I am not sure if the former Arsenal and England international striker had someone specific in mind when he said this, but having listened to some of the opinions put forward in the football media by Ian Wright about the problems of the Gunners in recent years, I would hazard a guess that Arsene Wenger might not be too far from his thoughts.
Wrighty was talking about the latest challenge for the Premier League title, which suffered a little setback at the weekend as we failed to win the north London derby against Spurs. A lot of fingers of blame have been pointed at the big centre forward Olivier Giroud for missing a few chances in that game but as reported by the Evening Standard, the man who used to score the goals for Arsenal does not agree.
The 52-year old said, “Olivier Giroud has taken so much stick it’s a wonder he isn’t black and blue.
“His critics were at it again on Sunday after he missed a couple of great chances in Arsenal’s 1-1 draw with Tottenham.
“Forget all that talk of this being the Gunners’ best chance in years of winning the title, they said, with Giroud leading the line they haven’t got a prayer.
“Yes, the Frenchman didn’t have his finest hour against Spurs. But to put all the blame at his door is unfair and wrong.
“If Arsenal do see their title hopes go up in smoke again this season, it won’t be down to the fact that Giroud is up front.
“Any more than it will be down to the fact Theo Walcott or Danny Welbeck are there.”
So what will it be down to Ian? Maybe he thinks, just like the man who broke his Arsenal scoring record, that Giroud cannot do it on his own, as Thierry Henry was forced to clarify after his comments had upset Giroud in the summer.
Is he suggesting that Wenger should have signed another striker in the transfer window? It seems so, although Wright has also been full of praise for the way Theo Walcott has performed at centre forward for us this season before he picked up an injury.
Maybe he is just saying that no single player can be held to blame for the failure of a whole team. What do you think Gooners?