Olivier Giroud joins Chelsea: After five years in North London, striker's patience, not loyalty, grew thin

Editor’s note: This article was published on 1 October, 2017, after Olivier Giroud scored his 100th goal for Arsenal. It is being updated in light of Giroud’s move to Chelsea on the final day of the January Transfer Window. It was 28 September, 2017. A couple of minutes into the second half of Arsenal’s second-ever Europa League match, BATE Borisov’s Stanislav Dragun was deemed to have brought Shkodran Mustafi down in the box. The Belarusian was duly handed a yellow card — arguably quite harshly, considering the minimal contact he made with the Arsenal defender — while his teammates remonstrated. The 1-3 scoreline at the time wasn’t entirely reflective of the state of play with Borisov regularly testing the resolve of a largely second-string Arsenal side. With nearly half the match left to play, the Belarusian team was still very much in the game and a goal for the home team before the 50th minute or thereabouts could have changed the complexion of the game entirely. As it turned out, that wasn’t to be and soon after the referee signalled for a penalty, Olivier Giroud stepped up to the spot with an eye on scoring the Gunners’ fourth goal on the night. Theo Walcott already had two goals to his name and given how he exists presently on the fringes of the first-choice XI, a hat-trick may well have bought him an extended run in the starting XI. Walcott, by his own admission, chose to forgo a potential third goal on the night and make way for the French striker whose last goal was a match-winning effort in a thriller on the opening ~day~ night of the season (11 August) against Leicester City. It had been 49 days since the ball had flown, deflected, ricocheted or cannoned off Giroud and settled in the back of the net — something of which he must have been only too aware. He jogged up and stroked it into the lower right-hand corner. A bad night turned worse for goalkeeper Denis Scherbitski — culpable as he was for the second Arsenal goal — who went the wrong way. Meanwhile, Giroud had just put away his 100th goal for the club. [caption id=“attachment_4094355” align=“alignnone” width=“825”] Olivier Giroud scores Arsenal’s fourth goal from the penalty spot during the Europa League group H match. AP[/caption] Giroud became the 19th Gunner to reach three figures. Walcott, who had crossed that milestone a little over seven months earlier (in a fifth round FA Cup tie against Sutton United), seemed to consider this important enough to sacrifice what would have been his sixth Arsenal hat-trick. But was the towering Frenchman all that pleased? His celebration seemed muted — very non-Giroudesque actually, accustomed as we are to his rather exuberant manner of displaying his pleasure after putting the ball in the goal. Whether it’s his slide across the turf, furious thumping of the badge or the strange little scorpion kick-themed dance he pulled off after scoring the equaliser against Bournemouth last season, nothing about his goal celebrations is ever ‘muted’. In fact, everyone else who ran over to congratulate him seemed far more pleased for Giroud than the man himself appeared to be. The striker smiled, high-fived and embraced his teammates, and eventually, shrugged before getting back into his own half for the match to be restarted. Perhaps the significance of the moment hadn’t sunken in yet. Perhaps it had, but it just wasn’t as big a deal as previously imagined. Perhaps he had hoped that the big 1-0-0 would come at the Emirates. Perhaps he had hoped it would come in a more important tournament. Perhaps he had hoped it would come against tougher opposition in a more important fixture. Perhaps he was wondering if it this accomplishment would make the slightest difference to where he presently finds himself in manager Arsène Wenger’s scheme of things. The advent of Alexis Sanchez becoming Wenger’s No 1 striker last season and the arrival of Alexandre Lacazette this season has seen Giroud relegated to the role of super sub at best and squad player at worst. Being granted a mere 408 minutes — of which 180 have come in Europa League matches, 90 in the Carabao Cup and 24 in the Community Shield — in the first two months of the 2017-18 season underlines that fact. And so, as Giroud achieves the 100-goal mark and turns 32 within the space of a couple of days, it’s a good time to look at what lies ahead for the Frenchman. But first, some figures:

Olivier Giroud at Arsenal Infogram

The most amusing stat for fans might well be the fact that Giroud scored his 100th Arsenal goal one game sooner than Robin van Persie did (237 to 238). However, it is worth recalling that Giroud was brought in from Montpellier HSC to indicate to Van Persie that the club had ambition and wanted Giroud and Van Persie as part of a strikeforce that included that transfer window’s other signing, Lukas Podolski. We’ll never never know what that triumvirate would have looked like, because Van Persie would soon be on his way to Manchester United. There’s been enough said and written about the transfer saga, so we don’t need to revisit it here. But one thing slowly began to become clear, and was finally confirmed by former Arsenal player and now Arsenal scout Gilles Grimandi that Giroud was brought in to with a view to replacing Van Persie as the spearhead of the attack. Sure, he won the Golden Boot for his role in the 2011/12 season that saw Montpellier lift their maiden Ligue 1 title, but considering the gulf — the size of which varies depending on whom you ask — in quality between English and French domestic football, fans were up in arms.

How can you replace a 37-goal man with someone who scored a few goals in the French league, they asked.

And from his very first season, detractors and naysayers were at Giroud’s throat; angry whenever he missed a chance, angrier when he missed another and angriest that he wasn’t Van Persie. Certainly, profligacy in front of goal was and to an extent, continues to be an aspect of Giroud’s game. Unfortunately for all those — some of whom would later become part of the Wenger Out Brigade — bemoaning Arsenal’s new status as a ‘selling club’ and lack of hunger, two important things seemed to have gone unnoticed. First, 2011/12 was the first time Van Persie — who might not have left Arsenal on best terms, but whose footballing contribution to the club was being described in the most grandiose of superlatives — actually played a full season in the eight he spent at the club. The rest of his time was ravaged by some injury or another. Second, after years of moaning that Arsenal lacked a powerful frontman, a striker who could bully defenders or simple, a Didier Drogba-type, there was finally one at the club. And what’s more, he was a proponent of the rocket headers unlike most Arsenal strikers in the post-1996 era. Not good enough, apparently. Neither was his second season in which he scored 22 goals, nor was his fourth season in which he scored 24 goals. And the less said about his fifth season, where despite playing second fiddle to Sanchez, Giroud was racking up a goal every 111 minutes, the better. Pundits, former players and everyone in between would make it a point to note frequently that the Frenchman was not just ’not world class’, he was simply not good enough to be the spearhead of Arsenal’s attack. That is how it has remained over the time he has been an Arsenal player. Certainly, there are pockets of support for Giroud all over — very few as loud as those singing his name to the tune of Hey Jude, but over time, he has increasingly been seen as something of an expendable commodity. Let’s examine this aspect a bit closer. The club view With Van Persie set to leave right after the season in which he scored an astonishing 37 goals, the pressure on his replacement was always going to be that much greater. And in the summer of 2012, the need of the hour for the club was a target man — someone to whom the ball could be floated, flicked or heaved, so he could do the rest and maybe even come close to the Dutchman’s tally. Certainly, Giroud’s height, strength and toughness made him ideal for the role of the target man. And in his very first season, he responded to the challenge with 17 goals scored at the rate of a little over one goal in every three matches. Not great, but not bad by any stretch. The next three seasons saw him score a total of 65 goals and seemingly cement his role in the team. He was never going to be a Walcott-esque speed demon, a Thierry Henry-like creator of goals (seemingly out of nothing) or a ballerina in the mould of Lionel Messi. What the slightly lumbering Giroud could do apart from dispatching blistering headers, was to hold up play, hang on to the ball, act as a magnet for the attention of opposition defenders and bring his teammates into the game. But it was at some point around the time that he had his best season for the club (2015-16) that the game itself began to change and in a twist of fate, it was his teammates who were now keeping him out of the game. The arrivals of Mesut Özil, Danny Welbeck and Sanchez over the past few seasons eventually meant that the manner in which Arsenal would play going forward was about to undergo a change. Özil’s perfectly-weighted through balls needed a quicker runner to get on the end of them. The strong but speedy Welbeck also began to find himself higher up the pecking order. And finally, with a view to having a more mobile and swift frontline, Sanchez was brought into Giroud’s centre-forward position and the former Montpellier man was relegated to the bench. It’s not as though he was dropped from the squad, but being benched and brought on when there was a need to change tactic (to go from speedy passing-based play to a more direct game arose) clearly indicated that Giroud was, whether or not he chose to accept it, Plan B. The 2016-17 saw him make 40 appearances (amounting to 1,780 minutes) in contrast to 53 appearances (amounting to 3,373 minutes) the previous season. His frustration poured out, with several newspapers quoting the striker on his desire to play more and his dissatisfaction with life on the bench. Regardless, the club, it seemed had other more pressing issues on their mind: The futures of Sanchez, Özil and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. And consequently, were willing to allow him to leave and join Everton for a sum of between £20 and 30 million (depending on whom you choose to believe). The player view It’s probably been a little difficult for Giroud to fathom or even accept why he has dropped so far down the pecking order. After all, it wasn’t his performances alone that let the club down and in fact, it could be argued that the one season in which he wasn’t playing as starting striker was the first time Arsenal dropped out of the Champions League spots. His record is by no means, bad. After all, he’s one of only 19 players since the club’s inception to score 100 goals. His knack for turning up with a late goal is also something very few of the present Arsenal squad have demonstrated. Then there’s the topic of his fitness. Giroud has had one of the best injury records for an Arsenal player in recent times, particularly when considering the physical high-impact sort of game he plays. Additionally, given that speed isn’t an important facet of his game, Giroud has a longer lifespan as a striker than a Walcott, whose potency would be cut in half (or more) as he ages and loses his speed. In terms of attitude and ever since his first season in England, the most distinctive quality of Giroud on the field has been his tirelessness. Supported by massive doses of childlike enthusiasm and boundless energy, he has often been one of the (if not the) last Gunners to down tools when the result of a match was beyond salvageable. And when things are going well, he’s one of the loudest when it comes to celebrating his own goals  and those of his teammates. Unless it’s a day on which the sun decides to rise in the West, there’s going to be a former player, pundit, ’expert’ or one of the human caricatures Arsenal Fan TV’s Robbie Lyle discovers over the course of his travels, who will be talking about the club’s shortage of leaders. Wenger and Per Mertesacker are among those who have spoken of Giroud’s leadership skills and at the age of 32, with five full seasons behind him, he’s one of the more senior members of the club. Finally, there’s his loyalty. It can’t be great for his self-esteem that Arsenal’s record signing (at £52 million), Lacazette, plays second fiddle to Giroud in the French national team. Nevertheless, the 2011/12 Ligue 1 Golden Boot winner chose not to move to Everton, preferring instead to stay on and try to win the Premier League with Arsenal. “I’ve been through five amazing years here so I felt like the story had to continue… There are nice days to come from me in an Arsenal shirt,” he said. So where does that leave Giroud and Arsenal? The first matter of concern on the horizon is likely the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Moving to Everton would have given Giroud regular starts and preparation for the mega event. However, as French national coach Didier Deschamps pointed out earlier this week, “This is not ideal. his playing time is reduced… I would prefer him to be in a club where he plays almost all games… He made the decision to stay at Arsenal. It’s his choice. It can have consequences like all other players.” Accordingly, Chelsea Football Club is now home to the talismanic striker and it’s under Antonio Conte that he’ll hope to play a lot more games. This brings us back to Giroud’s 100th goal and all the thoughts that may have been going through his head when his penalty kick nestled in the corner of the net. When all around him, players have been using their agents, social media and any other tools at their disposal to wriggle, wrestle or whine to secure a move to a club where they feel they will play more, earn more or win more, Giroud’s resolve to stay on and win trophies at Arsenal distinguishes him as a different breed of footballer altogether. Unfortunately, this loyalty has already cost him a fair bit and may cost him even more. He’ll be 36 when the Qatar World Cup rolls around and is unlikely to turn out for France, which means next year’s World Cup is more than likely to be his last one. And by January, if Giroud still finds minutes hard to come by, it’s hard not to imagine him looking to go elsewhere — whether permanently or on loan — to play regularly and ensure he isn’t overlooked by Deschamps. Additionally, the striker must surely know that at this age, he’s got one major payday ahead of him. As mentioned above, his non-reliance on speed and excellent fitness record means that he’s likely to be playing longer than other strikers, and it’s safe to assume he has two to three years at the highest level ahead of him. For Wenger, it was always going to be tricky to balance the existing system of attack and the need to do right by a loyal and proud servant of Arsenal Football Club. Win matches without Giroud and he stayed out of the team. Lose matches, forcing him back into the team, and it would push Giroud further from his goal of winning trophies with this club. And now that the French striker has moved across town, swapping the red of Arsenal for the Blue of Chelsea, it’s worth taking the time to acknowledge Giroud’s contribution to the club — largely in the face of criticism and ridicule — and remember that it was his patience and not loyalty that likely wore thin. And although it might not look like it right now, considering the euphoria of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang' arrival at the Emirates , losing Giroud will be a massive blow to the club.