Why Arsenal's Olivier Giroud is an underrated striker in the Premier League

Olivier Giroud has been leading the line for Arsenal since 2012

Olivier Giroud hasn’t hit the heights that he himself would have liked since joining Arsenal from Montpellier three seasons ago. The Gunners striker wasn’t a regular starter under Arsene Wenger this season (until Theo Walcott’s injury) and which perhaps is one of the reasons why he is not getting enough goals to really propel himself among Europe’s best.

Flattering to deceive at times, the Frenchman is, in fact, a complete striker who perhaps hasn’t got the recognition he deserves. A total of 11 league goals in his first full season in north London was solid enough given that 10 of his 34 appearances came from the bench. A tally of 16 in the league the following season was an improvement but given that Giroud stayed fit for the entirety of the campaign, playing 36 times in the league, the Frenchman’s tally was perhaps not fit for a side challenging for the title.

In his third season, Giroud missed most of the season through injury but a return of 15 goals in 25 appearances was not bad at all. But he was far fro rubbing shoulders with top scorer Sergio Aguero.

Giroud’s strengths

Giroud can lead the line for most top sides in Europe – his recent acrobatic effort in the Champions League against Bayern Munich a stark reminder of the forward’s improvisation and finishing ability when on song, which was also not the first time he has finished so emphatically this season with another similar strike coming against Crystal Palace earlier in the season. Sure, he does miss a few chances, but all said and done the Frenchman is the complete package.

Giroud can play with both feet, holds play up excellently and brings the likes of Alexis Sanchez, Mesut Ozil and Santi Cazorla into play at Arsenal. An average of one key pass a game and a pass success percentage of 67% isn’t too shabby. It indicates that Giroud is not the most gifted in the passing department but certainly manages to do his job well enough for Arsenal to play the sort of football they pride themselves of playing week in and week out.

Very few players in the Premier League, or perhaps even across Europe are quite so adept at linking play and providing such delicate touches in and around the box (Karim Benzema and Zlatan Ibrahimovic come to mind). The former Montpellier man is also gifted in the air and, in the past three seasons in the Premier League, no striker has scored as many headed goals as Giroud – a testament to his heading ability and an attribute which gives Arsenal another dimension to their play

Giroud’s numbers at Arsenal

However, the statistics that do give the real picture are Giroud’s numbers up front. Since arriving at the Emirates, Giroud has scored 66 goals in 150 appearances for the Gunners averaging 0.44 goals a game. Last season he averaged 0.65 goals a game, second only to Sergio Aguero.

The France international has scored nearly 50 goals (48) in the Premier League alone and so far this season he has scored six goals averaging 3 shots per game.

	Minutes	Goals	Minutes/Goal	Shots Per Game	WhoScored Rating
Olivier Giroud	533	6	88.9	3	6.94
Jamie Vardy	1072	12	89.3	4	7.85
Sergio Aguero	548	6	91.3	4.1	7.10

But the real standout stat was his minutes per goal ratio. Giroud had the best minutes per goal ratio of any striker in the Premier League – 88.9 minutes per goal. Jamie Vardy came in second at 89.3 while Sergio Aguero was third with a goal every 91.3 minutes.

Technically, if he played every minute of every Arsenal game, he'd be scoring more than a goal a game. Of course, this is if one was highly speculative and it is also because he has been used mainly as a substitute.

Can Giroud make the step up to world-class category?

But what if Giroud got enough game time? If Giroud ends up staying at Arsenal, gets more game time and manages to stay fully fit, who is to say he won’t play another 150 games and increase his tally to more than 100 goals?

Sure, Arsene Wenger needs to give him enough time on the pitch. But it is up to the Frenchman to seize the opportunities given to him and make the most of them. Giroud certainly finds himself in great company in the Premier League but to really consider him as one of the best in Europe he has to step up his performances in big games and hit that 20-goal-a-season barrier which he managed only once (22 goals in all competitions in 2013/14).

If he improves his consistency and shows up in big games, Giroud could make the step up into the world class bracket among Europe’s best strikers, but can he do it? The talent and the support on the pitch is very much available, but to make that jump he must find a way to start scoring in key moments and develop a knack for finding space much better.

Till then Giroud remains Arsenal’s and the Premier League’s perennially underrated underdog.