you for that but some perspective all round would be best.
Yes that was in first few games. I was there at start of DB10, RP7 and TH14 and they could not shoot straight for months
Giroud will definetely click when time comes
I can bet u he wil score against ur enemies.
Brilliant post man! The number crunching must have been a bit tedious but you did some great research there. Sometimes people can really skew stats and make of it what they want, but great job of synthesizing. Just wrote a little bit on Giroud recently and I’m becoming a huge fan. His strength I think is his biggest asset. He really can body-up on defenders can’t he?
Here’s hoping for more Giroud brilliance come Saturday.
Wel, nothing much to say bt when Giroud finds his feet, my oh my the Epl is in for a serious shock…..
All Agreed…
i think when he fully settles will be top drawer..
you can see not fully confident yet,he’s thinking too much about his touches, which i must say alot have been terrible with his back to goal, but ye see flashes like his sublime touch out near the touchline last Saturday in a 1-2 with Theo was amazing..
spot on with his movement, it’s excellent,mightn’t be as eye-catching as some players cos of the lack of pace,but for me that makes it even more impressive as even without speed, he manages to find so much space for himself…
And the bursting run while shrugging players off himself and unleashing a thunderbolt last Saturday shows that the confidence is definately growing…
And i really love the fact that when he does miss a chance he shrugs it off immediately and goes in search of the next one..
And when things aren’t going right for him and someone else scores he celebrates as much as if he himself has scored..
i love him already,and truly believe he can only improve, and also, when the players around him get used to his movement too then it all equals happy days for us …
It too early to judge this guy,watch his n u will see what Wenger have seen in him.Wenger is brilliant when it come to buying french guys.
Never doubted Ollie! He is showing it can be done from the first season, you dont have to wait 6 barren seasons to finally adopt to the life of premiere league.
Well said, Daniel. I believe him to be an asset in every way and he’s showing more diversity of ability and confidence with every game. A team player and a responsible attitude on top of it all. I couldn’t love this more and I’m happy to have him on our team.
Who is Daniel?
Hahahahaha
maybe he/she thinks u are daniel cowan? :p
when he starts scoring wit his feet,den i might consider him a gud striker
He did today, on the stretch with two defenders tugging his shirt. Last season he only scored 1 league goal with his head. He’s only improving.
Giroud has been excellent for the Arsenal, in my (and the stats) opinion.
I also don’t know how Torres is valued at 35 million. There’s no way he’s worth that at 28, and having been poor since he joined Chelsea.
I just wonder how walcott fairs on this list. surely for goals per minute he has to be right up there. ok many of his goals have.come in other competitions. but in my opinion we are missing a trick with theo and ollie. as a pair i reckon they would be sensational with either podolski behind the pair or walcott and poldi playing just off giroud in a xmas tree. either way i want to see our best players on the pitch and walcott giroud podolski wilshire cazorla arteta are the main 6. the defence can have any of sagna mertesacker koscielny vermaelen gibbs with woj in goal. i wanto see the other 6 subs being as good as possible so that is mannone jenkinson diaby rosicky chamberlain gervinho. That for me is our best 18 players and if we can get them all on the.pitch and bench then we have a real chance. if we could then trade our poor bench fabianski santos squillaci denilson arshavin park bendtner for 7 new recruits we would have a damn good squad.
I am sure he is but in this blog I was just comparing current main strikers. Agree with all you say my friend
I agree totally on your best 18
Funny how Javier Hernandez isn’t mentioned anywhere at all.
I just went of the main starting strikers and those topping scoring charts but it is a fair point. Wish we had asked for him in RVP deal
Just ran figures a goal every 80 mins. Wow
Nice positive blog amongst so much negativity !!! Giroud has done well and I hope he continues to flourish.. He’ll do even better with a striking partner imo.. Lets hope he fries some cockerels tomorrow
And the two guys above Giroud predominantly play with another striker. I think he could notch up a lot more assists (and goals) with a partner up front.
Agreed old chum but then you know that
Nice one Dave. Stats are a bit too early for my liking. But yes factual evidence is always better
. More than the goals its his variation which is what we have been missing. He is a super header , moves into goal scoring positions and is not bad with his feet. How many corners or headers we have scored off last season ? I can remember three. We already have scored that many this season. Once the midfield trio or quartet start gelling together and provide more service, we will be looking at more goals. No doubt.
I’ve always rated Giroud to the extent that I thought he would be far out of our reach during the transfer window. I’ve always wished we signed him.Am a big fan of his one-time shooting ability which I bliv will soon start producing goals. Despite the media antics I knew he will turn out to be a bigger hit than our own Prince Poldi. Am happpy someone is able to carry out such a comprehensive analysis on the qualities our soon to be hero. He represents all we’ve needed from our front man
Wonderful yet again Dave, keep it up! Loving all the love for Giroud now, was always just a matter of time.
after spurs game,iam totally confident that Giroud has completely started silencing the critics. he has that drive and passion that even way be4 he started scoring,u could see that he wanted to score badly,but i guess it wasn’t yet his time. now i hope he keeps this consistency and score even more-cos he has found his magical feet