Giroud is simply not a player that is ready to play at the level Arsenal should aspire to. Useful utility player? Maybe. But he's not a guy who's going to carry your team, IMO.
Did you watch the first 20 minutes or are you just waking up now to shit on something you didn't bother to watch.
I hate to draw conclusions from 1 game, but so far, it's Podolski > Giroud. Deserves to start as the CF next game.
On the LB situation, Arsenal's twitter posted this heat map, showing that the inside left channel is where their right winger is focusing.
i don't. as much as he loved to roam forward from centreback (he'd been more subdued in this recent run), i would have thought vermaelen would be a great fit on the left but, whenever he goes out there, he gets timid and hangs back almost as a left-side defensive mid instead of making forward runs. defensively, he's . . . vermaelen. i don't think monreal is amazing but he is a solid #2. i don't mind him.
Admittedly the sample size is larger, but how many has Giroud disappeared into? Far too many. As long as we are going to be an attacking side, we have to have more push up front than Giroud gives us.