Adebayor put Giroud to shame? How the Spurs and Arsenal forwards compared

Follow us on Google Discover

They both failed to hit the target, but how did Olivier Giroud and Emmanuel Adebayor compare?

Both Arsenal and Tottenham strikers failed to find the net in yesterday’s North London derby, but how much exactly did Olivier Giroud and Emmanuel Adebayor offer their respective sides?

Frenchman Giroud came in for particular criticism from Arsenal fan Piers Morgan, who labelled him ’embarrassing’.

The claim Adebayor worked ‘twice as hard’ as the Arsenal forward caught our eye – was it even true?

Here’s a look at the statistics from the game with respect to the two players, and what they were able to offer their two sides. Did Adebayor really work twice as hard as the Frenchman?

Clearly Giroud’s failure to score, can be put down to the fact he didn’t even muster a single attempt. Such a display is certainly not good enough for Arsenal, and had Nabil Bentaleb scored an equaliser for Spurs from the clear chance he had, Giroud’s lack of contribution may have been the focus of even more scrutiny. F

One of Giroud’s real strengths is his aerial ability, but he won just two aerial duels the entire contest; Adebayor winning more than twice as many. He did however find a teammate with one of his headers unlike the Spurs striker, although neither created any goalscoring opportunities.

Striker Giroud completed a lesser ratio of his passes, and also attempted just 11 in the final third – a poor number of a striker whose hold up play is said to be an asset for his side.

This where Giroud deserves credit. For a performance critiqued for his lack of hard work compared to Adebayor – it was the Spurs man who failed to win a tackle or make an interception. Giroud made two interceptions, although in the scheme of things not a big number, it’s not an area in which he should be lambasted unlike his attacking failures.

Giroud clearly finds it tough going leading the line against top teams, he can battle away but he rarely engineers himself enough space in which to shoot on goal.

With Arsenal tipped to sign a striker in the summer, time is running out for the Frenchman to prove why he deserves to be the club’s main man.