Olivier Giroud, Arsenal – 11th Minute

It’s starting to seem that it wouldn’t be a “Goals of the Week” without Olivier Giroud. The French striker received loads of criticism last year, but this year has been the complete opposite, benefitting from Arsenal’s fantastic play within the midfield. Now, they’ve added Mesut Ozil to that occasion in what many believe could be the signing of the summer – an intelligent attacker with eyes for goal and who seemingly sees the game ten seconds ahead of anyone. Ozil hit the ground running in his Arsenal career on Saturday, creating a fantastic Giroud goal early on against Sunderland at the Stadium of Light.



If you’ve been reading this blog, you’ll know I’m a bit of a sucker for goals that involve a great defensive play and smart positioning. This one is absolutely no different. With Ozil taking the attacking duties in the center of the pitch, Aaron Ramsey drops just a bit deeper, and stays more wide in the Gunners’ formation. Here, early on in the match, Arsenal is doing a great job of pressing Altidore who is arguably Sunderland’s best goalscorer. Laurent Koscielny has stepped forward out of defense to cut Altidore off as Ramsey makes a tackle (more like a push), and wins the ball off of him.

We see the next example of Arsenal’s fantastic midfield positioning again, as Jack Wilshere here fills the the space deep, and goes and gets the ball as both Flamini and Ramsey are taken out of the attack after the tackle. Ramsey does a perfect job of taking advantage of the numbers Arsenal has, and looks to get the ball forward.

Take a look at the next three screenshots in quick succession.

1) Here the ball has bounced around a bit after winning the ball back, but look who has dropped deep to help out. It’s everybody’s favorite Ferrari founder, Ozil! The likes of Ramsey, Wilshere, and Flamini have spread out a bit, but Ozil opts to feed the ball back. This could possibly be make sure the rest of his attack can help to bring an attack, but it’s likely Ozil knows what’s happening next. Sunderland couldn’t fully win the ball back here, and they’ll pay for it. Arsenal may be a little lucky in the bounces, but their pressing and ability to fill channels effectively stuffed the Black Cats from making any solid chance on goal.

2) Now we see what he had in mind. As soon as the ball reaches Kieran Gibbs back in defense, Ozil has read Sunderland’s defense perfectly. NINE Sunderland defenders are either in-line or behind him. That leaves just two on the other side, and also Giroud for the Gunners. Ozil likes his odds and thinks he can beat the defense so he just takes off. This run speaks to Ozil’s ability to change Arsenal’s midfield. Their positioning is always fluid and smart – as their players just tend to always fill in empty spaces. The Gunners, though, only deploy one striker, meaning their attacks need to be built up. Ozil’s attacking prowess gives them the potential to build attacks, like this one, out of really nothing.

3) Gibbs, being very aware of the play as well, picks his head up and sees Ozil take off to the next level. He, too, likes their chances and lifts a ball over everybody down the right-hand side. Gibbs’ awareness is integral to this play. Sunderland opts not to press him, leaving him time to make a decision. With his new signing just one pass away, the decision is relatively easy here.

The rest here is just easy for Ozil. We see that Sunderland managed to get a third defender back to cover Giroud, who has just toed the backline all possession, but again positions himself in a perfect place to grab a fourth Premier League goal in four appearances. He gets inside of the defender, meaning that nobody can prevent him from getting the ball except for Valentin Roberge. Ozil nutmegs Roberge on a grounded cross, and Giroud beats Kieren Westwood easily for an early lead. For some reason, right back Ondrej Celustka leaves Roberge by himself, and Ozil easily wins the one-on-one. Like this case, only a few defenders in the world (let alone the league) will be able to consistently shut Ozil down and many will need to mark him with two defenders in open play.

Olivier Giroud might be one of the happiest strikers in the league. With Ozil added to his attack, Giroud can plan on seeing a lot more open attacks and will likely be left to himself to run into open space. Arsenal’s midfield continues to prove itself in its positioning and awareness of the game. They seem to just know where to be, and know which passes to make. The addition of Ozil in this side will create many more opportunities – and has the ability to turn a tough away fixture like Sunderland into an easy 3-1 victory.