Laurent Koscielny says that Olivier Giroud’s goal against West Brom is an indication of Arsenal’s squad depth, where players who haven’t been playing much can contribute.
Monday’s 1-0 win saw the French striker start his first Premier League game of the season – certainly not a stat he’d have been aiming for at the beginning of the campaign.
However, he notched his 6th goal of the season to ensure the Gunners took three vital points in a difficult encounter.
“He stayed focused with the team,” said Koscielny afterwards. “We are not 11 or 18 players, we are 25 players.
“All the players who play for Arsenal have a big part to play during the season because of injuries and suspensions, and everyone needs to be ready to fight for this club.
“Today, Oli started and he tried to give his best on the pitch. He fought and it’s good for him to score the winning goal.”
And after a hard week following two defeats, Koscielny is looking for the West Brom win to rebuild some confidence.
“We lost two games in a week last week and it was very important to come back with a win,” he continued.
“The confidence will come back when you win and the most important thing now is to continue to win games in a row so that hopefully we can get into the first position.”
Oli deserves to start every game when he is 100% fit.
I certainly don’t agree with you bruv.
That was the problem previously when he was the top striker at the club. He scores certain types of goal against certain opposition, but does not offer enough movement or technique to open up defences consistently. Alexis is a better starter option most of the time.
Look at how he’s used for France. He’s placed at the front and deluged with a hail of crosses toward him from all and sundry….and he gets goals. It’s not particularly efficient in cross to goals conversion, but it works and wins games.
One thing we do need to get right when using Giroud is to lob the round object in his general direction rather more frequently than we do. He’s your archetypal big, rufty-tufty, get stuck in to the opposing defence type striker, but he does require more service.
He’s a great foil for Greizmann, bit of a throwback to the classic big/little strike partnership. I think that could work really well with Alexis, if we were to play a different formation. That doesn’t particularly leave room for Ozil though – which makes it something of an impossibility.
Well, for now anyway.
Well that’s not true. Ozil in #10 behind Giroud and Sanchez the second forward. That is old school tactics, can be 4-3-1-2 or 4-1-2-1-2, diamond midfield. You could say that is not a good formation for the premier league, and Wenger certainly will never change formation, but i think it could work. Testing different kinds of tactics and formations is a big part of football, and having so many good midfielders gives you the option to have an alternative set up for tough matches, fielding a trio of midfielders behind Ozil. Xhaka-Coq-Ramsey or Cazorla-Coq-Ramsey, Xhaka-Coq-Cazorla, Elneny can play on any… Read more »
Definitely no. He is good for starting an occasional match against the right opposition or come off the bench to provide something different, but should not be starting at centre forward over Alexis week in week out.
i can’t say enough good things about kos the boss. completely deserving of the captain’s armband. as much as we talk about squad depth, he’s the one player we can’t afford to give a rest.
That armband is cursed, keep it away from our Lolo!
Kos the real captain of this team! Best foreign CB we’ve ever had and gives Campbell a run for his money.
Don’t forget another mighty French man; Mr. Cygan. Just saying
He’s absolutely right on the fact that it’s not all about the 11 players on the pitch or the 18 in the match day squad – it’s about the whole squad. They are a team, and that’s why it’s so important to have a good vibe around the place. Players like Nasri (I’m sorry I bring him up) where poison for the dressing room. No team spirit if they didn’t play. The current squad seems to get on quite well with each other. Those who don’t get to play or don’t make the match day squad still work hard to… Read more »
YOu are absolutely right. I stated at start of season that we should not be fixated by simply Alexis as the only option A. We have no option B. We have different weapons in the arsenal we can interchange like different tool heads. We will need all 25 players in the squad to perform and perform well. Each may be needed during a long campaign on 3 major fronts. Also not to be underestimated is the composition of the squad. The squad is now comprised of 4 major groupings. We have the English/British core – Gibbs, Holding, Ox, Walcott, Welbeck… Read more »
We have options in every position. In the CF role – Giroud, Welbeck, Alexis, Lucas In the Am role – Ozil, Ramsey, Alexis and Lucas could also be tried in formation variation or Iwobi for the matter who is good with tight control and vision/distribution. Out in the flanks we have choices galore – Welbeck, Theo, Ox, Alexis, Lucas, Iwobi (even young Jeff who is hovering around the senior squad albeit I would think it unlikely to see him) In midfield the stable partnership of Coquelin/Granit needs to be promoted but we can offer variation later in games should we… Read more »
well i’m sure he will be starting our next game vs palace and that big fat . . . bus parking tactic again.
Hope to break them early and smash them.
Alexis will be back startling as a striker at Bournemouth.
I don’t see us adding anyone in January. Extremely UNLIKELY. In the squad Per, Koscielny are getting on. But Chambers may also be in frame as is HOlding, both developing under either in squad tutoring from the senior men or out on loan. There is also the option to put Chambers back into his original role as a Rback with Bellerin ( or Gabriel) We will need someone to succeed Monreal sooner than later and Gibbs is injury prone out left. But there is also no need to rush into it and we need to have a well considered buy… Read more »
Giroud plays up top for france w/ greasyman just behind him. Alexis plays just off the striker for his country. How bout putting alexis behind giroud n shifting ozil to the wing?
best autocorrect ever! Greasy man hahaha
(If you did that on purpose, even better)