Who didn't like Sanchez

Stats shmats he's still better.

He isn't though. And the fabled stats prove it.

What do you mean? Stats show Giroud is better, in every single area.

Played less mins, scored more and assisted the same. What other stats matter?

Played less mins, scored more and assisted the same. What other stats matter?

What are you talking about? Diego Costa has played more minutes. 2,024 Premier League minutes so far, 19 goals scored. That's 0.844 goals per 90 minutes played, which is the only true comparison we could ever make, as no two players will ever have the same number of minutes played.

Olivier Giroud has played 1,756 minutes so far, 14 goals scored. That's 0.717 goals per 90 minutes played. Granted it's now fewer goals per 90 than Costa (didn't know he had gone past), but this has only changed in the last two games - Giroud was above Costa for months in this vital stat.

For comparison, Harry Kane is on virtually the same level as Giroud (0.720), Aguero is on a ridiculous 0.918, and Benteke is on 0.510.

When it comes to assists, Giroud has 0.153 per 90 minutes, Costa has 0.133.

Other interesting stats Giroud vs Costa:

• Both have a similar conversion rate with 0.26 vs 0.28 goals per shot
• Giroud wins almost 4x as many aerial duels as Costa, which is significant because of the lone striker role
• Giroud has a higher assists per key pass rate, with 0.139 vs 0.083
• Giroud is turned over less often, 1.9 vs 2.7 turnovers per game
• Giroud has fewer bad touches per game, 2.0 vs 2.2

...and so on. Again, I hadn't looked into these stats since a few weeks back so didn't know the pendulum had swinged in Costa's favour, but Giroud still holds up in comparison. We also have a game in hand, so we obviously won't know the final verdict until game 38.

Giroud hit a purple patch. Which was great for us, but every game he doesn't score a goal he's going to go back into last season mode. I think it would've been overestimating his ability to presume he could carry the goal per game form he was obtaining consistently.

Giroud hit a purple patch. Which was great for us, but every game he doesn't score a goal he's going to go back into last season mode. I think it would've been overestimating his ability to presume he could carry the goal per game form he was obtaining consistently.

Did Costa also hit a purple patch then, seeing as they have similar stats?

Diego Costa scored 27 times in La Liga last season and 8 in 9 in the CL. Clearly isn't a purple patch for him he's just a good player. Giroud on the other hand...

Giroud on the other hand won the golden boot before joining us.

Could you imagine Ronaldo & Messi in Ligue 1 lmao

Could you imagine Ronaldo & Messi in Ligue 1 lmao

You do realise La Liga is way more unbalanced than Ligue 1, right? My grandma could score 27 goals in that league and she's dead.

I seem to remember Falcao also scoring shitloads in La Liga, and where is he now?

Recovering from a major knee injury late in his career in a league which doesn't suit any of his strengths whatsoever.

Agüero, Torres & now Diego Costa are all doing/done really well in this League. I just think it's pure delusion to think that Giroud is better than a player whose consistently got over 20 goals in two seasons. Diego's got 19 in 23 in the League this year though but his hamstring seems to be made of paper.

Giroud over Costa any day.

Our fanbase more than any has a weird infatuation with decent players who are nothing more. I think that Giroud can be an important player for the team, but mainly off the bench.

Off the bench as in on the pitch being a starter? I agree totally.

Recovering from a major knee injury late in his career in a league which doesn't suit any of his strengths whatsoever.Agüero, Torres & now Diego Costa are all doing/done really well in this League. I just think it's pure delusion to think that Giroud is better than a player whose consistently got over 20 goals in two seasons. Diego's got 19 in 23 in the League this year though but his hamstring seems to be made of paper.

I'm not saying Giroud is a historically better player overall. I'm saying this season he is on par, if not better than, Diego Costa. As the stats prove.

Do stats prove that Giroud is ridiculously slow and essentially useless on any counter attacks?

He was pretty decent against City when we were set up for counters. Zlatan is slow as shit as well but yeah.

Do stats prove that Giroud is ridiculously slow and essentially useless on any counter attacks?

Are you saying players like Costa, Zlatan (as mentioned), Drogba, Kane, Benzema, etc...are fast players? Speed is not an essential attribute for playing a lone striker. Besides, Giroud is fantastic on counter-attacks anyway. His quick-thinking passing skills are absolutely world class.

They're not fast but they're a fuckload quicker than Giroud. He's probably the second slowest player in the squad ahead of Mertesacker.

Well for a striker pace alone doesn't define being "quick". Giroud is quick and some of the best, fast passing goals we've scored were going through him for a reason.