Olivier Giroud says he was never worried about his Arsenal career after finding himself benched for Theo Walcott, and despite the competition between them for a place in the side he says there’s no beef between them.
The Frenchman has 6 Arsenal goals to his name this season, 2 more than Walcott who is on 4, and he told L’Equipe that even when he was dropped, he knew he just had to stay patient and work hard for a return to the starting line-up.
“I was always very clear on the situation, he said. “Theo worked well in the team, that’s why I was not angry or disappointed not to play, even if it was something new for me.
“We have two different profiles, he brings something different. The coach has a choice. At first it was Theo, then he changed [against Everton].
“It’s good for the team to have several strings to its bow. I know I can bring something when I’m on the bench, but I feel better when I play. [from the start].”
He does talk about it being a challenge, however, saying that the goals he scored when coming off the bench were a help.
“I had the opportunity to show my mental strength,” he said. “I focused on what I had to do in training, and I tried to keep confident. In this sense, the goals help a lot. The main thing is to rebound as fast as possible, and that’s what I did.”
And how his relationship with Walcott, he said, “There is no problem between us, he is a great guy. “
Arsenal currently sit in second, level on points with Man City, and Giroud is hopeful that the team can go better than they have in recent seasons when they’ve topped the table for long periods.
“We are happy to be here today. But we are only the 10th game, there are still 28 to go! It’s a bit early to talk about the title.
“I think we are stronger mentally though. There is great solidarity. Everyone is pulling in the same direction. There are regular meetings between players, and If we keep this spirit up, we will be hard to beat.”
Let’s hope so.
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Hat-tip to @Sport_Witness
I liked how he harried Howard in the Everton game. Led to very poor distribution from the back for them.
well off topic…
But why didn’t BLOGS consider Koscielny for
James Bond in the Arsecast question round….
Well I smell something here … must be a
mixture of jam and butter…..
Good for him, Arsenal and Les Bleus; with the emergence of Martial, his position in the french national team was threatened. Î am sorry for Lacazette and others but Giroud will be selected for the European championship in the summer.
Believe me, there’s almost nothing to hate about this chap. He misses chances, who doesnt? He can and should do better, who cant and shouldnt? Seeing his work in the air against two everton defenders to set up that early chance for ozil reaffirmed what i already know, OG12 is about the best around at his strenghts. As for his obvious shortcomings, he’s getting better, no doubt, and we still love him none the less.
Plus he’s actually a Greek god incarnate.
Why not both? If walcott
plays like how he did against united, I dont see an issue of him tracking back. Sanchez left Walcott right, Giroud up top, how lovely is that for Ozil.
ahem Ramsay?
He’ll be in his kitchen.
You can see the anguish on his face when he misses chances.
I don’t understand why people don’t like to see that. To me, it shows that he really wants to do well and if his displays against Everton are anything to go by, he is highly motivated to do so.
The only downside to him is he’s a little sensitive to media barrage and a little too forthcoming about everything.
I think the argument is that the ‘facial anguish’ is largely put on for the cameras. Tell me that Oli ‘doesn’t know he’s gorgeous’ to paraphrase. He likes the camera.
I’ve no problem with him at all – he’s been magnificent this season.
I really like Giroud – he’s a great striker – when he’s full of confidence.
He’s a player who is massively and visibly influenced by how confident he is going into a game. When he’s full of belief – he’s brilliant, when not – he has these games that leads our more fickle supporters to doubt him.
And playing from the bench, with less pressure to deliver, has definitely helped him this season. Great competition between him and Theo!
To Hell (Fenerbache) with the Dutch Skunk; we’ve got GIROOOUUUUD!
Beautiful monster!
Despite the competition between Giroud and Walcott, I never imagined any animosity between them.
Probably two of the nicest forwards you would ever find, without any ego issues.
They are no Adebayor/Bendtner!
Nice that they get on with each other. Remember the stink at the training ground when Almunia replaced Jens Lehmann? Heeeeaaaaavvvy.
Even though they’re all “pulling in the same direction”, one of them has to come first.
I’m guessing Olivier.
Walcott has been doing excellent but he wouldn’t have scored that header. Play Giroud against defences that sit deep and play Walcott against the high lines KACHING
Headers arent the only way to score against deep defences. Don’t totally buy that they make Walcott ineffective either, though he’s obvious super dangerous against a high line. One massive advantage Giroud has is holding the ball up from goal kicks. Without him we have no obvious option
Oli is a really good striker and it really winds me up that all the attention can be on him in the league when he has been consistent over the last few years when sh*t like Falcao gets a lot less attention even though he probably earns around £150K more a week than Giroud! Yes sometimes he does miss some decent chances, but his work rate is awesome and always gets in decent positions. The main thing now is we do have two decent strikers in Giroud and Walcott that will get enough goals between them this season to get… Read more »
What do the players meet and discuss?
How much of a cunt maureen is,some chips(if Arsene let’s them have),banter and watch Al pacino’s speech in Any given Sunday.
HFB is such a dreamboat. That body. His coiffure. I get a rush whenever Oli’s on the pitch!
He may miss chances but his headers are way better than Theo’s imho.
i watched some of United vs City. Bony kinda has the same responsibilities as Giroud, like being bounced off and link up play or to control the goalkeepers kicks and so on. and Bony is one of those guys who was linked to us massively, and actually a lot of people wanted him over Giroud. But he was just shit, he didn’t control the balls, he didn’t pass good, he didn’t get to a shooting position once! and of course he didn’t score any goals in that so called big match. he was utterly useless. seeing him makes me appreciate… Read more »
Giroud off the bench as a super sub is best play for me but if Wenger wants to rotate the strikers for different opponents, then Arsene knows best. With Ramsey out and Ox lacking confidence, I wouldn’t mind seeing HFB up top with Theo out wide against a top side. With no top side to play, maybe Arsene can unleash that on Spurs?