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29 March 2024

Why Giroud is end of beautiful game for Arsenal

Montpellier's Olivier Giroud (centre) kicks the ball in front of Toulouse's Etienne Capoue and Aymen Abdenour (right) during their French Ligue 1 match in Toulouse. (REUTERS)

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By Staff

Olivier Giroud wants to be Arsenal’s new Thierry Henry.

He should know Henry was not 6 ft 3 and was not brought in to Arsenal to ensure they are not bullied and bruted on a rainy Tuesday night playing Stoke down in the Potteries.

He should also know that Henry perfected a silken run down from the flank, cutting inside and side footing the goalkeeper to such an extent, that even teams expecting him to do that could not stop him.

Most importantly, he should know that the last big man to play for Arsenal up front – Nicklas Bendtner flopped.

Bendtner has shown elsewhere that he still has the skills and lethal finishing Wenger first saw in him, but memories of some horrific misses, and a hat-trick notwithstanding, saw the Emirates dump him.

Emmanuel Adebayor is the other big man Arsenal have used, and can claim some success in his style of play.

But the fact is Arsenal are not set up to play the hoof and carry style of football that say Liverpool don’t mind indulging in with the likes of Andy Carroll up front.

The arrival of Giroud, therefore, suggests two things.

Arsene Wenger is ready to play tough, ugly and direct. Gunner diehards who allowed the glow of Arsenal trying to walk the ball into the goal to dull the pain of not having won anything for seven years might see a different Arsenal.

Giroud might also discover that if Robin Van Persie stays at Arsenal, he might be reduced to playing second fiddle, unless of course, it is on a rainy Tuesday down at Stoke.

Van Persie is the kind of point man the traditional Arsenal tiki-taka style is built around.

Van Persie does not and has not played with a big striker up front – not for Holland and not at Arsenal (cue the Bendtner flop).

Can and will RVP and Giroud play together?

Not unless Wenger throws all we know about Arsenal out of the window and ushers in a completely new gameplan.

Who knows, Giroud with only one headed goal last season in the French league might not be all brute force, but just the ‘new Henry’ Arsenal badly need.