Mesut Özil to Olivier Giroud: the makings of a world-class partnership at Arsenal

Over the next 12 days or so, the time between now and Arsenal’s trip to the Stadium of Light, Özil and Giroud should find plenty of time to work together, learning to read each other, assess each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and preferences, and forge a mutual understanding that could bear fruit. At the risk of engaging in too much schadenfreude, it will be interesting to see how Gonzalo Higuaín will fare without Özil’s service.

At various points, the bid for Higuaín had been criticized because Higuaín’s skill-set was apparently too similar to Giroud’s. If that is true, we might see Higuaín’s stats slump while Giroud’s stats surge.

Arsenal’s fans might have gnashed their teeth and rent garments when they saw that Napoli had signed Higuaín, but the signing of Özil, and his budding partnership with Giroud, could prove to be just enough to help them forget all that they thought they had lost.

Özil seems to pick out the just-right pass, whether it’s a vertical lob or through-ball that allows the striker to run under and put a shot on frame or whether it’s a slanted pass that cuts across the box for a striker to intercept. He’s done this time and again, whether the finisher was Ronaldo or Higuaín or Benzema, and Giroud’s intelligent movement off the ball suggests that he’s already queuing up to receive any variety of passes from Özil.

Olivier Giroud

Arsenal may still lack depth up-top, and Giroud may not be quite ready to lead the attack, but the partnership between him and Özil could become something remarkable. The German midfielder can pick the pass; the French striker can send it home.

Against lesser opponents, securing an early lead could be enough to see the likes of Yaya Sanogo or Chuba Akpom come on to ply their wares. It’s a far-fetched notion, but Gooners could fare far worse.

Looking down the road, Arsenal goes into the January transfer-window with a fair amount of money in hand; by then, the squad will have passed through the gauntlet that is December, jam-packed with difficult Premier League fixtures, not to mention league cup and Champions League ties to boot.

By that point, we’ll have a clearer sense of the club’s ambitions and achievements, and we could well see another significant signing or two, figured out the club’s progress or struggles to that point.

I daresay that messieur Giroud and Herr Özil, among others, shall have done enough to entice another player or two to come to the Emirates.