Since joining The Gunners in 2012 for £9.6 million Olivier Giroud has been criticised for not being a prolific enough goal scorer to lead Arsenal’s attack but manager Arsene Wenger has kept faith in his number 12 and Giroud continues to deliver.

While the French International cannot be considered an equivalent to Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero or Chelsea’s Diego Costa in goals scored or flair on the pitch; Giroud is a work horse that always comes into a match looking to do his best. He wants to score the winning goals for his team but he lacks that certain something which prevents him from joining the same stratosphere as Costa or Aguero.

It’s not his fault of course and he is still Arsenal’s best option, other than perhaps Alexis Sanchez who has scored twice as many times this season thus far, but it is hard to see how a player like Giroud could be relied upon to lead Arsenal to Premier League glory. He just doesn’t have the quality.

He is a good squad member and perhaps would be great at a team with lower ambitions and expectations. What you get is a player who wins the ball, battles for headers in the box and loves the shirt he wear. What you don’t get is a player who can’t stop scoring and puts fear into the opposition.

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Giroud has faced competition this season namely from Danny Welbeck but fought hard to keep his place. Welbeck made it clear to Wenger that he wanted to play in Arsenal’s central striker role. Giroud at the time was injured but rather than worrying about losing out to the 24-year-old he focused on his recovery and scored on his return. Since then Giroud has continued to work hard and now Welbeck plays second fiddle to him.

When Arsenal last won the Premier League in 2004 it was another Frenchman, Thierry Henry, scoring their goals – 30 in fact. In comparison, Giroud’s most prolific season (2013-14) saw him score 16 from 36 for Arsenal and he looks set to finish this campaign quite close to that. Giroud doesn’t seem like he’ll ever reach the dizzying heights of Henry and some supporters feel cheated. They want a new Henry to spearhead their attack and claim them their long awaited title.

Giroud signed a contract extension back in September which will see him at the Emirates until 2018; meaning Wenger sees him very much a part of Arsenal’s future. But his poor showing in the first leg against AS Monaco recently has reminded fans of Giroud’s weaknesses.

Against Monaco Giroud missed every chance that came his way at The Emirates and meant that his goal in the second leg just wasn’t enough to take them through to the quarter finals. Arsenal were knocked-out in the last 16 for the fifth time proving to some that there has been no progress made these last few seasons.

I doubt Wenger will look at bringing in a big name forward this summer so it seems that Giroud will still be Arsenal’s leading striker when the 2015-16 campaign begins. After three months out and with the same 11 goals as Wayne Rooney and Papiss Cisse, Giroud has had a decent season and there are 10 more weeks to increase his goal tally.

Perhaps he’ll prove us all wrong and do the seemingly impossible by helping Arsenal to win the Premier League next year though I suspect Arsenal will once again just manage their usual top four finish.

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