Olivier Giroud has admitted he was disappointed to left out of the starting side for the FA Cup final win over Aston Villa, but says he understood why it happened and the most important thing was that the team lifted the trophy.
The striker was speaking at a press conference for the French national side ahead of their games against Belgium and Algeria, and he said he thought Theo Walcott might get the nod for his performance against West Brom, but stressed his personal feelings were secondary to the needs of the team.
Thanks to Reddit user Weale for translating, he was asked about being left out of Arsene Wenger’s initial XI.
“I have to weigh my words,” he said. “If I say that I was disappointed I’ll get criticized [smiles]. There was some disappointment, but the coach came to see me before the game and told me something that made me happy: ‘I’m not forgetting what you’ve done for the team’.
“I cut him off immediately and said ‘What matters is that we win this cup.’ It’s the truth.
“Theo Walcott scored a hat-trick the game before against West Brom and I’m not a fool, I knew it could happen.
“I just had to come in and give 200% for the team and it’s true that my goal made me happy.”
He was also quizzed on the recent comments by Thierry Henry on which the club’s record goalscorer has backtracked a little.
“It’s part of the game, I’ll never win unanimous support,” he said. “Apparently Titi corrected himself recently, he said that he was thinking about the concurrence, that he wanted Arsenal to have many strikers who can score.
“He was a little abrupt at the time, and it’s true that I was annoyed but I let that behind me after a conversation with the coach.
“Anyway we can only answer on the pitch and that’s also why the Cup was important. I’m not really angry at him, we’ll talk about that together. It’s true that I found it surprising but that’s just football.”
All in all good stuff from Giroud. Let’s hope he comes back from his summer break ready for a title campaign in which he’ll play a part.
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Please note: if the article picture is causing you an overload of handsome, take one of these immediately (NSFW).
Great guy. Has come on so much since he joined.
Good option for us, look forward to seeing him next season.
Giving 200%…
Controversial.
He might not be the fabled “world class” striker some of the fans and the media want us to have but he is very very good at what he does. He has adjusted his game according to the needs of the team and many of our midfielders love playing off him.
I rate him at par with Costa who according to many is world class as he had a 30 million pounds price tag attached to hi. It’s time Giroud gets the credit he deserves.
Costa? Still drunk I see. I would take Costa in place of Giroud in a heartbeat
you have no heartbeat.
He’s not as clinical or quick as Costa.
But I wouldn’t swap him for Costa.
Because Costa is a Cunt.
At least you’re honest enough to actually admit that costa is more talented unlike some people.
Clinical and Quick are only two talents.
2 crucial “talents” required to be a great striker.
We all know costa has better feet, is probably just as good in the air as well, strong and has good hold up play.
But hey…
Costa v Giroud averages per match 2014/2015 in the premier league –
Games – 27: 26
Successful passes – 21.15: 19.07
Pass completion – 78%: 68%
Key passes – 1.46: 0.93
Assists – 0.12: 0.11
Chances created – 1.58: 1.04
Successful take ons – 1.08: 0.26
Successful take ons % – 39.44%: 38.89%
Total shots – 2.92: 2.59
Shot accuracy – 64%: 50%
Goals – 0.77: 0.52
Costa wins on pretty much every statistic. On par my ass
Before you distort the picture any further with your selective statistics, just let me point out a few errors – 1. Costa played 26 games, Giroud played 27. 2. Why did you select per game metrics instead of per 90 metrics when you know that Giroud started 21 and was subbed on for 6 while Costa started 24 and was subbed on for 2. As a result, Costa played 2069 minutes while Giroud played 1856. 3. On a per 90 metric, Costa does not beat Giroud in every metric which you listed above: Costa : Giroud Successful passes – 23.92… Read more »
Handsomeness
Costa Steve Buscemi
Giroud Steve McQueen
Inherent evilness
Costa Satanic Cult Member
Giroud – a sexy puppy
Stamp Factor
Costa Philatelist
Giroud Email User
No no no. I would rather have giroud than costa, even so many people rated him below costa. Class is not enough without manner 😉
Because you’re probably a fool.
Replacing our main striker with coffee?
Van Persie in his final season with us nearly contributed as much as Giroud have in 3 seasons. Giroud is a good player, but I dont get how people think he is this amazing striker like we have never seen his like. 97 games, 41 goals and 14 Assists is Average for a player in the prime years of his career. He is turning 29 yrs old in beginning of next season and I think a Arsenal Striker need to be contributing more. Giroud is Bang average in my opinion. But that being said, he does perform better than his… Read more »
He is missing just 7 goals to score one every two games which is pretty good for a striker. A striker with 20 league goals for the season has one every two games. Giroud may be good in a two-striker setting, playing the Heskey role in the Heskey-Owen partnership. Sorry for calling that name, let’s say Heskey-Mega Cunt partnership. This is never going to happen because of the need for Ozil’s creativeness. France tried Giroud-Benzema partnership and it didn’t work so much that they tried it only a couple of time. Giroud also needs to be less emotional, Wenger wanted… Read more »
It’s the truth. Don’t know why it’s so hard for some people to admit.
Heck Adebayor scored 46 in his last 2 seasons for us, yet fans criticized him and said Torres would score 50 if he was in his position.
Giroud hasn’t scored more than 16 in league and people think he shouldn’t get criticized because he has nice hair or whatever. Same people keep saying he’s better than higuian who scored over a 100 goals for Madrid. They also lie to themselves that He’s better than Benzema, Martinez and Costa.
It’s ridiculous.
For Arsenal:
22 goals in 60 games 2013-2014
19 goals in 37 games 2014-2015
Almost the same amount of goals scored having played two thirds of the games he played the previous season. So called world class (God I hate that expression) perhaps not but certainly improvement and having served us well in my book. Can some people just get off the lads case and start praising him for advancements made and also for his non stop work ethic instead? Can we at least stop having these ghastly primadonna cunts names bandied about?
41 goals in 97 games is not bad. Missing just 7 to be one goal every two games or 20 league goals a season which is not bad for a striker. Giroud could be a great player in a two-striker partnership in the Heskey role of Heskey/Owen the cunt partnership or Morientes role in Raul-Morientes partnership. This will not happen because of the need for Ozil’s creativeness. Deschamps tried Giroud-Benzema partnership in the French national team but had to cut it short because it didn’t work but could work with another player. Giroud also needs to put aside his emotion.… Read more »
Agreed Rozza and with Suarez we would have had that “world class player” some people fantasize about but one that is also a liability.
Correction on my above post. It’s actually 41 goals in 96 Arsenal games. I deducted the 2014 World Cup goal but not the game.
Just lost my horn, damn you Beaker!
He is still a really important player for us, but it’s good to see that he may face some actual competition for his spot. His best form has always been when coming back from injury or from being dropped. By the way, it seems like we’ve now heard from pretty much every squad member since the FA cup final except the person who said there would be an announcement after the final: our captain. I’m starting to wonder if maybe Arteta’s contract talks aren’t as straightforward as they have been made out to be. Surely he’ll want to sort them… Read more »
But if insight into how wenger goes about dropping a player there. Quite interesting.
Naa naa na nanananaa nanananaa … GIROUD!
my brother once asked me how those it feel like watching football in the 60’s 70’s 80’s and early 90’s and i told him to watch d modern chelski, he came back and tell me that they play like shit. I now ask him have you seeing shit play and he said no, I told him to watch sp*rs
Breaking news: Arsenal’s Legend Charges by the FA for being truthful!!!
Gotta love our HFB. That finish in the Cup Final too… *tingle*
Seems to be his trademark finish!
He’s done it 3 times now.
Sp*rs, some team I don’t quite remember and the finals against Aston Villa.
He also did it against Newcastle.
Sumptuous finish
If Aguero, Costa or even Kane did that, it would go down as a ‘world class finish’ and ‘getting what you pay for’ (in the case of the former two). Giroud does it three or four times a season and it’s just a good finish. Media narratives, people, media narratives..
Does what,finishing from four yards??
Same argument applies to:
– Goal against City in community shield
– Goal against United at Emirates
– Finish against Liverpool
– Finish against Newcastle from the corner
Most of his good goals this season have been followed by a commentator saying “looked like it got a slight deflection”. No, no it didn’t.
I’m not suggesting he’s as good as Aguero, there’s an argument for being as good as Costa and Kane there’s no contest, but there’s no denying he’s not given the credit he deserves. Must feel like he’s fighting a losing battle sometimes.
You can add the second goal against boro in the cup to that list.
Outstanding!
Giroud is NOT as good as costa…period.
Hate costa for playing in chelshit, but no way in the world is giroud better than he is.
I bet you were one of the people that said Costa was a one season wonder last season and how he wouldn’t hack it in the much “superior” epl.
I didn’t say he was as good. I said there’s an argument to be made.So here it is: Diego Costa 14/15: 37 appearances, 20 goals, 5 assists. One goal or assist every 1.48 appearances. Olivier Giroud 14/15: 36 appearances, 19 goals, 4 assists. One goal or assist every 1.57 appearances. Putting things in capitals, ending things in period and putting certain words in speech marks to imply some kind of football knowledge superiority doesn’t make your point right. Clearly Giroud could be more clinical, my argument was that he is unfairly put on this level below Costa or Kane when… Read more »
Get yer coat Trezy…
Also, breaking those appearances down into minutes, Giroud has scored every 125 minutes in all competitions, Costa every 146. The ‘doesn’t score in big games’ argument always applies to Giroud yet not Costa, who didn’t score a single goal in 7 champions league appearances. So i think it’s fairly safe to say that an argument could be made.
If you want to rate someone according to how they perform in “big” games, consider this. In the Champions League scoring charts this year, Diego Costa has zero goals and Yaya Sanogo has one. So I guess by some people’s logic, Sanogo must be streets better than Costa.
An argument he’s as good as Costa without any merit
“Thanks to Reddit user Weale for translating, he was asked about being left out of Arsene Wenger’s initial XI.”
What sort of English is that? Blogs OUT!
He’s speech is even more delicious, I thought he only has the handsomeness alone…Nananananana Giroooooooouuuuuuddddd.
Bring on next season and watch the gunners squash it.
COYG!!!
Arsenal transfer rumours every 3-4 days
schneiderlein, vidal, kondogbia, schneiderlein, vidal, kondogbia, schneiderlein, vidal, kondogbia, schneiderlein, vidal, kondogbia, schneiderlein, vidal, kondogbia, etc etc etc etc ……………………………….. zzzzzzzzzzzz
And then on the last day of the transfer window
BOOM ! another attacking midfielder
http://www.newsnow.co.uk/h/Sport/Football/Premier+League/Arsenal/All+Sources will give you at least 20 rumours a day.
If you can be *rsed.
Are you piers morgan…… BOOM!
What more talk about vidal so soon?
I’m sure Giroud’s hair would really benefit from signing Vidal so soon.
I’ll get my coat…..
That Jones reaction to crawling on the ground trying desperately to clear the ball away, against us would’ve made a better gif I guess…
That picture is now my wife’s wallpaper on her phone.
lovely to see such thinking of putting the team above self. but we should look to get better strikers, if available and possible, into the squad this summer.
Pires is hot. Fact.
I thought for 1 second it was sacha cohen…heh
Where do you find such delicious photos?!
Such a brilliant attitude to have! There’s no doubt that he loves this team. So nice to see!
Still annoyed with Henry for making those comments, they definitely seemed to have an adverse affect on Ollie’s form. Ollie probably needs to be more resilient to criticism, but I can get how it coming from Henry would have damaged his confidence. Love Giroud anyway, the guy’s pure heart.
Correct.Henry comments were wrong, knowing that the club ‘s welcoming him for his coaching badges and that he can get access to the first team at will. wonder how the players view him now cause his argument is: this group is not good enough for a title challenge ok may be he ‘s right but it’s one thing to say it and another to be around that group on a weekly basis .strange situation indeed… Don’t think its a good idea to have TH around , no matter what he has achieved with the club. He is also a ‘… Read more »
Well said @ mo. Henry is an absolute legend and no one could be thick enough to argue with that, but Giroud has managed a goal in a major final for us. Not even the great man could manage that. He should keep such comments in house
Henry may be a legend but I won’t accept him chiming in with the Neville et al bullshit about our players. If that’s his plan then strip him of his honours, roll him in tar and feathers and carry him out of the Emirates on a rail.
Let the thumbing down take off. I don’t care.
good to see he has a spine…he can talk back to Titi
Giroud is absolutely intelligent the way he speak. He expresses himself in a way that doesn’t leave the media types room to twist his words. More athletes should learn this critical art.
Just read your daily blog regarding the 2034 non celebrations……. Well done Blogs…….”fuckin excellent”
As for this legend Olivier, he’s a legend like anyone who’s ever played for the Arsenal
I agree, excellent blog post today.
Yep, one of the best.
Too much handsome. That is all. DIES…
On a more serious note, HFB demonstrates in this interview that he is articulate and gracious. Clearly he was annoyed by Titi’s comments at the time, but has obviously moved on.
Yes Oli, the only way you can answer your critics is on the pitch. Have a good summer and be seeing you in July!
You know it doesn’t make you gay if you think Giroud is hot. We all think he’s hot.
“swoon
So much *swoon* in that photo.
I’ve kicked the wife out. I’m moving to France. That picture has turned me. Keep the kids, Susan.
Personally I still feel that Henry said nothing wrong in his earlier comments and didn’t have to “back track” like some people seem to think he did. At the end of the day, fact remains that giroud has done nothing to suggest that he’s good enough to lead us to the title. His numbers show it, only that HFB fans are too blind to see it. I admit he has improved from his first season with us, but we need someone better. FACT. He needs to stop whining about henry comments and instead let it spur him on to get… Read more »
You’re as entitled to your opinion as the next arse Trezy, but he wasn’t whining about it, he was asked the question and gave an honest reply. Keep in mind that Henry would famously call journos and nitpick on misquotations or misrepresentations to safeguard his image…and the overhyped Hazard even invoked the right to forget law so that no one could Google him and see what an anonymous and choky world cup he had
I get where you’re coming from. It’s frustrating that henry, an arsenal legend is getting criticized for giving his opinion. Why can’t people also respect the King’s opinion as well?? Why aren’t people telling Giroud to shove it for calling our greatest striker of all time “boring” and “saying dull things”?
Please, please stop writing “FACT” at your own opinions. Just makes it unbearably pedantic, trying to close discussion in a forum meant for discussion.
So it’s “just my opinion” that we can’t do better than Giroud??
Typical fanboy response…
Someone call a taxi.
I just love that gorgeous looking French geezer Top bloke GTID COYG
Most people don’t realise Giroud’s mental strength, when he was 22 he was playing French ligue 2
Credit to Wenger for gradually assembling a squad of quality players with a genuine team spirit and apparent love for the club and its collective ambitions. Loving this era. Easy to see how success will breed success. Good riddance to all the flaky “I want it all and I want it now” brigade.
Who in their right mind would even compare our HFB to that nasty 36 year old piece of Chav nastiness, let alone want to swap him. There are more important things than cold stats; team spirit and heart are qualities that Ollie has in abundance and he’s pretty skilful as well. We also have Theo and Danny who can offer different qualities as striker, and quite honestly I don’t think we will even buy one, which doesn’t bother me at all. Maybe Arsene will suprise me, but I don’t see more than one top quality first team signing, and for… Read more »
Heart? Henry says he’s not good enough and he starts sulking. He gets fouled and sits there throwing a tantrum. Wilshere on the other hand is told he’s not good enough and he calls up the person to ask him what he should do to better himself.
Cold stats are a clear indication of who is more effective.
Oh don’t tell him that. It’s who’s more handsome that matters.
Giroud’s handsomeness is someone going to win us the champions league and epl next season, not his goals.
It doesn’t matter if we don’t win the league in the next 10 years as long as we try and keep “hfb” happy.
Missing the finals? Last I check he scored a goal.
Read the article, not the headline.
People forget that Giroud only cost £12.8m. Hes had a great ROI