Giroud is the man... even if he did not score, the amount of opportunities he creates for others and his defensive play is amazing... And I think Theo's return is timely... he will benefit for Giroud and Ozil... The runs he could make onto Giroud's flicks or Ozil's defence splitting pass... just the thought of it...
I've looked for and cannot find a transcript of Wenger's presser after this game. I want to read what he said about strikers. If anybody can point me to one I'd appreciate it.
"Theo gives us qualities that other players haven't got," said Wenger, in reference to the raw pace that he brings. "It's a different option. It gives us options to score, to go behind to create space in the middle. We have missed that, maybe, but we have not done too badly. Podolski also shouldn't be too far now." "Look I am not against it," he said. "I don't say I never make a mistake – I certainly made some. It is always difficult in the middle of the season. If somebody is doing well somewhere the clubs do not necessarily want to sell him. They can wait until the end of the season. Most of the time it is because we didn't find the right player." "If we lose Giroud we have nobody with body weight up front apart from Bendtner. I think he has the level but at the moment he doesn't get enough games. And as well, in his head, is he here? Has he planned to go?" He was very dismissive about a possible bid for Karim Benzema, the France forward who competes with Giroud for the national team. Asked if they might also battle each other at club level, Wenger was pretty unequivocal. "I don't think that's a good idea," he said. "I have said many times that Europe still produces many fantastic football players, but if you look well we do not produce strikers well. Very few, all of the big strikers come from South America. "In the summer, you had Falcao going to Monaco, Cavani going to PSG in a big transfer, Suarez everybody wanted to buy him, Higuain has gone to Napoli for a lot of money, but in Europe that is an area where it is difficult to find. In Germany, I can remember in every club you had a big striker, they produced some fantastic ones, but they do not produce young strikers. Is that a consequence of the way we coach? Of modern life? I do not know."
I agree with this, especially regarding our defense which basically allowed Southampton nothing but a couple of fluky bounces all day. But, the lack of offense in two straight games is disconcerting. Until yesterday, I would have bet the mortgage we would get 6 points from Hull and Cardiff. Now I'm not as sure.
There used to be a YouTube clip of the invincibles set to that. One of my faves. Had some excellent footage of young Cesc an RvP. I tried to find it last night without success. Maybe you can find it? Thanks for the upload bro.
The defence was really good, but Southampton did what Palace and MU did agains Arsenal, keepig it tight in the middle, giving them space on the wings. This still seems to work relatively well, but Arsenal are improving. Özil is more comfortable on the wing, Cazorla doesn't come to the middle as much, etc. I wrote a piece about it if you are interested in more details.
This may be as close to an 'in the clear' piece of the pre-match video as I can get, but it's from the end of the 2010-11 season, but enjoy if you're a proud GOONER!!! COYG!!! KILL!!!
Sorry, here is the link: http://www.footballstatsandtactics.com/2013/11/arsenal-southampton-olivier-girouds.html