Olivier Giroud says helping Arsenal win games when he’s on the pitch is more important than whether he’s a regular starter.
The Frenchman delivered a man-of-the-match shift against Everton on Saturday, scoring the Gunners first, hitting the bar and linking play with some fine hold-up work.
It was a performance that had even his critics purring and one that gives manager Arsene Wenger a pleasant selection headache up front with Theo Walcott also in decent form.
Reflecting on the 2-1 victory against the Toffees, Giroud told Arsenal Player: “The main thing is that the team is doing well. That’s the best thing for me. As long as we are winning, I am pleased with that and I try to bring something else to the team.
“We have a different profile with Theo, and a good understanding with each of us up front, so it is okay. Before, Theo was in good form and now it is me, so we need to both contribute to the big matches.
“To win a third time after the Bayern Munich and Watford game makes us very pleased,” he continued.
“We wanted to keep it up against a good team. Everton played well and they are always dangerous up front. We needed to keep our focus high and we succeeded in scoring the two headers, but it was a shame that we conceded the goal before half-time.
“I maybe should have scored a second but the luck was not with me. It’s okay though because I’m pleased to help the team win. It’s always nice to score as a striker and it was a fantastic ball from Mesut so I tried to return the favour in the second half, but he didn’t want to score.”
While Ozil may not have got on the scoresheet – the German came close hitting the post in the final minutes – he did deliver a perfect cross for Giroud to break the deadlock. It was a pass that the Frenchman couldn’t help but praise.
“It was a fantastic ball from Mesut,” he told Arsenal’s Final Whistle programme.
“We have a good understanding on the pitch and I’m pleased for the team because we have given a really great performance with [plenty of] dedication and commitment.
“It was not so easy because we were tired after this strong week. Everton are always a tough team to play and that’s why we are tired but pleased tonight.”
Mes’uuuuttttttt Ozil!!!
Jose’s in a funk,
Manchester’s all drawn,
Arsenal top of the league,
All’s right with the world!
If you all remember my wish for the new season was that maureen’s next shit would be a hedgehog and d’you know? I rather think my wish has been granted. One happy Gooner here looking forward to the beckoning Monday and laughing my old arse off at all the sad fans of the morose one. Specialist in failure ? I believe you’ve just taken the title Jose
But for Mike Dean’s fussy idiocy, we would be top and Chelski would be in the relegation zone. Would Mou even still have a job? But why dwell on a counterfactual when the factual is pretty damn sweet! COYG!
Wengers plan: botch the game against chelsea to give them false faith in Moreen. This only extends his pain and suffering. Arsene does not take kindly to jumped up sneaky cunts.
Right, so you think AW paid Blind Mike Dean to fuck everything up then. Did he also pay the linesman to wrongly call Ramsey off side and disallow his goal against Liverpoo as well. 😀
Cock Piss Mike Dean!
Other teams spunk money left and right on flops. We spend around 80 million on two stars and look at how they are performing. Given the budget to match our rivals Wenger is still one of the greatest managers around. A specialist in failure is surely someone who takes a title winning teams and drags them into a relegation scrap. We are extremely lucky to have Wenger as the man who has the future of the club in his hands.
Well said, unkown person on the internet.
The ‘unknown person on the internet’ can’t be worse than the fuck-wit pundits on TV!
Great performance all round from a clearly exhausted team. I am wondering who will start in the cup game. I think the back end picks itself Macey, Gibbs, Debuchy, Gabriel and Chambers with Flamini at DM. As I understand Arteta is still injured, it’s the attacking positions that are less certain, Campbell and Ox would seem obvious starters as does Giroud. However it’s filling the creative positions of Ozil and Santi where we look very thin on the ground right now. The likes of Rennie Adelaide and Ben Sheaf will probably have to step up and Iwobi deserves a start… Read more »
We didn’t pay that much for Coquelin and Bellerin!
Walcott and Giroud alternating and scoring goals; to think that our attack was supposed to be the weak link. Not bad.
It’s impressive how the rest of the team can adapt to playing with one or the other, and useful for confusing other teams (who seem to have trouble adapting to changes in their own strikers, let alone Arsenal’s).
Costa is world class. When did he scored again?
He is world-class…..at being a cunt.
Should be, he’s now learning from the best.
Giroud is not merely ‘good enough’ – he is an excellent striker and a great option for us to have. He also seems an unassuming sort of guy, who I’m sure is a far better fit for our club both on and off the pitch than the fabled ‘world class superstar striker’ would have been. That moment in the first half when he leapt between the two Everton centre halves and nodded it back for Özil to miss, before being very harshly penalised, was absolutely majestic.
It’s incredible the media slammed Wenger for being the only manager not to sign an outfield player in the top 5 leagues across Europe. Just shows how much the media knows compared to Wenger
Apart from that Lukaku header I can’t think of a single aerial challenge that Everton won all game.
Seeing as all is rosy now… We’re top of the league. I wonder if ‘The Angriest Man On Twitter’ will have a topic for the next Arsecast ?.
I think Walcott and Giroud both being on form is less of a selection headache and more of a tactical breath of fresh air. We get can go into games knowing that if it is open, Theo will score and if the other team parks the bus, Giroud can bully their defenders and score. Two brilliant players on an absolutely brilliant Arsenal team!
Are we not going to talk about the excellent chance Giroud created in the first half, only for Ozil to make a poor shot at their keeper? That was the (relatively speaking) low point of the match.
Comment:Chelsea are currently winning one premier league game a month. Its like menstrual periods.
Chelsea are bleeding gash. Time for Jose to throw on the towel?
Obvious solution would appear to be playing both Walcott and Giroud and keeping the Ox in reserve.
In the towel….