Olivier Giroud

The France international has been a standout player for the Gunners this season scoring 14 goals in his 32 appearances, but every now and again he looks tired. It's through no fault of his own though, as he is relied upon so heavily, but that the fatigue and the onslaught from Liverpool meant that he never really settled into the game.

Against sides like Liverpool you need nippier forwards who can exploit the sluggishness of their giant defenders, playing balls into the flanks and letting them chase them down. Giroud isn't a player to offer that and was pinned back into a deep position as he looked for some sort of input.

He had two shots, one which hit the target and one that was skewed wide, and he won just two headers from the eight he went up for, which for a target man is not good enough.

I would probably throw Lukas Podolski up top for the next game, or maybe even try Serge Gnabry in order to recharge Giroud's batteries. 

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Comments

[RoryD]

Singularly the worse striker in the premiership. He's so inept! His misses are breathtaking this season, 14 isn't enough. Arsenal need a finisher not a fit runner. What is Arsene thinking. He has to be sold, if you don't cut it at Arsenal you should be out.

[figaro]

Rory D. Sot on Mate, he is so average and his misses are crucial. fact. he has not score 1 goal against a top 4 team in the league

[Tom Coen.]

Arsene did not buy in the transfer window what the club needed 3 players. A Genuine Centre half, A defensive Midfield Enforcer and a Quick Striker, Shane Long was sold for a song!

[Striver]

I think Giroud provided a lot of the foundation of this seasons success, as an out and out striker he hasn't done much but his contribution to build up play and assists has been top draw. You just need to see Bendtner play to see how good he is.

I'm surprised this list didn't contain Arteta, Ozil, Rozicky.

The midfield is suffering, shape wise and balance wise. We need a real holding midfielder, Arteta the only other player bar Flamini designated this role just doesn't have the gusto to get the job done. Seeing how everybody else is doing in this department I'd say its a hard role to buy for. Is it what Barry does?

As for Ozil, I don't know whether its playing full matches thats caught up to him or just the nature of the Prem but it was bound to happen. I think he's due a fake injury soon just to get a little rest and rejuvenate again, maybe when we have lesser opposition.

Rozicky doesn't change anything, I'm surprised there isn't a youth player that hasn't catapulted to first team status just on the grounds that Rosicky is still getting played. I seldom see him do anything inventive, shoot outside the box or influence positive change. Monreal did play worse than he did but our makeshift midfield thats served us so well was made to look makeshift, in fact, the whole team did.