1 Big Reason Why Arsenal Cannot Win A Title Just Yet

While there was no disguising the
disappointment, and even disgust, that some
Gunners fans felt when Robin van Persie
departed for pastures new a year ago, fans of
the club at least had reason for hope and
renewal as Santi Cazorla and Lukas Podolski
joined the club.
While this duo went some way toward
improving the attacking midfield options in
the team, van Persie still needed to be
replaced in the striker's role, and Olivier
Giroud was the man Arsene Wenger deemed
good enough to spend more than £10 million
on.
Giroud had scored 21 goals the previous year
with Montpellier, winning Ligue 1 in the
process, but managed just 11 strikes from 34
games in his debut campaign in the Premier
League.
It wasn't just a matter of putting the ball in
the back of the net, though, which marked
Giroud out as being at least a level or two
below van Persie.
His shot conversion rate was a disappointing
12 percent; despite hitting the fifth-most shots
in the entire league last season, Giroud hit the
target with less than half of them. His lowly
49 percent on-target rate was way below top
scorers Luis Suarez and—of course—van
Persie, and also significantly lower than the
likes of Romelu Lukaku, Rickie Lambert or
Christian Benteke.
Workman-like at times and with good
movement, Giroud's lack of acceleration and
ability to sidestep a man nonetheless shows
his limitations to be painfully evident
compared with Arsenal's quick linkup play,
pace down the channels and inventive
midfield approach
Eleven goals clearly isn't enough for a first-
choice centre-forward to contribute to a side
chasing Champions League football year on
year, and manager Wenger had clearly set his
sights on a new No. 9 man for the coming
season.
Giroud might well improve his goal tally if he
remained in the side, but he would still
prohibit Arsenal from playing their full
spectrum of attack-minded, fast-action
football in the final third.
A more mobile, savvy and technical forward
was required, identified, sought out and
seemingly lost.
They've also been linked, tenuously or not,
with Roma's Pablo Osvaldo, via Metro;
Swansea's Michu, now-Atletico forward David
Villa and also former Gunner Carlos Vela,
Manchester United's Wayne Rooney and now-
Manchester City forward Stevan Jovetic,
Some of the strikers Arsenal have missed out
on signing
Whichever rumours are true, the meaning is
clear: Wenger knows Giroud isn't up to the
task and requires a striker who can provide
better all-round performances, especially a
better goal return, if Arsenal are to challenge
anywhere near the title once more.
Replacing Him No Easy Task…if Gunners
Won't Spend
And so to the real task at hand: spending
money.
By all accounts, Arsenal have plenty to spend
this summer…if they want to. Nobody wants
to pay £10 million for a £4 million-rated
player, and likewise it's illogical to pay £80
million for somebody who would more
realistically be valued at £25 million.
Unfortunately, though, transfer market
values in football are no longer reflected by
anything so simple as a player's worth, and
the massive expenditures on forwards this
summer only serve to underline the fact that
Arsenal must overpay to get quality through
the door.
Was Alvaro Negredo worth £20 million-plus?
Certainly not. Is Edinson Cavani a £55 million
striker? Debatable. Roberto Soldado,
overpriced. Higuain, overpriced. But that's
the pattern.
Arsenal didn't want to pay for the latter, and
they missed out. And those other three
forwards, very good quality and reliable in
front of goal for the most part, also all moved
on. So have other forwards around Europe
this summer, leaving Arsenal with rather less
options to move for than they had a month
ago.
Not being forced into paying massive
amounts by an inflated market is to be
admired, to a point, but it's not going to bring
the Premier League trophy—or even a
challenge for it—to the Emirates Stadium this
season.
And neither is Olivier Giroud.
Culled from NG Trends