Today I found this clip on 101greatgoals.com - it shows Girouds "skills" during the pre-season. I opened the link and it was a total of 1 minutes. I looked at it and 40 sec is him dancing/having a laugh and 20sec of him actually doing stuff (some goals were nice) but still a bit sad: http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/skills-olivier-giroud-tekkers-arsenal-tour-2013/ Yesterday I saw a clip of Gustavo's highlights from 1 game (I know very little about Gustavo - except reading all the good comments about him) but he did more useful stuff in one game then Giroud did in pre-seaon: http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/gustavo-luiz-v-freiburg-individual-highlights/
To be fair, they were two different types of videos. The Giroud one was from Arsenal Tour, who would want to showcase both his goalscoring and his 'wacky', PR-related side in a semi-artistic way. Had they decided to make a video showcasing everything he did in a game without the dancing and silly camera angles then it would be longer. Outside of this, it seems a bit unfair to compare skills when the two roles are so different. We didn't see Gusatvo score or get an assist, but then we wouldn't want to judge him solely on that; similarly, we didn't see Giroud skin any centre backs or win the ball back but he did what was required of him - scoring.
I don't see why we have to use Giroud's video to promote Gustavo, or Gustavo's video to run down Giroud. There are almost no similarities between the two players, or their videos, for us to contrast and compare.
It was not meant to compare them directly as they indeed have different roles. Oliver has scored of goals but from a striker I expect more than (and the best parts from 3-4 games didn't show what I would expect) but what I would expect from a DM is what Gustavo displayed in a single game. Hence the overall comparison.
Well, it is difficult to understand Arsenal fans. Whereas United fans seem to think Phil Jones is the best young defender in Britain, despite all evidence to the contrary, other fans are more complementary about our players than we are. Ramsey would be snapped up by any team in the world in a heartbeat, yet there are still Arsenal fans who want him replaced. If you listen to the French commentary of the Man City Game the French commentary team are overflowing with praise over Giroud's goal, but Arsenal fans on the whole think he was rubbish. In the Emirates Cup he scores on a bicycle kick in the penalty area, and everyone dismisses it because it took a deflection. Just putting a foot on the ball was an achievement! Sorry, but this is nuts. It is almost like you are hoping that these players will be **** this year because you think: A: That Arsenal can afford to buy (or find for sale) 5 or 6 players better than our first team. They can not. B: That getting a new manager will change things. It will not. C: That we somehow have a right to win trophies. We do not. I really don't know how many more goals Giroud could have scored in pre-season, or how he could have played better to convince you and I don't really care. This obsession with negativity that you all have has become fanatical to the point of absurdity. I agree with the fact that we need, or would like 1 or 2 top class signings, but it was never going to be easy to sign them or fit them into the team. The chances it would be done early were remote and it is still far more likely that, at least for the first half of the season, Giroud is our best option up front, even if we do sign a top notch striker.
