The Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud did not have much luck in front of goal at the beginning of the season, and it only seemed a matter of time before Arsene Wenger gave Theo Walcott the opportunity to prove himself, which he did in good fashion.
The Frenchman then found himself on the bench on a regular basis, but Olivier insists he was confident that “the wheel would turn” and he would regain his place in the side. In fact the competition did seem to inspire him, and every time he did come on the pitch he started scoring regularly again.
With Theo Walcott suffering one of his usual injuries, Giroud is now back as the Gunners main striker, and he said about his time on the sidelines: “After the fact, you could say that it was beneficial,” Giroud told Le Parisien. “I made a solid comeback and I’m even stronger again. You always need a little shot in the arm when you’re feeling comfortable.
“It’s always good to question yourself… it’s not a bad thing, from time to time, to be faced with your responsibilities.
“You have to remain focused on the basics and never give up. You have to respond when you’re called upon.
“You have to be hungry and your mental strength has to come to the fore. It’s not easy.
“It wasn’t a period of famine where I was saying to myself ‘do I still know how to score goals?’
“I understood the tactical decision of the coach. But after four matches in a row on the bench, I had to reverse the trend.
“I said to myself ‘it can’t go on all the same.’ It wasn’t good for me, for the France team or for (my chance at) the European Championships.
“I didn’t want to spend the whole season on the bench. All of that made me react.”
He certainly was more effective while Walcott was giving him extra impetus to improve, but was sadly ineffective when given many chances to kill off Tottenham last week. Hopefully he will make up for those misses when he returns from his stint with France….