Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain says Olivier Giroud’s ability to poach a goal out of nothing is proving vitally important for Arsenal in matches they are struggling to dominate.
The HFB scored the Gunners opener in their 2-0 win over Everton on Sunday to take his tally for the season to 12 goals in 21 appearances and the strike, applied first time to a Mesut Ozil corner, had his team mate purring.
“Oli’s always there or thereabouts when it comes to scoring goals,” Chamberlain told Arsenal Player.
“That’s just what we need – he can score goals not just when we’re dominating the game but he can really turn the game on its head with a goal from a set-piece or out of nothing and that’s what he did.
“In the first half we weren’t so in control of the game but Oli’s always in the right place at the right time and he’s a poacher in the box as well as a great hold-up man for us. He got another important goal for us and I think his performance was really good.”
After his poor performance against Monaco, nobody looked more relieved at the ball nestling in Tim Howard’s net than Giroud. Fair play to him, he put in a real shift after a tough week.
Arsenal’s other goal scorer, Tomas Rosicky, also played up the importance of the three points given the intense media scrutiny Arsene Wenger’s squad has been under since Wednesday.
“You could see that the lads were affected by it and the technical level of our game was not there,” Rosicky told Arsenal Player.
“It was difficult as we were affected by the loss to Monaco but you go through disappointments throughout the season, you just have to fight through it.
“I’m glad we have these three points, it’s very important for the confidence of the whole team.
“It was a difficult game. We weren’t at our best after the disappointing night against Monaco, so it was very important to win and get the three points which we managed in the end.”
Six wins in seven matches in the Premier League is a decent run, however, it’s pretty obvious there’s absolutely no room for complacency when we visit QPR on Wednesday night.
Despite closing the gap on second place Manchester City to four points, the form of Liverpool, Manchester United and Sp*rs means we’re only six points from dropping to seventh. As a red-faced whiskey soaked c*nt once said, ‘It’s squeaky bum time.’
FOX IN THE BOX
How do you turn a fox into a dog?
I was actually more pleased with our poachers at the back. More Gabriel and Kos please!
It is always a relief to see my countryman putting the ball in the back of the net.
I will be surprised if more than 3 points separates Arsenal from Liverpool at the end of the season. Arsenal must keep winning to make this about finishing second or third rather fighting for fourth.
Despite their inconsistent form, I could see Everton challenging for Europa League. The worst would be doing a Spurs and finishing fourth and there only being three Champion’s League places.
More Rosicky too please Arsene!
Everton looked awful. Their players aren’t relegation material, but somehow the genius of a few years back has managed them into the bottom half of the table. I hope those who wanted Martinez at the Emirates are watching. Yes, Liverpool will be right up there contesting for the ECL spots. Southampton was never going to make it. Spuds are distressingly determined, and who knows what United are going to do. It’s hard to see Man City dropping a lot more points; they should hold on to 2nd. Ozil was once again one of the best players on the pitch. Alexis… Read more »
That’s not an issue anymore. The rules have changed, and now a league can send up to 5 teams to the tournament.
Got to agree with that. One bad game doth not a bad striker make. It takes character to bounce back so quickly, and we’d miss him if we didn’t have him.
Off topic, but I wonder if there will be a compilation of everyone’s favourite twelfth man, Mr. Arseblog, and his words of encouragement and wisdom from yesterday’s match? Not being in America I was unable to appreciate it at the time, but I enjoyed that six second clip of his difference of opinion with the referee more than I’ve enjoyed entire editions of Match of the Day.
Wenger in wenger out Giroud in Giroud out…what a fickle bunch of supporters we are. Too many opinions from people who know the club more than the manager. In the words of King Kev, I’d love it, I’d just love it …if wenger turn it around and a couple of trophies ended up at in our cabinet this season. Football can turn up with the most surprising results. Nothing right now is impossible…accept for some of our fickle fans.
I’m not sure you have a grasp of the meaning of fickle (in spite of many thumbs up). I am not aware anyone who argues Giroud is ‘world class’ or not regularly flip their position (goals per minutes played has him comparable to any elite European striker). Likewise Wenger – whether for or against Wenger no one I know changes their opinion one way or the other. As for the apparent thrust of your post, a growing number of fans have had questions regarding Wenger which date back years. By definition they are long held views and the opposite of… Read more »
I’m so bored of this fickle fan bollocks whenever anyone questions the deity. The man has been paid around £75m since he last won a league title. He’s on £8m a season. Yet people act as if it’s some kind of crime to criticise him. If you truly believe fans want Wenger out just based on the Monaco game you’re a fool. It’s based on 10 years of failure. It’s based on the fact that he’s been the one constant of the past 10 years. We’ve had a huge turnover of players, new owner, new chief executive, new board, new… Read more »
Giroud will always have a good goal return at the end of season. He does not not score at instant t as we fans would have liked but at the end of season you realized we get where we got in a good part because of his goals. Theo is similar in terms of goal return. I have feared that Wenger does another Podolski out of Theo lately. Hope it doesn’t happen.
I think the epl title is out of the question johnwaynesimpson but cup matches can produce some surprises so I won’t rule out the chance of us turning around the Monaco match – will be tough but could happen
It is possible if the players can give their all.
The problem with the “Handsome Poacher” is that he has an unfortunate habit of missing easy chances, as he demonstrated again twice yesterday. As I’ve said before, I’ve always liked Giroud; he’s a decent striker. But he’s not a great one – and that’s what a club like ours requires if we are going to win the biggest prizes. If we had a Suarez or an Aguero then Olivier would be a perfectly capable second-string forward, but he’s not good enough to be the number one goalscorer at a top-four Premier League club. Sad, but true. By the way: has… Read more »
I had a feeling after theo got his 100k a week extension that Wenger would ditch him the moment he slips up because of the way he held the club to ransom.
I really hope he stays and wenger starts playing him often.
2 assists for Ozil yesterday…
I agree with you that Walcott is being a d**k about the contract again (or his agent is) and Wenger might be keeping his cards close to this chest. Walcott has had a major knee surgery and his speed (one of his only assets) will start fading in the next few years. Walcott does not deserve to be paid more than Cazorla, Ozil, or Sanchez.
Two assists yesterday against a rubbish Everton side – but where was he when it bitterly mattered last Wednesday? I had to check that he was actually on the pitch. For too many times this season the 42 million pound man has been a passenger.
By the way: I did not say that Walcott deserves more than Ozil, Cazorla or Sanchez. I just said I wanted him to stay. Please read my post properly.
Why single ozil out when all XI were poor v Monaco?
Ozil wasn’t the one who lost possession directly leading to goals. Or the one responsible for the defensive catastrophe at the back. In fact he could’ve had a couple assists if the forwards finished his setups.
There’s a reason Podolski got that treatment, and there’s a reason why Theo is getting it.
I agree that we needed a Suarez or Agueo, we brought him in over the Summer. We now need the team to not go stupid at critical moments in the match FAR more than we need another CF.
Why does Wenger give that treatment to strikers quickly and took that long to bench Mertsacker ? Wenger never gives equal treatment to players. When it comes to our defensive weaknesses, Wenger must take much more of the blame than a striker.
Just thought I would add that if we beat Madrid and PSG to Pogba in the Summer, I will have to pinch myself. Not sure he’s a destroyer, as merely looking at him seems to suggest to some people but he’s a big talent.
I think I just actually read this:
“He just doesn’t have enough passion.”
Clearly what we want is not elite World Cup-winning performers who put in 11.6km of running (Özil yesterday) and create more chances than anyone else in the league, but more of those perennially successful Lionhearts who not only “run about a bit” but shout a lot while they’re at it to make the point.
Cheers mate!
Walcott is a wonderful player, but his defensive work is even less impressive than Ozil’s, and he does not add as much as Ozil. We really need to keep the German. It would be great if we kept Theo, but obviously we don’t need him–he hardly plays these days what with injury or the better alternatives (Ox has become a better all-round player already). Without Diaby and Walcott’s salaries, maybe we could afford the player you dream about.
Totally disagree. I love the ox but even Rosicky (with very little game time) scored more goals in the league than him. Theo should always start and the ox would replace him if we need a player to tear opposite defence and pass the ball.
We cannot afford to easily dismiss Walcott- too much talent. He needs to do is understand he has to pick up the defensive end of his game. It’s not about throwing in silly tackles but consistently closing and fronting other players to break down their forward play. I said on another thread it’s disappointing Walcott sat on the bench, watched how Sanchez and Welbeck contribute and it (apparently) did not occur he needed to up his defense. What’s worse in my book is it did not to occur to Wenger or Bould either – with a new pressing dynamic on… Read more »
There’s absolutely no difference between the defensive abilities to any of our forwards. Ozil is hopeless defensively and loses many 70:30 battles. ALexis is even worse than Ozil. Alexis loses the ball so often yet somehow gets away with it. Oxlade’s probably the worst. He’s got no defensive awareness. He’s not even that bothered to help out his full back. See the Swansea match as the perfect example of this. Welbecks’ poor as he spends to much time in the centre and was hopeless tracking runners against Spurs. We do need Theo as we’re one Oxlade injury away from playing… Read more »
Ozil has the seventh-highest WhoScored rating of any attacking player in the league this season. Here are the players above him, lest you argue that the rating itself is not an accurate indicator of quality – Hazard, Sanchez, Costa, Cazorla, Aguero, Fab. Seems about right to me. Here are some lower-ranked attacking players who have recently commanded similarly-big fees (or surely would have if they had moved): Rooney, Silva, Oscar, Sterling, DiMaria, Herrera. And in other leagues: Kroos, Suarez, Isco, Koke, Lewandowski, Muller. Are they all flops too? And two other points where actual evidence is stacked against your opinions:… Read more »
Go on and peddle more stupid stats…like politicians would tell you about GDP growth and whatnot without actually explaining how that has been of any benefit to the common man on the street. How has that worked out in the games that mattered? Are the assists coming during important games (like against Monaco, Citeh, Liverpool, the Chavs, Sp*rs) with the potential to boost the morale of the rest of the team or get us closer to more silverware? How many games has he handled by the scruff of the neck and won us like Cazorla/Alexis (or even Ramsey FFS)? This… Read more »
I wonder why most Arsenal fans are unwilling to admit that our 42mill signing has been nothing but a big flop since his arrival. I don’t really blame him though as it was us willing to fork out that much. I kinda feel like I’d still think he’s a flop were he a 20mill signing, and that’s saying something. He hasn’t even come close to the heights Cazorla has managed to hit and, in my very honest opinion, he’s been the single most glaring reason we’ve been unbalanced in our play as you can even feel sometimes he’s being passed… Read more »
Credit to giroud for scoring and the team for getting the 3 points.
However, giroud hss got to be more clinical aganist Monaco. He missed 2 easy chances yesterday, and that shouldn’t happen against monaco because every chance matters in that game.
I’d say he missed one easy chance – the header at the end.
I think the first half header was more difficult then people think. He was diving parallel with the goal line and the ball was slightly behind him so to get the direction on the ball 90 degrees whilst mid air was very difficult without Go Go Gadget neck.
The second half one was as big a sitter as the one at Stoke (a).