Olivier Giroud’s toe injury looks likely to see him miss Sunday’s game with Burnley and appears to have shaped Didier Deschamps’ decision not to pick the striker for France’s upcoming World Cup qualifiers.
After returning late to pre-season training following his exploits at EURO 2016, the 29-year-old has made only four substitute appearances for the Gunners with injuries, suspension and the good form of his teammates contributing factors.
Asked about his compatriot on Tuesday, Arsene Wenger hinted that Giroud was still struggling for fitness and may not feature until after the international break. It’s a state of affairs that Deschamps believes the striker will overcome in the long run.
“The important thing is to have players at 100 percent,” Deschamps told the press in France.
“I wish that he, like all the players, had as much playing time as possible because like every player he needs to be in the rhythm, repeat effort match after match over 90 minutes.
“I’m not going to worry now. Of course, he too wants more playing time. There have been times in recent years when he has played less and he has always managed to turn things round. I don’t call into question what I think of him, what he has done, and what he can do with us.”
Laurent Koscielny is the sole Arsenal representative in the France squad. Les Bleus face face Bulgaria and Netherlands in October’s games.
The difference with the Welsh coach’s comment is striking…
So is the access to quality players.
Too much made of this player being better over that player. You see it all the time with some fans. Truth is we need EVERYONE to be fit. As I have mentioned before, this isn’t a zero sum game. Different players bring different capabilities. And lest we forget, this is Arsenal. We are a couple of injuries always away. As much as Alexis and Walcott are working veryw ell right now, we need Giroud to be sharp and ready to come in if should the partnership start to dry or we need to find another way to break teams down.… Read more »
Ok mate.
Hopefully will motivate him, like Theo, to bust a gut on the pitch.
He always works hard at both ends of the pitch! Open your eyes!
He seems very static and slow to get into new positions as moves develop, preferring to be stationed outside the area acting as a ‘wall’. Alexis and Theo give us so much more movement. If he can add sharp movement to his game more he would be excellent.
Completely different players. You focus on tactics only little bit correct?
Contrast how we are playing without him to how we play with him. In my opinion we are a lot better now, without him.
If he is working v hard (you say) and can’t do anything to improve his effort and movement (you say) then let’s keep him as a sub.
Well this shouldn’t come as a surprise. I see him asking for a transfer if this carries on. Then again, he could really be injured. Who knows…
Coleman needs to take a leaf out of Deschamps’ book. If the latter can be patient with regards to our Oli,
Coleman can do likewise with Ramsey. Making snide remarks isn’t going to hasten his recovery.
Coleman has less to choose from than Deschamps though.
Well he accepted the role of Wales manager, kinda shoulda thought about the depth and calibre of players going in before whining after the point.
That would be two players coming in fresh after the Internationals. Both main strays in the past couple of seasons. So it will be an interesting selection headache. Hope he rotates a bit, particularly giving Alexis a breather, who seems to be two players in one with the amount of running and hassling the opponents (I’m sure Cahill will saw he say Alexis in two places at once). I like it that Carzola, Bellarin, Monreal are all likely to get a rest during the internationals. I know Spain have depth but it’s amazing that these guys aren’t regular with the… Read more »
Bellarin plays Spain under 21 and normally two games.
Get well soon, beautiful man <3
Tempis pour Deschamps. Le connard il ne sais pas ce qu’il manque le cochon. Oliver est un bon jueur un point c’est tout. Putain de merde
We really need everyone fit and our team barely crosses the ball cause there is no chance it’d be converted. We need Giroud, welbeck is on his way and now I’m beginning to see why The Coach has not signed any striker for sometime, look at Perez and you can’t please everyone. Kudos to Mustafi he’s really found his feet. Get well soon all our injured players and keep it up Rob Holding I see you beating even Gabriel to starting place
There is no toe injury.
I honestl feel so.. he wouldn’t come on against chelsea (at the expense of a fit and firing Perez) if he was nursing a problem, especiallu as we were quite comfy and didn’t really need him.. I think it’s just all about his confidence being low atm while wenger has been known to always protect his players
Think he has to be a plan B now really the way the team is shaping up but he could be a very good plan B to have.
Hargreaves says we need a “plan b” against good footballing teams, I guess he didn’t see any of last season then. Ever wonder why most ex player pundits are so bloody dim? Well its clear they aren’t couching/management material firstly so I guess that really says it all. Hargreaves barely had a full playing career.
Oh and Micheal Owen going on about Walcott’s career being a disappointment, wow, I could see Wrighty laughing inside, Owen peaked at 22 and spent his mid-late 20s as half the player, half the pace and usually injured, what an unbelievable hypocrite and bitter wank. Completely off subject here, just remembering the analysis after Basel.
I still think Giroud deserves more credit. He’s much improved from when he first came here and his record is almost 1 in 2. We don’t exactly play to his strengths either a lot of the time. He needs to be more consistent and does have dreadful runs of form but he’s still a great option. He gives us something different though it’s hard to see him start over Alexis, Perez or even Welbeck when he’s back due to our change in emphasis in attack to pace.