The problem with the Premier League is that it wants the best players; in fact, it needs the best players. It needs players who are good enough to rival what other leagues boast in order to add some level of substance to the idea that the English league is king. But English football, in turn, loves to shoot itself in the foot by playing a hand in the slow adaptation of foreign players.
Who created this myth that foreign players need 12-months to settle into English football? Why doesn’t that theory wash with every player that’s ever arrived from another country? And if whoever thought that idea up — an idea which is now strongly advocated by many — why are the same individuals so quick to blast new arrivals who are having something of a slow start?
Olivier Giroud’s Arsenal career is three League games old. Did Lionel Messi and Andres Iniesta establish their quality after three games? It took Dennis Bergkamp close to ten games before he finally scored, with many claiming that Arsenal had wasted their money on some flash foreigner. Forgive the football clubs with a little bit of international knowledge to completely ignore the foolishness of such comments.
The ghost of Robin van Persie is haunting Giroud in front of goal, something which the Frenchman alluded to in a recent interview during the international break. And who can blame him? The English want instant results and proof of a player’s worth. English football is a world of double standards and the demanding of something bordering on the impossible. Why isn’t the Premier League praising the good work of an English club in presenting the leading scorer and title-winner from France to these shores during his prime? As I have mentioned in the past, it doesn’t make for great reading; at least for people who look for anything but football talk in their daily dose of the game.
The French striker will have a lot of good history on his side this weekend when Arsenal play Southampton at the Emirates Stadium. Both Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp bagged their first Arsenal goals against Southampton, and it will prove to be a great bit of business by Arsene Wenger if Giroud can make half the contribution that those two strikers made for the club.
In the meantime, he’ll have anybody and everybody in his ear about how he’s failing to adapt to the rigours and might of English football; a man’s game where fancy tricks and gelled hair needs to be married with brute strength and the English fighting mentality. No wonder England has been overtaken by every other major European nation in international football.
Olivier Giroud has already made a good start to his Arsenal career, despite not finding the net yet. His movement in the lone striker role has proven to be very promising, with his intelligence drawing opposition defenders away from the threat of his attacking team-mates. The former Montpellier striker certainly played a role IN Lukas Podolski’s goal at Anfield just prior to the international break. His size and obvious strength is also a bonus in a world where the smaller striker simply won’t survive. And let’s not sail too far away from the fact that this is still a very good goal scorer.
Moving from France to any of the three major leagues in Europe is obviously going to be a step up—although, there’s certainly a debate over which country has the third “best” league after England and Spain. Karim Benzema had a horrible start to life at the Bernabeu, but Real Madrid stood firm by a young striker whose talent was plain to see. Would English football so casually turn their noses up at the opportunity to land one of the best strikers in Europe in Benzema? You really get the feeling they would.
Olivier Giroud’s start at Arsenal has come under a lot of criticism primarily because of the striker who operated that role for the Gunners last season. Hardly a fair conclusion to make. Fortunately for Arsenal fans, not too many in England are aware of Giroud’s qualities. The Frenchman in the dugout at the Emirates has a good idea though.
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