Arsenal striker reveals BIG ambitions and confidence

We often hear about how important it is for a professional footballer to be self confident in order to play their best and that is probably more true of the strikers whose job it is to score the crucial goals that the game is all about. So it is good to hear that the Arsenal and France international Olivier Giroud is bursting with self-belief at the minute.

With nine goals from his last nine games, who can blame him? There have been a few statistical reports recently comparing Giroud´s record this season with the top strikers in the Premier League, showing such things as him scoring a Premier League goal every 97 minutes and there was even one that showed our centre forward had overtaken the current Ballon D’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo with his goals in 2015.

Giroud admits that he has been happy to see these reports, as reported by ESPN, and that it shows just how much he has improved since joining Arsenal from Montpellier a few years ago. But our centre forward also claims that he does not really need the credit or criticism from the media to judge himself by, as he knows full well if he has been doing the business on the pitch or not.

Giroud said, “It’s my best spell since I’ve been at Arsenal. I have to keep it going, I don’t want to stop. I scored 16 or 17 goals last season in the league. I would like to do better, and above all help the team achieve our objectives. That’s the most important thing.

“Finishing second or third would be very good, even if we’ll be ready if Chelsea slip up. Winning the FA Cup is also an objective. I am continuing my progress. I feel really good at Arsenal. It’s important to keep improving.

“I saw that [goal every 97 mins] statistic, it’s an interesting one. That means that there has been an improvement since I arrived at Arsenal. The coach keeps telling me. I have improved in a lot of areas of the game. I want to continue, I can still do better. I still have plenty of good years ahead of me.

“Of course, it came at a bad time, because I wasn’t clinical in that [Monaco] game.

“I got a bit of stick for that. But it’s good to have shown the mental strength to come back even stronger and prove that the criticism no longer affects me. I have created a shell for myself, whether there are good or bad times. I know when I am good or not. I don’t need people to tell me that.”

I do like the way that Giroud´s confidence does not stop him wanting to and believing that he can improve. And the belief that Arsenal could still take advantage of any slips by the teams above us tells me that the whole club is feeling pretty good right now.

How can Arsenal make sure that this confidence and improvement leads to the tile though?

Tags Giroud

26 Comments

  1. time to stop talking start scoring…..

    all talk but come to the big games..its full of misses

    1. not really hafiz.
      he is amongst the top scorers this season
      he worked at it- an its paying dividends

      go get em olly 🙂

  2. Debuchy is back real soon…

    time for Bellerin to rot at the bench…..

    a loan will be beneficial for Bellerin

      1. Don’t really see a problem with that comment. I hate it, but Bellerin probably sits when Debuchy gets back. It’s just how Arsene manages young players.

        1. ok.. well the problem I have with that comment is wishing a 20y.o. in his breakout season to ‘rot on the bench’
          his constant disrespect towards Arsenal players really irks me.

  3. How to win the tile?
    After the Invincibles Arsenal
    spent 7-8 years living off past glories
    while Utd, Chelsea and City took over.
    Then we signed a slew of wannabe’s or has beens
    most of whom turned into expensive deadwood.
    4th place became good enough for owner, management
    players and fans and everyone became expert at
    finding excuses for failing to compete.
    Despite signing 42 mill Ozil 35 mill Sanchez
    and several 12 -16 mill players ECL last 16 remains our limit
    and the EPL seems to be still a bridge too far.
    But the team is finishing strongly.
    Interestingly the core of our team of late have not been
    stars like Walcott Wilshere Ramsey or Chamberlain.
    Instead the charge has been lead by the much maligned
    Giroud Wellbeck Cazorla Rosicky , Ozil Coquelin
    Mertesacker, Ospina and Monreal.
    Is Arsenal ready to win the EPL Tile?
    Maybe.

    1. Haha despite the usual depressing history lesson you feel the need to give on the first half of every post… Actually a hint of optimism??

  4. I’m confident when Giroud plays simply because he strengthens our starting 11. See his qualities and attributes and look past the “lamppost” and “donkey” comments. Hope he gets his first hattrick against Liverpool in front of his home crowd…

  5. This ruling, if it happens, could mean inflated prices for English players or players being purchased to play bit parts because of their nationality, used rarely as subs but sitting on the bench for most of the year.

  6. So what I’m hearing is that Giroud is almost as confident as Szczesny and Bendtner? Well I guess confidence is important…..

  7. I really doubt the league will let big players to be offloaded due to recent major TV deals. It could destroy the industry of English Football. People needs to look at the bigger picture, but I really doubt Man City will axe 6 players. There are always loopholes into these laws

  8. If Schez and le Coq were considered homegrown in the past, I doubt if the rules will apply to them, methinksthe rule is for new players coming through, I might be wrong though.

  9. Giroud balances our team nicely. A big, strong forward that can score, hold the ball well, link up well and can compete in the air we centre backs on crosses and set pieces. A contrast to the quick and skilful little maestros we have in the midfield and out wide. Means we can attack through pace and getting in behind with Alexis and Walcott, or through dribbling and quick passing with Cazorla and Özil, as well as crosses with Giroud. Which way can’t we attack?

    1. Not really. I’d rather see clubs in Spain and Germany take up young English players and give them a chance the same way English clubs take up young Spanish and German players – Bellerin and Gnabry are examples of that.

      If it’s only English clubs, just Premier Leagur clubs really, then there’s obviously going to be fewer opportunities for English players.

      Whether it’s a reluctance of European clubs to take English players, or a reluctance of English players to move into Europe I’m not sure, but to me, that’s the big issue.

      1. True. that’s probably why there aren’t a lot of first team English players on squads abroad.

  10. I don’t see the need for this new homegrown rule. England’s national team is well below par at the moment, but I don’t think it’s the answer. The real problem for England is that there’s very few clubs in Europe that take young English players up. Think of our youth system, we have Young players from all over. Bellerin is Spanish, Martinez is Argentinian, Gnabry is German etc. You don’t see many English players in foreign teams’ youth systems.

    It’s not just a youth problem, very rarely do English players play in other European leagues at any point in their careers. Generally the only English players that go abroad are those that go to the elite clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid or Bayern, like Michael Owen or David Beckham, or to other clubs when they’re at the end of their careers, like Ashley Cole.

    Why is this a problem? It limits the number of clubs where English players can actually break through into the first team. Look at the Spanish national side, they can draw on players from all over Europe: Cazorla, Fabregas, De Gea and Silva all play for Spain, from the Premier League alone, and there’s others all over Europe like Javi Martinez, Bernat, Reina and Callejon. They all play for the national side, they’re the best, but there’s a lot more playing throughout Europe that don’t get call-ups.

    In short, other national sides can call on players from across Europe, with loads of different clubs offering a chance for young players to break through. For English players, it’s really just the Premier League clubs that feed the national team. There’s a smaller pool to choose from, so naturally it’s unlikely to produce as many top quality players.

    But that aside, you wouldn’t have heard this about 10 years ago, under pretty much the same rules as today. England had one of the best national teams in the world then, one that could’ve won the World Cup without surprising too many people. Neville, Terry, Ferdinand, Campbell, Cole, Gerrard, Lampard, Scholes, Beckham, Owen etc all in their prime. World Class players. Pretty much a whole team of them. Why change the rules just because England has a bad generation of players this time?

  11. there is a difference between self confidence and arrogance,scez&lord bent are arrogant,olivier is just confident!!

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