Olivier Giroud admits he needs to be mentally resilient and that he shouldn’t get demoralized with the fact that he has had to be a bench warmer for the Gunners for a little while.
Giroud has always been a frequent starter for Arsenal since the time he landed at Emirates, and even in the ongoing season, when it started, Giroud was the first choice for the Arsenal boss Wenger.
However, because of his failure to make a meaningful contribution in the first few games, he found himself left out of the XI. He has started in a Cup game every so often since, in Europe once, but not in the Premiership. It’s got so bad that the odds of him scoring first at places like StanJames have increased, because no-one expects him to start.
The France international though understands the logic behind his exclusion. According to him, Theo Walcott is in better form at this point of time and thus, it makes complete sense that he is put ahead in the pecking order.
Speaking to a Television channel last evening, Giroud said, “Theo has not put a foot wrong in the recent games. The way he has led the attacking line, he deserves to be praised quite highly and I think, on current form, he is the right man to be starting, no doubt.”
“As far as I am concerned, it’s not a situation that I have often come across during my career. Wherever I’ve played, I’ve been a starter, but, it’s important for me to get slightly more toughened and accept the present reality. I will have to be positive and wait for the opportunities to come by.”
Giroud has found the back of the net three times in the 11 appearances that he has made for Arsenal in all competitions this summer. Walcott, on the other hand, has 4 goals to his name. So, there is not much difference in terms of the number of goals scored, though form wise, Walcott has certainly looked much superior.