Hello everybody.
Our last two games, the first two we've played without Giroud up top for quite a while, have seen Podolski play centrally. Now, I am aware that every single person will know this, but it is just a bit of light background scene-setting.
We played well against United in comparison to how we normally do, but Podolski was anonymous. What with it being against United and them being quite good and all that guff, I thought "OK". He hadn't played for a while, lacked sharpness and I remain 100% convinced that he is carrying an injury, whatever John says.
However, he played extremely poorly against QPR as well. This time, the rest of the team didn't play particularly well and his service wasn't great, but he was playing against QPR which largely negates these factors.
I would be surprised if he starts against Wigan (and oh, I am not looking forward to that game - Maloney is going to be a real threat and will exploit any space we leave between the lines/out wide) and expect Gervinho to come in.
However, this highlights to me just how not terrible Giroud is (if you'll pardon the woeful syntax). Whenever he plays, as well as the team winning far more headers (readers of Arseblog's feature By the numbers will be familiar with the data), we always have a presence up top and the team seems to function better as a unit.
Whilst I will admit I've been a long-time defender of the dashing Gaelic target man, I struggle to see how people can claim his suspension was a good thing. The cohesion and fluency were far more lacking with Podolski/Gervinho up front in my opinion.
Anyway. What do you think? I'm not suggesting that he's a great player, merely that he is good enough to be a part of our squad and is the pick of a fairly mediocre bunch; and I just thought I'd reiterate my belief that he's become something of a lightning rod for criticism this season, with some actual evidence to back it up.
Giroud/Podolski
posted on 5/5/13
I think Podolski actually has
attributes to make a good
second striker
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I think so too in a 4-4-2. I just don't like the look of him out wide (can't beat his man and little pace; though his delivery is good) and even worse is the experiment in the centre of a front 3.
posted on 5/5/13
And to think he's our 2nd highest wage earner. We've really c.ocked up in the transfer market for some time now.
posted on 5/5/13
Gunnerthru, so it's not Podolski's fault then? How does Gervinho squander so many chances while Podolski gets next to none? You think his movement is good enough? How did RVP score so many last season with a similar set-up? Our strikers are crap. I don't know why you find that so hard to admit while offering every excuse under the sun.
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Why do you find it hard to analyse a bit closer? What chances do you talking about. Yesterday we didnt even create one in the second half or at least I cant remember. The same was against United in the second half. Yes we had two or maybe three chances to score against QPR but that wasnt chances you say: "what a miss".
Last year RVP score more because we create more from midfield. Remember Song did create very important goals for RVP. If you look at City (Dzeko), if you look at Dortmund (Lewandowski) e.g. they all are wasters but people look only at their results. These teams can afford to be wasteful. What I am trying to say is we need more creativity from midfield and from the wings.
posted on 5/5/13
Gervinho manages to get on the ball time and time again and make countless chances every game. Obviously he's doing something that Giroud and Pod are not.
posted on 5/5/13
"Gervinho manages to get on the ball time and time again and make countless chances every game. Obviously he's doing something that Giroud and Pod are not."
Running about aimlessly does not make you a good player.
Quit trying to paint Gervinho as a footballer who has any inkling what he's doing.
posted on 5/5/13
Yeah 8bit but he lose the ball before make a pass or shot too often. Gervinho is more of a provider rather then a CF.
posted on 5/5/13
How can one provide for others when he can't provide for himself?
posted on 5/5/13
Gervinho is a goalscorer as well as a provider, as his career stats prove.
posted on 5/5/13
Alright then.......
posted on 5/5/13
I can't believe anyone was 'celebrating' Giroud's suspension. However Giroud was the idiot for putting the team in that situation. We did not have a leg to stand on in the appeal as was proven correct by the independent panel. It was a red card all day long as Wenger initially stated.
However Podolski's poor play does not make the ineffectual Giroud better. We weren't playing much better with the Frenchman. This is how poorly Arsene bought last summer. As I stated at the time the buys were fine if we had kept RVP. However as soon as Grimandi stated that they were seen as replacements I knew were in trouble. My hope at the time was a proper striker to come in. It never happened. This then moved to Jan. But according to Wenger no one was available after we were linked to, Huntelaar, followed by David Villa. These were strong links as was confirmed by Giroud himself when the transfer window closed. The manager had 'cut the grass under his feet'.
So we are where we are. Over to you Gervinho. I hope anyway.