Giroud and Chelsea: Mixed Emotions

Evening.

Monday hasn't been fantastic as of yet. There's still time though. Perhaps Lionel Messi is sitting in Piebury Corner, munching on 'The Tony Adams' steak and ale pie ready to sign a pre-contract upon completion of his meal.

Perhaps.

On a more real note, there were a few things worth mentioning about our game at the weekend that I didn't get round to. Firstly, the overall performance of Giroud. Arsene spoke of him specifically in the aftermath of the game, noting his improvement in the last year or so and real hunger to do well. Against Palace, it wasn't always the easiest for him. But he stuck at it and took his goal well. He's not the kind of player who you can feed and then sit back and admire, knowing that he has the potential to score from wherever. No. Sergio Aguero and Luis Suarez are two excellent forwards who play in such an unpredictable way and get plaudits for it but our striker isn't like that.

Giroud may not have the ability to make something out of nothing like those two but his overall game is fast making him an invaluable part of our team. The way he can use his strength and technique to hold up the ball with his back to goal is crucial in a side which relies heavily on goals coming from midfield. Delaying the move and keeping possession are key and he's able to do both yet he still has the awareness to dispatch the ball accurately to a Ramsey or an Ozil to keep the attack flowing. In that sense he's as good a forward as any.

It's what distinguishes him from someone like Soldado. The Spaniard hasn't performed to the level expected of him yet and many put this down to a lack of service. But Spurs' lack of goals in the league is no mystery when you consider that he contributes very little to their play. Waiting in the box and finishing when asked is no longer the job of the forward. Giroud knows this and his contribution to attacks as opposed to Soldado's lingering style is one of the reasons why we have scored eleven more goals than Spurs this season in the Premier League.

Another way that Giroud is so helpful is aerially. In the derby against Spurs, he won everything, and I mean everything, in the air. But he's not just some kind of flick-on player. He consistently out-jumped defenders on that day and brought the ball down with his head, chest, face, hair and just about any body part you can think of. And it wasn't a one off. He does it week in, week out and this sort of effort provides another option for a generally average sized side going forward. There are more positives to his game but I don't want to write one big love-in about Olivier so I won't mention them. For the record, we still need a another striker.

At last at the weekend we kept a clean sheet. It was our first in four games in all competitions and first in six in the league. Woj will be particularly happy after his personal contribution to shutting them out. Hopefully it will provide a platform and we'll be a little tighter at the back during our next crucial month.

Sadly that's about where the good news ends. Flamini's groin strain has been tested and he's been given the thumbs down for the Chelsea game. He'll miss three weeks in total and it's no overstatement to say that it couldn't have come at a worse time for the team. As well as Chelsea, we play Liverpool, Dortmund and United before he recovers and his leadership will be sorely missed. His covering presence is a major asset too these days, especially against counter attacking sides like Dortmund so we can only pray that he's back as soon as possible.

Other injury news is bad with several youngsters out of contention for tomorrow. Gedion Zelelam can count himself very unlucky as he may not get another chance to play for the first team this year. It looks like we'll have to play a stronger side than intended. It says a lot about the reputation of this competition that a team such as Arsenal have to be literally forced into playing their best players. I won't say having good players on the pitch is a bad thing but it will be an exercise in management for Arsene. He'll have to judge the situation and weigh up potential injuries to key players with getting a good result.

Mikel Arteta will miss the game after we decided against an appeal for his sending off on Saturday. That's an odd one for me. Knowing Flamini is out, someone of Arteta's experience and temperament could prove crucial at some point on Tuesday. I get that you can receive a fine if the appeal is judged to be opportunistic but it's surely worth a shot bearing in mind how contentious the issue itself was.

I'm not so hopeful of a win tomorrow given that Chelsea's reserves consist of Juan Mata and Samuel Eto'o among others. Even so it's a good chance of getting a rest for some players and a full 90 minutes for others. Thomas Vermaelen more than anyone will want to prove why he deserves a first team spot.

Finally, we heard news today that Serge Gnabry has signed a new 'long term' deal with the club. 'long term' always says five years to me so it's fantastic to have tied down such a promising player for that amount of time. He looks to be the real deal so far and no doubt he'll benefit from the lack of overblown hype that has surrounded Adnan Januzaj in his short career so far.

May do a proper preview of the Chelsea game at some point tomorrow. May not. Haven't decided yet. In case not, here's to a win so good it sinks Abramovic's speed boat. Or something.

For now.