Laurent Koscielny has hailed the work rate of Olivier Giroud but warned that his compatriot needs a breather given the number of games he’s played.
The 27-year-old striker has made 17 starts and one appearance off the bench this season – a feat matched only by Aaron Ramsey – scoring eight goals and also weighing in with an impressive five assists.
Despite working his well-honed derriere off on a weekly basis it’s obvious that Arsene wouldn’t be playing the HFB quite so regularly if he had more reliable options on the bench.
Paying lip service to the state of affairs, Koscielny hinted the workload is starting to take a toll.
“It’s true that he’s not scoring but he is setting them up, like he did against Dortmund,” the centre-back told French press (translation by Sky Sports) ahead of their World Cup qualification double-header with Ukraine.
“But he’s also playing game after game and hasn’t had a rest, so maybe he’s feeling a bit of fatigue. He’s very important for us – strong and always answers the call on the pitch.
“If you look at the games, he weighs enormously on the opposition’s defence. All the balls he wins are in the air with his back to goal. He works very hard up front.”
Koscielny also took time to stress that despite defeat to Manchester United at the weekend, the Gunners are determined to kick on again after the interlull.
“We are still confident. The lessons to learn are that we were too shy in the first half and we weren’t able to play our game.
“The second half was better, even if Manchester United let us have the ball.
“But we’d played a lot of games so maybe we dropped off a bit physically. Now we have 10 days off and we will have to get the fire going again at home to Southampton.”
Don’t worry guys. I’ll step up I promise. Looking for alll the monies I deserve when I move.
No.
How does he have 10 days off when he has to play for France in the play-offs?
well, there’s benzema, who admittedly, hasn’t been in form lately although is starting to get some goals, so hopefully giroud won’t have to play all the 90 minutes…
The number of downvotes you always seem to get is a bit…
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( •_•)>⌐■-■
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… harsh.
OOOHHHH YEEEAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!
i think so too 🙁
Your photo makes it look like you are wearing a burglar mask, or so it seems in such a small picture. Nobody likes burglars. I expect they think of you as Harsh the Burglar Guy. (My reasoning may have been affected by that weird graphic that Nicklas Bentner drew. I really wish the bugger would concentrate on football instead of lurking in the internet all the time and wasting the potential Wenger saw in him.) I have thumbed up both of your posts because I always wanted to be a burglar when I was young, but could never find a… Read more »
Anyone know when Yaya is back?
Do we have an option to get Joel Campbell back from his loan spell. Surely a better option than Bendtner!
http://www.olympiacos.org/video-gallery/30298/highlights-olympiakos-paok-4-0
Isnt work permit the problem?…
He qualified for a work permit this summer.
In the Invincible season, TH14 started 37 games. I don’t see why he shouldn’t hack it should the curse of Abou not pay him a visit.
Was it 37 in the league? If its 37 overall, giroud’s frequency of matches is at a rate that’s much higher, what with him featuring in all competitions. So Kos does have a point here
it was 37 in the league, but he probably didn’t have the workload giroud has…
I see what you mean, but Giroud is 6ft 4/5 tall and plays a much more industrious role than TH14 did. It will be a lot harder on his body.
There’s a reason why many of the big strikers in modern football are seen as “lazy” (Zlatan/ Berbatov etc…) it’s hard on the joints and body in general when you’re jumping and lugging 6ft 4″ + and god know how many stones around the pitch game after game.
Agree with you all the way. He isn’t simply a CF, he a plays an all round game for us. Drops deep to defend as and when he needs to. Admire Giroud for his hard work and never say die attitude.
At some point you expect him to be more adaptable in éasier’ fixtures and not drain himself physically. It’s the hallmark of all top forwards. However, an able replacement is something i am not against.
He’s the cement that lets our team play the way it does. If he holds back or plays differently then the team plays less effectively. That is our problem now, tiredness is making him slightly slower and means he isn’t quite reaching the crosses to put them away, or getting into the perfect position to create an assist, as he was before he starting getting fatigued. Bendtner has a similar problem through lack of match fitness, though even now I can’t help thinking that his supposed “hardest effort since joining Arsenal” talk is more ego-driven than an actual desire to… Read more »
Berbatov… Big striker…
6ft 3 is definitely above average, so I’d say big. Perhaps I should have used Dzeko as a better comparison, but that wouldn’t work as well with my whole “lazy” angle as he has a reasonable work rate. Dzeko, however, rarely plays more than 2-3 games in a row, let alone every game of the season.
Apologies… I did not know he was over 6ft… Must be all that stooping from the shame of playing for manure.
Citeh already have the squad to allow careful management of “big man” Dzeko’s knees and other bits. We need a new striker in January to give us the same luxury with Giroud. Wenger has no reason to not buy a striker in January (we all know the usual excuses about availability and “super, super”) because we don’t “have” to have a player who can qualify for the CL, and we don’t “need” a striker who is better than Giroud. What we need is a competent striker who is keen to play for us, is physically and mentally fitter than Bendtner,… Read more »
Because playing for France is like a holiday, comparing to the PL. You’ve got to love the Kos!
Because phsically henry was an athlete. Could run all day. Just had it in him. Giroud whilst obviously very fit isnt the same type of player. No questions he needs help. But your doing a great job buddy. Keep going!
Little guys have it easier though. No matter how large or small you are your joints and tendons are all built the same, and they all work better with less weight to carry. Fat people struggle because they’re heavy as much as they do because they are fat. Hence the bigger players can get injured or fatigued more easily than the little nippy guy (especially if the big guy runs into them). In the long term a 6′ 4” player will feel the effects of playing a lot of games sooner than the 5′ 8” player. Our squad currently has… Read more »
Henry had the pace that Giroud doesn’t so he played much differently to him too. Hold up play is a really hard part of the game for me, cus you’re under intense physical pressure for every ball and you do get kicked and shoved about so it’s bound to batter your body which is why Giroud could do with a game or two off, just for his body to recover and heal. I think once Theo and Poldi are back it will be better as Arsene can rotate them in the front, not to mention we can rotate the midfield… Read more »
Anybody think Arsenè has got the message yet?
Please buy big in Jan. We need another Giroud a battler may be someone whos got pace to give us another dimension upfront. Would hate for us to rue not signing another striker at the end of this particular season considering how open it is.
An injury free Podolski is not a bad substitute for Giroud in the CF role, I don’t think we’ve seen the best of him in an Arsenal shirt yet. A striker who could take the ball and charge at defenders with a hope of getting past one would make a change, Podolski used to do that but he’s less mobile than he was at 23/24.
Lallana maybe, we have a good track record with ex-Saints players but he won’t be cheap.
Podolski hasn’t done the CF job in a while now though? I am not sure if he was played upfront for Koln (Where he had his best season in terms of goal scoring before joining us) but he certainly hasn’t played upfront for Germany since 2008 and has been a Winger ever since.
Not saying he would be a bad option, but we still need a proper striker.
For future reference, “paying lip service” means saying something without conviction.
it has nothing to with conviction. It simply means supporting someone by saying something supportive…
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/pay+lip+service
Its not about the support, its all about saying something you really don’t mean. Usually its because you benefit somehow from not saying what you really think or don’t think you can actually give your real opinion. — It comes from the idea that you are just agreeing with your mouth. So:
90%+ of anything politicians say
Why you almost never hear a bad word said about brides at the wedding, or of the deceased at a funeral.
How so many people agree with the Boss’s new, stupid and doomed to failure idea.
No, it doesn’t. It’s essentially slightly underhanded because it means speaking in support of something that you quite possibly don’t really mean, don’t support, or don’t give a fuck about. It’s like when a player says he supports the stand against racism because he knows that that is what is expected of him, or will make him look good to his fans or whoever, when he actually doesn’t really give a toss about it one way or the other. In a similar but opposite vein, when Liverpool FC were defending and backing Suarez to the hilt the Liverpool players were… Read more »
I should point out that they very link you gave us says:
pay lip service (to something)
Fig. to express loyalty, respect, or support for something insincerely. You don’t really care about politics. You’re just paying lip service to the candidate. Don’t sit here and pay lip service. Get busy!
The key word is “insincerely”.
“Marco Reus possesses a release clause option in his current contract at our club,” Watzke told SPORT1media. “He could leave our club due to that. “He is, however, the only player in our first-team squad that has such a contract clause.” Reus’ contract runs until 2017 and speculation has claimed that Dortmund want to hand the 24-year-old a pay rise to remove the release clause which is reported to be €35million (£29.4m).. Benteke and reus in january anyone? A proper quality left winger(something we’ve lacked for a while) and a more than capable(EPL proven) striker who apparently want’s to play… Read more »
currently we have ox, podolski and walcott and even cazorla and rosicky who play very well on the wings and not to mention gnabry and miyaichi … and that is enough… buy any more wingers and you turn the competetion for places from healthy to just plain crazy…
Yeah, look at all those natural wingers we had available for United…
Are you afraid of competition in the arsenal squad? LoL you’re not a player so i don’t see why you should be bothered besides we all know rosicky and cazorla are no proper wingers we also know rayo and gnabry for a team looking to win the league are not just ready for much time with the first team rosicky is 32 cazorla is 28 or 29 i think they aren’t getting any younger and for a team harbouring the thought of a premier league assault(sorry for the strong word just wanted to indicate how eager we are to win… Read more »
Why do you want Arsenal to look like Chelsea? Spending crazy money to titles. I hate it when people keep on talking about signing Cavani, Falcao, Reus etc when everyone knows that that is not how our beloved club is run and I don’t want it running that way. I don’t want people telling us that we bought our way to a trophy after we spent 100 million on new players. We have the philosophy of unearthing gems and having the players from our youth being the core of the team in the future. And I want it to stay… Read more »
we could use a very mobile, quick front man who can finish, I doubt many are on the market, but there are choices…Everton FC have Hernandez who should leave the sinking ship. Right now besides maybe one or two players we don’t really have a deadly finisher. We will get a lot of goals from midfield but nevertheless a first class forward will put us at the next level, if we are 1st come January and have qualified for the knock outs then it would be a sin not to. No one is saying pay a small nations gdp for… Read more »
Because Benteke signed a new long term contract Aston Villa would want funny money for him see him staying there. Rues on the other hand could be a great signing like poldi the lad is a clinical finisher so could cover the striking role and he has bags of pace. The argument against is we have to many midfielders yeah but we also always seem to have injury problems. Certainly need some kind of cover for Giroud come the next window.
?
Surely this is the perfect time for Giroud to have a 10 day ‘illness’ just like Ryan Giggs used to get.. although we know now that virus was probably true and sexually transmitted.
That comment was perfect in every way. Well done!
Yep, that Rooney certainly “likes” old people, or so I have heard. No need to wonder at the source of that particular “virus”.
From Paris with love.
How caring of you lolo. I know burnout is bad and all but i doubt it will affect your FIFA 14 play dates……
Jesus who pissed in your Cherios this morning?
Ivan said clearly we are looking to strengthen in Jan
Noises now from team mates about lack of strength in attack
Nicky B didn’t do himself any favors with his comments the other day
It’s looking fairly possible we’re gonna bring someone in half decent (on deadline day of course)
Have a lovely interlull gooners.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcTJbvOsvYQ
Suarez in January would be great
Can’t see the bin dippers being that daft. It would wreck there season and I think they would demand between 50 and 60 million for him.
Unless they fall away toward January and Suarez gets to be a nuisance again.
Poldi is back in 3 to 5 weeks which might help a bit
Could be interesting to see how he works supported by Ramsey and Ozil just behind.
Walcott and Santi out wide on either flank.
Flamini or Arteta can anchor a 4-1-4-1 against most teams.
Podolski’s ‘understanding’ with Ozil may be critical.
Although 3-5 weeks means January window.
If he gets in one good game, it may mean Wenger refusing to dip in. Slight gamble.
3-5 weeks means December. Wenger may have used Podolski in the middle a couple of times, but I believe he wants a striker regardless of any help Podolski might be able to give in that area.
Couldn’t we get Diaby fit and play him as a striker?
Take out ‘as a striker’ and then we’ll start seeing progress…..
No, Harsh. You are supposed to read *all* of the definition.
Edin dzeko would be a fine GUNNER!..
Too similar to Giroud.
Not exactly setting the premiership on fire either let alone his club.
Reus would be fantastic for us imo. Fast, very skillful, good finisher. It’ll mean our main “speed outlet” isn’t always going to be down Theo’s flank.
Gnabry can play both flanks. Chamberlain has also been deployed on the left. Walcott is the least flexible of the trio.
I don’t think we need another midfielder let alone a winger.
Not a priority.
I’m unsure if Benzema, while that type of mobile forward would be great his own form has been patchy..they will want big money too..
Don’t read too much into his current form at Madrid. if you remember, TH14 was not exactly convincing anyone of his potential in Italy either when he came over. Benzema whilst not the tallest (6′ is about Podolski’s height) is a clever player who brings in others whilst dropping deep. There’s a bit of what Giroud does in there but his mobility is more RVP in many ways and he has a bit of pace. If Wenger can get him, he can polish him up. Price (and willingness to let go) will again depend on RMadrid. If they feel somewhat… Read more »
Benzema if sold likely in the 30m++ ball park max. May be less on current form which is a perfect reason to buy now.
completely agree with you
Remy would of being a good signing as back up till we get world class striker in
dear my fellow gooners, we should stop mock other players and teams and start to encourage our own team first…..arsenal fans pays for what their did in old trafford as their sang a song mocking persie but not sand a song to encourage giroud (even gibbs) who look really fatigue in the game….
.remained defer anyone? Lol
WHERE THE F@#K IS WALCOTT?????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????
IN THE F@#KING TREATMENT ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tell me, please, why are we shouting?
Buy Michu. Arsenal will bring the very best out of him.
It’s interesting that we aren’t hearing stories about Ramsey being tired, as we are for Giroud. The man must be a human dynamo. It’s a certainty that Ramsey works extremely hard in every game. Perhaps the fact that he is one of a number of top class midfielders in the team, as opposed to being the only fit striking option, makes it mentally less fatiguing for him?
nope, don’t think so… i think he just has a fantastic engine, and another point to consider is that although giroud runs a lot less, most of the time he is up aginst two centre-halves, who are often as strong as hime, all alone, and has to use all his strength trying to win headers and hold up the ball, the body takes a lot more battering from that…