As every Arsenal fan knows it is the Germany international star Mesut Ozil who is the undisputed champion of the assist, and not just at Arsenal because his 19 in the Premier League was the most of any player from Europe’s top leagues. Germany will be hoping that the Gunner is in a similar sort of mood for his country today as England found out to their cost that Slovakia can be extremely hard to break down.
The host nation France and their two Arsenal players Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny were finding the Republic of Ireland an equally tough nut to crack in the first match today and after Robbie Brady concerted the penalty given away by Paul Pogba in the second minute Les Bleus were heading out.
The Arsenal forward, though, played a key role in keeping them in the tournament. He had cut a fairly frustrated figure for most of the match and was having very little impact, which was not all his fault as he was feeding on scraps from his team mates efforts.
Soon after Griezmann had headed France level, however, Giroud did make an impact and it was a very good one. A brilliant leap and the vision and ability to head a lofted ball into the path of an onrushing Griezmann led to the second and another great bit of link up play from the big man soon after led to the sending off of Duffy which effectively ended the game.
Koscielny had a tough day against the pace and power of the Irish forwards but he did alright. I expect both to start again in France’s next match which could well be against England. Now let’s see if Ozil can inspire Germany to beat Slovakia.
Well done Giroud! Our players have so far played pretty well in the competition except maybe for Wilshere but he will pick up.
ÖZILLLLLLLL!!! … Nooooooooo!! ?
The Bottler’s curse continues lol ?
Give credit where it is due.. ..Giroud was involved in both goals. Well-done Giroud. Keep Proving the doubters wrong. Keep giving your best and your ability will shine.. .
Having said that we need another striker at Arsenal.. ..
Giroud was utterly mediocre all afternoon … Why the f@@@ didn’t wenger buy draxler last summer … Lots of people saying the guy was quality,he was available at a decent price but no the French genius knows better with his thoroughly average strike force of giroud welbeck Walcott ox and Campbell who delivered a predictable outcome ..
Take it from a French native living in uk for the last 11 years in Manchester while only truly supporting Arsenal FC.
Giroud’s header setting Griezman’s second goal against rep of Ireland was nothing short of genius.
We definitely need to sign a great striker during the summer but you can’t deny that Giroud is putting his heart and soul into the club and that while being unfortunately inconsistent due to various factors he has also provided a lot and always welcomed addition to our striking force.
He is an Arsenal fan through and through even after getting a lot of shit from most of us.
This should be an important factor while evaluating him or any other Arsenal players. He don’t quit when shit hits the fans and pessimism is what devides us.
We don’t need a new manager, we need a new David Dein.
David Dein believed he could change the way football was being played in England and he believed he could only do it with the help of Mr Arsene Wenger.
Don’t forget it and realise what those two men did for English football.
The future is bright and don’t think Arsene Wenger has been bought by Kroenke.
Let’s smash everyone next season, we are not far.
OG had a fantastic game. When Ireland went up 1-0 you just knew they would play defensively the rest of the way. Kinda reminds me of an Arsenal game.
Funny the commentators just said that Olivier Giroud deserved big credit for France going through. Drawing 2 defenders so little Griezeman can find a header. Finding Griezeman while leaping with a header for the goal that advances France. Then holding up the ball so Griezeman can burst through the middle and draw a red.
The way some treat Giroud is totally unfair, the guy tries a lot,he gives his all…
Giving him credit when due doesn’t mean we don’t need a better striker or he is the best..
He delivers but not on a consistent level…
I mean,if you can criticize ANYONE when they fail, then you should be able to at least admit it when they do well..
Therefore, Giroud has so far been massive for France at the Euros…
So that’s it for arsenal fans …try a lot and give it all …there’s hundreds of options in the first and second divisions who fit the bill on that score!!!! … If giroud has been massive for france then it’s no wonder they don’t look like title winners …though having said that anyone looks massive next to gignac …figuratively speaking ….am only surprised that wenger didn’t bring that lumbering oaf to the emirates guess it was a toss up with park .. Yet another miracle striker on the cheap from ligue 1 ….it’s not even funny anymore when you look at the quality other teams possess
Giroud signing was a mistake, let’s be honest. He’s never been quality enough to be our no 1. striker, this is a fact. BUT Giroud does play to the best of his abilities and that’s all he can do. He’s not immensely talented, he’s an average striker who occasionally surprises and that’s about it. The fault is in Wenger for being so stubborn and thinking Giroud can lead us to titles. All we can ask of Giroud is to give it his all and he does. He tries way more than most of our English players who don’t seem to want to be Arsenal players anymore. Do we need someone else, hell yes, but Giroud does deserve credit when he does well. Fault is in Wenger’s weak striking options since RVP left.
I like how some on here are unable to give credit to Olivier, no matter how hard he humps. Yet praise under par players like Jack, Aaron and Ox to high heaven whenever they do the bare minimum…
Like him or not. Olivier is still one of the best target men out there…Dreaming about how other strikers, who never played in the EPL, would supposedly do in the EPL, is hilarious reading.
What’s not hilarious for the 7th richest club on the planet is girouds goal statistics … 14 goals per EPL does not make him one of the best target men out there just an average premier league striker .. Top teams have at least two and usually three world class attacking options we have one .. Sanchez… Unless it changes we are heading nowhere next season … Actually downward
watching my team against Ireland yesterday even tough we won i wasn,t impressedit,we only start playing with purpose when we go behind and when we ,re in front we slow down our play,i thought koscielny had a decent game with a couple of good clearance and his job was made more difficult by adil rami who is a burden on the team and always one mistake away,giroud can,t be blamed for his first half performance the guy was starved of any service and it,s only when griezman was moved to his favourite position that giroud started making the difference what a great assist,by the way shane long dived for the penalty but that,s ok we are square now with the irish we had henry,s handball &they had the penalty!!ireland gave us a good game fair play to them,by the way i,ve been living in ireland for the last 19 years and my partner,my son,my daughter are irish!!