Olivier Giroud has divided opinion during his time at Arsenal, with some fans believing the Frenchman is not good enough to be the 20-goal-a-season striker that teams usually need for a title charge.
The 30-year-old was brought in as a replacement for Robin van Persie, but there is a suspicion that he cannot be as prolific as the Dutchman was at his best.
At the same time, Giroud has scored some fabulous goals, not least his scorpion kick earlier this month. But his value to Arsenal is not just in the goals he scores, but in his ability to hold the ball up and bring teammates into play. As the stats show, the France international does this better than anyone in the Premier League.
Most frequent PL goals+assists since Aug '15 (25+ starts):
— WhoScored.com (@WhoScored) January 27, 2017
Giroud (94.1 mins)
Agüero (99.9)
Costa (109.1)
Sánchez (110.8)
Kane (114.7) pic.twitter.com/CeMFnA4T3T
The Arsenal striker leads a list of the division’s best in terms of how often he bags a goal or assist. Even a striker like Sergio Aguero, who has made his reputation based on how he combines his goalscoring with his playmaking, lags behind Giroud in this regard.
Arsenal’s attacking options go beyond Giroud, obviously, with Alexis Sanchez also featuring in the top five in this list. While Arsenal played some excellent football earlier this season when Giroud was injured and Sanchez was playing as the central striker, these stats justify why Wenger has preferred to play Giroud and Sanchez together ever since he returned.
For all the stick Giroud gets, perhaps, if he’s given the time to build an understanding with Sanchez, the two could form a lethal combination that eventually returns Arsenal to the top of the Premier League.
