Arsene Wenger has praised Olivier Giroud’s first season in English football and promised that there’s much more to come from the France striker.
Despite scoring 17 goals this season there has been concern from fans and criticism in the media, especially in light of the missed chances against Everton this week, that the former-Montpellier man has yet to prove he can cut the mustard consistently enough to be the main man at the Emirates.
Nevertheless, allaying those fears Wenger told press ahead of Saturday’s game with Fulham that he was pleased with his summer signing.
“He has good physical potential. He wants to play every single game, he has a good basic stamina and he can absorb the games.
“He can absorb the body to body [challenges] because he’s a strong guy. I think you will see more from him next season, and there’s a lot more to come from him.
“He is very extrovert but as well he has a basic positive nature. He wants to do well, he is desperate to do well, but he is not the one who hides afterwards.
“He stands up for what he has done and I feel he deals quite well with that.”
The boss also took time to highlight the improvement in Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s game with the England international cutting a much more confident and effective figure in recent weeks after a below par first half of the season.
“Alex is a huge talent,” Wenger continued. “I believe that he has moved forward a lot this season and you see it now when he comes on he has a different stature.
“He takes responsibility when he comes on now, which was not always the case. He has made huge improvements. He’s a very young boy. He has a part to play in our final run-in of course.
“I think since January he has grown up a lot. You see that now, there is more purpose in his game, the final ball is much better and his concentration is at a higher level.
“That’s what you learn when you come from [being] a young talented boy to a real performer. I think this season has been very useful for him.”
In fairness to Chamberlain and Giroud both faced uphill battles this season and have each enjoyed highs and lows. The former returned to Arsenal having spent the summer hailed as England’s saviour, while the latter was charged with replacing a striker who had just surpassed a scoring record set by Thierry Henry.
Arseblog News accepts that Giroud can be hit and miss but the question really has to be when he’s not been firing on all cylinders why nobody else has been available to replace him. That responsibility firmly lies with the manager. 17 goals in no mean feat, even if he probably should have double that, and you hope that with a year’s experience under his belt that he will get better.
With regards to the Ox it’s frighteningly easy to forget that he’s still a teenager; bearing that in mind he’s still a huge prospect and a game-changer in the making. It’ll be intriguing to see how each man gets on next term…
Everything is there for Giroud to be a very good striker: physicality, effort, movement, heading ability, and shot power. He just needs to drastically improve his finishing and decision making. I’m optimistic about the former, but I feel the latter is what may prevent him from being an appropriate first choice striker for a title team. He has just wasted far too many attacking positions with ill-advised passes & shots.
That said, he was unquestionably worth the price Arsenal paid.
Giroud is a hardworker and once you’re that all the other things will follow. Getting into those dangerous positions, laying off assists (those to die for chest passes after a tussle with his marker; e.t.c) for your teammates they all come through that.
We judge him harshly coz that dutch skunk left us with such high expectations of what a decent cf should look like. That said, it’s his 1st season here so he might well bode in alittle quicker than skunk who we actually signed 6 years into his stay with us before yeah……
That dutch skunk arrived here a young big mouth, with a hot head and a glass leg. He left here one of the top 5 strikers in the world. As you rightly point out, HFB works so hard, and has a good touch, he isnt afraid of defensive duties either. Arsene will sort Giroud out, those who say Le Boss is a useless coach are talking pony, our transfers out sheet stands testament to that. A player with such a good attitude, who is “desperate to do well” makes for a great student, and I think we might end up… Read more »
I agree, its hard to fault what he has accomplished in his first season with us, but it’s hard not to think of how many more goals/points we would have gotten this season if we had a striker who would have also capitalized on the countless chances he has missed on top of the ones he put away
I would love to see a “world class” striker signed in the summer, we need options, and at the moment they are quite limited, but all this “Giroud is shit” gonads is ridiculous! He has had a succesful season by any standard, compare his first season since stepping up a couple of levels to a certain 50m fella that plays in a mask, or a 35m geordie chap who also appears on soccer am on Sky.
Makes him look a quality bargain!
Personally I think those strange decisions he has made this season have been due to him trying to impress us fans and prove to us he is good enough. Remember that shot first game against Sunderland where he could have passed across to Ramsey I think but shot from miles out? I really think if he wasn’t trying to prove something he wouldn’t have shot that. Next season I think we will see him really come through on the decision making and finishing side.
That was Stoke.
Nope, it was Sunderland. Arsenals second game in PL.
Sunderland was our opening game, stoke was our second game
I agree for the most part — I think Giroud has great potential as a striker next season and has been as good as anyone could have expected for his first season in the premiership, but I think that Giroud’s movement, especially on the counterattack, leaves quite a bit to be desired. There have been a number of times this season where Giroud failed to create very good scoring opportunities because of poor movement. Most recently, I recall in the first half of Tuesday’s match against Everton, Cazorla playing an excellent ball across the six yard box, with Giroud waiting… Read more »
Maybe he plays well when Santi plays behind him.
no ! nur wenn poldi breit spielt.
17 goals, Bendtner produced that before (in 2009 I believe) so it’s not like he made a miracle, and Giroud scored a lot in cups, and in high-scoring games against bad opponents.
17 goals is simply bending the reasoning behind Giroud’s performances. He is terribly inconsistent with his goals, and only 11 is in the league anyways. That’s suddenly not so good from a big team’s main striker.
Bendtner scored 16. Having been here ages, whereas this is Giroud’s first season. And he played pretty much every game, whereas Giroud has come off the bench in plenty of games this season. Cups – well do they not matter? Were people ambivalent after the Blackburn game? Of course not. Scoring in cups is needed too. As for “high-scoring games against weak opposition” – do you just mean the 7-3 against Newcastle? (I will accept the 5-2, I suppose!). And he’s got what, 12 assists too? Sublime ones, such as for Poldi vs Montpellier and Gibbs vs Swansea. His problem… Read more »
The 1 he provided 4 Wilshere 2 against Swansea in FA cup
Damn this kindergatten math, always gave me a headache!
There is no doubt giroud is a decent player and his return this season has been excellent, but he needs help, he is the striker we should have had last season to help out rvp.
To compete we need another top quality striker, that’s not to say giroud hasn’t done well but if we are going to be serious about challenging for major honours next year, then we need more.
Agreed. Even when Giroud is not contributing (lets face it, even the best miss sitters on off days) in the attack, he is a huge asset in set piece defending. Think his decision making sometimes leaves a lot to be desired but that shall improve with time. It might be a little ruthless to some, but we need to buy a better striker who has the ability to create something from nothing (heh, sounds so easy) which hfb lacks. Ox is one of the brigtest young talents in Europe and I am glad that the unwanted media attention is off… Read more »
First season guys.Give him a break!!
He has come up from a small team in France and I feel he has done very well settling to a big club like Arsenal where he has to deal with unreasonable pressure from fans like yourself.
He doesnt go around telling he is the best striker in d world nor did he play anywhere in England before.
Well, hope he does a Ramsey. ATM though, his finishing is Gervinho-esque.
Insert bad comment about Giroud here
Line about Ramsey never recovering
Gervinho falling over
Never gets old….Groundhog Day in here
The truth is that Giroud’s finishing made my cry a lot during this season. And let’s not forget that most of his goals didn’t make that much difference for our position in the table. I think and I’m most probably wrong that more points came from his assists than goals. And of course it is not wrong but it’s not good for a striker either.
Forgot to write the most important part. So…
Nevertheless Koscielny has very similar story to that of Giroud’s with stepping up pretty late in their careers and he turned out to be okay, so let’s hope it’s going to be the same case with Giroud.
Drogba’s career also followed a similar path as well as “struggling” in his first season and being labelled a donkey by ignorant fans and the tabloids. Plenty of precedents from which confidence can be drawn.
Drogba only got 16 goals in his first season
Are you kidding? You’re really complaining because the 17 goals he scored werent “important”? Would it be better then if he had only scored 3 winning goals?
Its crazy talk.
It never gets old hey, it was Gervinho and Ramsey, now its Giroud. Can’t we for once support our players? Assists are as good as goals. I’d rather we have different goal scorers than relying heavily on 1 person. Instead of a striker that will score 20 per season I’d rather we have 4 or 5 players that will score 60 goals. Just so we clear Bendtner had Cesc behind him, Cesc made everybody look good including Chamakh. I’m not saying that we shouldn’t criticize our players, its just that we never give them a break even when they play… Read more »
Try telling that to Blogs, & his constant scapegoating!!!
What, are you serious? How many times has blogs defended Ramsey? Even after some of Gervinho’s more shocking performances, he kept saying we should support him, if only for this season.
Scapegoating? Ha!
That line about Cesc floured me. Damn. I miss that boy.
Darn flour
Considering all the strikers Arsenal have had in the past it’s no surprise that Girouds accomplishments come off as underwhelming. Sure he’s not a the best finisher and not the type to fancy chances for himself with some sublime piece of skill, but he makes up for it in other areas with his strength. And who knows what could happen? He’s still 25 – 26 so he’s still relatively young and has a lot to learn. And while there has definitely been some frustrating moments from the HFB, he’s also shown some moments of class from this season. I think… Read more »
The first season syndrome has recently worked differently at arsenal don’t fucking know why.
Bendtner, chamakh, gervinho all started pretty well on their maiden season then went downhill as they progressed…..
Giroud too has started brightly let’s hope with him the only way is up. Im not his biggest fan but Im a fan of arsenal! and wan t only good things for it.
I believe the condition is called ‘second season syndrome.’
Arsene knows
You are 16 years in this job, you must be right.
Please support every goal every player scores, they’re all important, you nipple
i quite like Giroud, just not sure he should be Arsenals main striker. I dont know if im just comparing him to strikers of old but in my life time we had 3-4 main strikers. Ian Wright, Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry and Van Persie with the likes of Wiltord, Kanu, Suker and Eduardo as back ups or 2nd strikers. (Im drooling right now btw). I know we have been blessed with some greats but imo he fits in to the back up catergory. He has his strengths no doubt, and again i think he will improve next season. I think… Read more »
Give him a break, people are doubting him in arsenal and even he’s frustrating me like tuesday night,he was coming in a new team, the Dutch guy is gone. Everything was to do again, people don’t like this guy because he’s not a big name but at least he’s fighting for the team. He is still have a big step to come but I better see people working hard on the pitch than like before not defending at all and don’t give a shit about losing. I am happy Wenger stick with him, can only do good for us next… Read more »
So bale had an #askbale session on twitter today. He forgot he’s from sp*rs and arsenal fans on.twitter just looove a bale wind up. Funny stuff here. E.g “I’ve been told your nickname at spurs is “tea tray” as in you carry 10 mugs every week, can you confirm this”
More here. http://www.sickchirpse.com/askbale-twitter/
I personally see the quality in Giroud. If we played a front two, the guy would be immense as a second striker. In fact I think he’s link up play is up there with the best strikers in world football. I don’t know why “Arsenal fans” moan. At least one different player every week we should be selling. Asking for our managers head then wanting it back on a win/lose basis. You ought to be ashamed of yourselfs. No wonder star players leave. If I played for Arsenal, I’d hate some of the so-called “Fans”.
The reason why fans spout abuse on here about certain players is partly because they are clueless but also because other fans go ott about the same players after a couple of decent performances. Good example? Fans on here saying santi better than cesc in september this season. So many snap judgements on here. Giroud has had a good first season but it’s too early to really judge him. Ox has had a very disappointing season but still very early to judge him…..
i wouldnt say santi is better or worse just different
That’s incredibly generous to Santi. Gooners who deny Cesc was as good as the vast majority of our title winning sides remember his contribution very differently than I do. For me he was a hugely gifted and consistent player, allbeit playing in sides that won very little. To class Santi close to Cesc is really generous……………..Santi is ace though!
I’ve said this many times before:
“Giroud will come good.”
However, I’m not convinced this is the best formation for him. He really is a 4-4-2 type of striker and I’d really like to see Giroud and Poldi menace backlines with Giroud hustling, creating turnovers, and feeding to Podolski so he can unleash the left-footed “Hammer of Mjolnir.”
Mentioned a few times that i would love to see Poldi off Giroud, but I always get told ” 4-4-2 is SO 90s, it just doesnt work these days…..” Wish someone would tell Ol Red Nose, its irritating His lot winning all these titles with such an outdated system. I get we have a great midfield, but wouldnt it be good to change it up occasionally, 2 strikers for defences to worry about, different enough to make different runs, 1 great in the air, 1 with a rocket firing left foot. We can be a bit predictable, managers know how… Read more »
http://www.sickchirpse.com/askbale-twitter/
Go here and have a laugh.
Love this one “I have been told your nick name at spurs is the ” tea tray ” as you carry 10 mugs every week . Can you confirm ?” #AskBale jokes
Quality stuff
THIS IS WHY ARSENAL WILL NOT PROGRESS UNDER WENGER – HE IS ALWAYS HAPPY TO PRAISE AVERAGE PERFORMANCES! I REALLY DON’T CARE HOW MANY SEASONS GIROUD HAS BEEN AT ARSENAL, THERE IS NO EXCUSE FOR MISSING THE CHANCES HE DID AGAINST EVERTON
Even if this had said something vaguely lucid and intelligent, thumbs down for the Caps Lock. You sound like you’re on crystal meth
Agree, the missed-chances vs. Everton made most Gunner fans fall off from our sofas. So as a manager what do you do about it? In these situations Roberto Mancini’s tactic is to pubicly disgrace an underperforming player in front of reporters. All that accomplishes is to convince otherwise-talented players (Balotelli, Na$ri) to up underperform even more, and eventually up sticks and leave. Fact is, whether Giroud is ‘rested’ against Fulham or not, he will still has a part to play sometime during the remaining 5 fixtures. Wenger has calculated that praising/encouraging him in public with the hopes of getting his… Read more »
your either a 10 year old fifa addict without the brains to form a rational judgement, a spud, or just plain retarded
Ox is beastly when he’s fully switched on. I love the way he plays. Hope he reaches his full potential, he will be a fantastic player with us. May he peak and retire with Arsenal.
Had forgot this article was even about the Ox as well with all the Giroud comments. Lets hope third seasons a charm for him.
It would help the team and giroud himself if wenger went and brought another striker. An actual striker not converted wingers. Giroud is probably the worst starting striker we’ve had in my lifetime(since 88) but he is still a good player. The problem is that we have been blessed with world class strikers. Henry, van cuntsie, bergkamp, anelka, wright, etc Giroud is closer to alan smith and john hartson, but they had strike partners while he plays up top alone. He also lacks pace and as someone mentioned that ability to create something out of nothing. This is the difference.… Read more »
Damn those converted wingers. Should’ve bought one of these ‘actual strikers’ instead of the winger TH14 then ay? Back to your point though, funnily enough the game has changed now since we had the legends you mentioned. (Excluding Jazzhands) Giroud is a quality option, far better than any of the other strikers in his category of team battering ram, we just need a decent foil/competition for him next season. You’re right, he’s not as good as Bergkamp or Thierry but he’s a completely different player, in an ever evolving league, up against the endless resources of the CashClubs, who can… Read more »
errm rvp henry both converted wingers, id say he knows what hes doing, lets let the man do his job and get behind the team hey?
Giroud has out perforemd a lot of strikers who are considered world beaters with his first season return. The key to his movement will be playing with these guys for longer and then the movement will become telepathic. The biggest thing we need to do this summer is hold on to our top performers. That would be a A+ summer for me. Signings would be great, shifting dead weight off the payroll would be great too but for me keeping the lads together for once and not having to bed in 3-4 new players as starters would be fantastic. The… Read more »
[…] It looks as if Olivier Giroud will continue up front despite some spurned chances against Everton on Tuesday, and he’s got the full backing of the manager who has praised his development this season: […]
Realgooner were on the same page it seems. Considering were the same age you know where im coming from. Like i said he will be a usefull squad player and a different option should we use a 4-4-2 again. But we wont. We need a 30+ goals a season striker. Someone to drag us through a game when needed. Bit of magic. Wenger keeps saying he will spend money. I just hope we finish top four to attract a player of that standard. Or like Ian Wright said recently, if we dont, we’ll have to make do with what we… Read more »
Contrary to my last post I still would like an extra striker to either fight with Giroud for his place, for him to learn off or to offer us something different. For the fight for his place I see Jozy Altidore as an option For learning off David Villa, would also be someone for Joel Campbell to learn from as well if he is around For something different, yet similar to Villa just younger, Giuseppe Rossi The last option of Rossi is the most dangerous as he has been out injured for a full year and is tiny, we need… Read more »
1. Jozy Altidore? Who couldnt make it at Hull? Er no thanks. Try rotating the Pod up there first.
2. David Villa, although excellent, in my opinion is too old to adapt to the EPL. He’s losing his pace and doesn’t have a great injury record – we do not need another one of those. Try Jovetic instead.
3. Rossi, minuscule and an awful injury record. Although he has quality left peg, we have multiple of them. Try moving Akpom to the squad instead.
There’s no point comparing Giroud to any former strikers because the formation is different, the intensity has changed, the midfield behind him are new to each other. Never judge a player on one season alone, Drogba is a good example and Roque Santa Cruz is the other kind of example.
Pires
Put me in the middle and let me riffle those shots in or atleast scare the shit out of the goalies. One may just help score himself. Podolski for cf anyone?
17 goals is not a bad return, but when you look at the teams he has scored against it doesnt look so great.
bayern munich?
hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha.
http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/drivetime/130418/who-better-carroll-or-giroud-195891
you gotta be fucking kidding.
[…] 吉鲁在周二的比赛里错过了些好机会，但目前看起来他仍将是首发，因为他凭借这个赛季的进步得到了老头子的支持： […]
na na naaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!
na na naaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!
Giroud!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[…] 来源：[Arseblog News] […]
How many time has converting wingers worked. Henry and van cunt are world class players. Pod, theo, gerv are not. Gerv is the only one who can dribble past his man, but he can’t cross and is just as likely to fall over or run the ball out of play. Pod is a striker, he can’t dribble but his hammer left allows him to put in decent service. Theo simply is not good enough. Once his pace is negated he’s pretty useless. My point was giroud is doing well considering he has no strike partner. Also no natural wingers delivering… Read more »
Andy Carroll: £35M … 6 PL goals for Liverpool over two and a bit seasons.
Fernando Torres: £50M … 14 PL goals for Chelsea over two and a half seasons.
Olivier Giroud: £9.6M … 11 PL goals so far in his FIRST season in English football.
Who would you rather we bought?