Arsene Wenger says Olivier Giroud will learn from his red card against Queens Park Rangers after the striker was deservedly sent off for a literal tête-à-tête with Nedum Onuoha.
The French international received a straight red for his angry reaction in the 53rd minute and had to watch from the dressing room as his teammates laboured to a tense 2-1 victory.
Speaking after the game, Wenger underlined that he had little sympathy for his compatriot: “It was a deserved red card. Madness is a strong word but he didn’t kill him, he touched him and should not have done it. He should have been in control. Olivier Giroud knows he made a mistake and I know him well enough to think that he will not do it again.
“He told me he was pushed in the back and that projected him into the keeper. Maybe because the injury he had still plays a part on his mind and it’s unusual for him. Usually he’s a guy who’s in control of his response.”
Asked how Arsenal will cope without Giroud in upcoming league encounters with West Ham and Southampton and the FA Cup clash with Hull City, Wenger continued, “Honestly, you never need that. In my job you sometimes have to deal with the strengths and sometimes the mistakes of people.”
On an eventful afternoon at the Emirates the Gunners held out for Wenger’s 400th Premier League victory despite QPR scoring a late penalty and coming close to an equaliser.
“It was a tough one today,” Wenger admitted.
“It doesn’t become easier. Honestly, you don’t have a feeling because there is so much in the next game. I’m happy I could win 400 and it’s not as easy as it looks. The next 400 will be much more difficult.
“We were nervous and the opponent pushed forward. Our game is [about] psychology and the mental aspect. In the final part of the game when the result is not settled, it’s always very important.
“We made it hard for ourselves but we played two [types] of games. One where were in control of the game until it went 2-1. After, you never know. The last five minutes were a bit edgy because we conceded a late goal last week and you could feel that was a bit in our mind. But overall I think we were in control for big parts of the game and in the end we have shown resilience and fortunately got the three points.”
For what it’s worth, Olivier has apologised for his behaviour. Arseblog News is inclined to accept on the off chance he feels like inviting us to whatever New Year’s Eve party he is so obviously eager to attend.
Sanchez-Welbeck-Walcott
Not bad as an alternative.
Not bad at all, but Alexis now cannot rest. Hope he doesn’t get injured just as Ozil comes back.
Shhh…don’t jinx it
Welbeck contributed nothing today and rarely does. I’d like to see podolski given a run on the left with Sanchez in the middle and Walcott out right. What’s the harm in giving podolski a chance?
To be fair to Welbeck, I think he’s very much a striker who feeds off confidence and he needs a goal. That goal which was wrongfully ruled out last week would have done him the world of good. I’m also very much in the camp that I’d like to see the best possible team play together and defensively he’ll always offer more than Podolski through his energy. You’ve got to remember just how one-dimensional Poldi is and how easy it is to play against. Welbeck offers a lot more, plus his interplay with Alexis has been pleasing thus far. It’s… Read more »
Also, to be fair, after watching Welbeck play so many games centrally, I’m starting to think this guy has pretty low football IQ. Now, I’m not talking about skill/ technique, if you look at him, he has all the qualities for a top striker; strong, powerful, pacy and also quite crafty on the ball but he doesn’t have that reading of the game to score goals ie positioning, where to run, when to drop off and also his choice of where to put the ball when pulling the trigger is really poor, more often than not, he shoots straight at… Read more »
While I don’t really buy into “football intelligence”, I do think a lot of what’s wrong with Welbeck is down to his mentality. He simply isn’t “aggressive”enough going forward. Someone with his pace and strength should be constantly running at people with the ball or threatening to go in behind, off the shoulder. But he’s usually in the wrong position when it comes to a counter attack (though to be fair to him, Alexis missed a great chance to put him through) and doesn’t take enough risks to commit people. His default is to shield the ball, make the simplest… Read more »
Football IQ can be developed like with Theo.
Welbeck’s game has declined but I am not sure the root cause is obvious. He came here believing he was going to play a key role in the heart of attack. That role has been grabbed by Sanchez and I think Danny is the type of guy who is willing to accept this and support him. That said I think we have often looked very good with Sanchez, Welbeck and Oxlade-Chamberlain going forward. Giroud then returns and once again, the level of attacking focus is shifted to a degree away from Welbeck. I do wish Danny was more selfish…and the… Read more »
Giroud is a plonker but the standard of refereeing this season has been appalling.Some of them such as Atkinson and Mason would be unemployable in other jobs.
The law of touching someone head to head is not allowed but strangulation by Ferdinand is acceptable?
‘How to get longer Christmas holidays’ by Olivier Giroud
I will definitely try that to my boss.
Except Arsene won’t defend you, tho.
Post the video of it
Too late, sorry. Have a nice holiday to you all.
I have a lot of love for Giroud; but for whatever reason, and regardless of the minimal contact, that is dispicable behaviour. We’re a better club than that!
On a positive it’s another three points. Difficult for us at times esp. in 2nd half, but its a win.
Alexis and Rosicky brilliant.
Push on to another 6 boys.
Silly card to get, especially during this busy run of games, it’s a shame he will be missing because when he plays he gives us something a bit different upfront.
Nice to see podolski and Joel get a chance. If we dropped points today the reactions to hfb would be a little different
Welbeck looks more and more like a bench player.
I hope we can see Podolski on the starting eleven.
And dear Sanchez, you can take a break some other time. We need AS17 to play.
He doesn’t need a break, he’s only played four matches so far in December and been subbed in two of them.
The underlying issue is the whole again part….how about lets fucking wake up, be responsible, be switched on, and not make it so hard on ourselves.
Last week it was being switched on for a late corner. What will it be Sunday.
Come on Arsenal lets get our shit together here and start punishing the opponent more rather than ourselves.
nc.
Fuck! Did he just say the next 400 games? I was hoping for his P45 come the end of the season!
“Giroud is so dazzling I fell on my back” – Onuoha
Oh la la. Sacre blue! Quel coup de tête! Mais qu’es qu’il pensait Le connard!!
3 week wages should be cut from his pay cheque. Stupid stupid thing to do.
And if you’re going to do it at least do it properly and not on someone like Onuha. He could have gone over to the bench and stuck one on Joey Barton!
Here’s the thing I don’t understand about Giroud today : why headbutt? Any pain you cause the other player is going to match your own. If you are going to confront another player in a manner which results in a red card, why not punch him in the balls? (A) it’s going to hurt a lot worse than a head butt, and (b) opposing players will think twice in the future about pissing you off. Suarez has the “biting” thing but a player with the m.o. to de-child a center back would be the most feared in the league.
A headbutt is 3 matches suspension.. A bite is 10-15? A qualified guess is that Giroud would face a ‘record’ suspension. I don’t actually think it has happend before in football. No, if anything that inspires opposition in to provoking the player in question.
I don’t know if it can be classified as a headbutt. He barely grazed his forehead.. Quite embarrassing if that minimal contact causes you to fall over.
Probably expected a kiss rather than a headbutt and fainted at the thought.
One if the few times Wenger hasn’t defended his player at a press conference. He must be really really pissed off by HFB.
AW definitely looked disgusted at the time.
Calling someone out for having a poor performance is one thing, and I feel it is pointless because the Manager and Squad should not be having their discussions via the carrion picking media. But this was not a performance issue, and easy to answer the question directly.
Training is going to suck for Ollie for a bit. But it also looked like he knew it as soon as he did it.
Is there anything more cringe worthy than the Old Boys Club on Match of the Day? Shearer lays into Giroud calling his reaction ‘pathetic’ and ‘ridiculous’ and then says, chuckling ‘and Rio looks a bit angry doesn’t he!’ This whilst the lopsided faced twat is grabbing Giroud’s neck looking completely deranged. I’m pretty sure that should also be a red card and a 3 match ban. And then you get Liniker saying ‘and Rio has apologised for that.’ No he hasn’t, his tweeted apology is a joke. About as sincere as one of Jack Wilshere’s condolence tweets. Sorry to rant,… Read more »
It is really a load of shite that neither the dangerous shove nor that arrogance by Retread got what they deserved as well. Free kick on the shove at least, and yellow minimum for the neck grab.
Un pétage de plomb au moment ! I-N-E-X-C-U-S-A-B-L-E….as self control is part of being professionnal !
But the referee was running behind THEM and didn’t see anything ?? that’s also -I-N-E-X-C-U-S-A-B-L-E !! LOL
Btw, why didn’t Onuoha get a red for fouling on a goal scoring chance as last defender? Sheesh ref, be consistent.
The one thing the win wasn’t was “laboured”.
I daresay there were fans out there who ‘just knew’ we were going to concede in the final moments. Well, they were wrong. We got behind the ball. We ran our hearts out. And we threw bodies in front of QPR chances and half-chances time and time again. Even down to 10 men we were still dynamic.
Bendtner’s running off the ball was laboured.
We were fucking awesome.
I was one of those fans!
Sanchez podolski Walcott
How about Walcott and Podolski up front in a 4-4-2?
That was a dumb reaction from Giroud, but the other bloke fell off far to easily imo.
I thought he might as well have given Retread Ferdinand a nice pointy-elbowy shrug off with that grip to the neck. (No, not really. Extra suspension for him is the last thing we need.) But really the problem is shite defenders, and even cunty quality ones (none of the quality applies for QPR mind you), get away with that all of the time. Giroud is at risk from the shove, but if he didn’t lose his reference nothing would have been said of anything at all. It has got to be supremely frustrating with how much he gets of that… Read more »
as for the neck grab! far worse than the 3rd eye rub. ref was dire.
Wenger out!
Oh well Oliver sorted out his own Winter break!
A) whether or not Onuho falls over or not it is still a red card B) Stop moaning that everyone is against us including all pundits and refs, it makes us sound like twats. C) Its little wonder that we are one of the softest teams in the league, they are men, big strong men in the case of Giroud. Using phrases like sinister push, and murderous strangulation is hilarious. Its a little nudge, if he’s going to react like that every time he gets a nudge he’s going to be sent off every game. D) a headbutt is a… Read more »
A) Agree with you..
B)Well if you’d watch MOTD over the years, you’d have known some of the so called pundits are in fact against us..
C)Softest team in the league.. Sure.. But then again how do you account for the leg breaking tackles – Que – Eduardo, Diaby, Ramsey, Sagna?? What’s the excuse for that?? Small soft men??
D) Zidane’s infamous headbutt?? Almost everyone was defending him at that time..
E) No qualms whatsoever!!
A) good B) I doubt it, its just that we are easy to comment on because we have been making the exact same mistakes for the last ten years so they could have a script before the game and it’s a pretty high chance they would be right. I.e. emptied the midfield, no leaders, soft core. I bet you the next time we lose it will be because we emptied the midfield and got caught on the counter. There you go, simple. C)what’s leg breaking tackles got to do with what I said? If you think a little nudge is… Read more »
The red card can not be discussed. The ref on the other hand is shite. It seems that Atkinson genuinly hates Arsenal. This is not the first time he as given decisions against Arsenal. It seems he has a blind spot for every decision that should have been given to Arsenal. We are lucky that there was no leg breaking tackle against Arsenal players. Then he probably wouldnt have seen it and nothing would have happened. He seems to be taking the red card out before Onoucha faints, but completely looks the other way when Ferdinand reacts the way he… Read more »