Olivier Giroud occupies a strange place at Arsenal. Being a number nine at a club as big as the Gunners, with greats over recent years like Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp and Thierry Henry – and many more than capable forwards before them – you’re always likely to face huge expectation from the fans.
As of late the pressure seems to have piled on a little more than usual, after a well below par performance in the Champions League against Monaco.
Despite proving his worth with a classy finish in the next match, a 2-0 win over Everton, Giroud is a divisive character at the Emirates. You’ll often hear his name sung in the stadium to the tune of Hey Jude – and that means something in a ground that’s renowned for being quiet – but a common complaint from fans since the Frenchman’s arrival at the start of 2012/13 is that they still don’t have a “world class” striker.
Is he being treated unfairly? We’ve analysed the stats to get an answer.
This is Giroud’s third season at Arsenal, and since joining he’s managed 35 goals – excluding penalties – meaning he’s scored more than any Arsenal player in that period. Considering he’s been blighted with a few injuries during that time, including suffering a broken leg at the beginning of this season, that’s not bad going.
If you factor assists into the equation Giroud still comes out on top – ahead even of Santi Cazorla – with 49 goals and assists since the beginning of the 2012/13 season.
When it comes to his scoring rate, however, Giroud drops down to fourth in the Arsenal list with a goal every 194 minutes. Lukas Podolski, Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott are all above him.
So he’s Arsenal’s top scorer in the Premier League since he’s been at the club, but sits a bit lower down in the minutes per goal category. Is this what fans find frustrating?
He’s also way down in the conversion rate stats, sitting eighth out of the 11 who’ve scored five or more goals since 12/13 for Arsenal – scoring with just 13.9% of his shots. Of course, as Arsenal’s number nine the onus is on him to shoot more often than his teammates.
When we compare how often he scores with strikers outside of the Arsenal team, his 194 minutes per goal looks worse still. Diego Costa is, unsurprisingly, top of the pile with a goal every 104 minutes. The surprise packages might be considered as Edin Dzeko, with a goal every 145 minutes, and Samuel Eto’o with one every 187.
For context, those around Giroud include Dwight Gayle with an equal minutes per goal ratio, while Romelu Lukaku (193), Wilfried Bony (203) and Wayne Rooney (203) all sit below him in the period since Giroud moved to England.
The stats tell us that Giroud needs a full 90 minutes more to score a goal than Costa, and an hour longer than Sergio Ageuro (133) to notch.
When assists are factored in he fares a little better, having a direct influence on a goal every 139 minutes. This part of his game is one of the most significant and why Arsene Wenger will play Giroud ahead of his other strikers if all are fit – despite that number putting him 12th on the Premier League list. Not quite world class.
Giroud’s game is of course dependent on goals but, playing under Wenger, the way he links with his midfielders is essential to the team playing well. His contribution to the team is a large part of Aaron Ramsey’s goal-scoring success.
There’s one stat that the Frenchman, and even his manager, probably won’t want to see. Carlton Cole (16.1%) has a better conversion rate than Giroud (13.9%), with 10 goals from 62 shots. Giroud is way down the list in 20th – Shane Long (14.7%) and Peter Crouch (14.5%) are more successful. For comparison, Costa’s conversion rate is a league-best 27%.
But is Giroud at least getting better? In short, yes.
His shot conversion has improved massively, almost double this season what it was in his first, and hes also scoring at almost twice the rate, needing 117 minutes to score now in 2014/15 compared to 228 back in his maiden Premier League campaign.
This season, only Costa has a better minutes-per-goal record and Griroud is fifth for goals plus assists. On conversion he’s third.
We shouldn’t read too much into one season, as strikers’ form generally fluctuates from year to year. A few more performances like Monaco and that average will plummet. What Arsenal fans will want to see is him maintaining his new level. Confidence and support from his fellow players, manager and fans will have a massive impact on that.
Source: DSG
