There are many Arsenal fans that are not impressed with Olivier Giroud, despite being one of the highest goalscorers in the League, but do they even take into account the rest of the qualities he brings to the team.
His team-mates, at least, rate him highly, and appreciate the work he does in defence as well as attack. His fellow Frenchman Laurent Koscielny made his opinion clear. “When he plays simple, he’s the best,” the big defender said. “He’s tall, he’s big and when you try to find him, he keeps the ball. No defender can pass him.
“He’s so massive and that’s one of the best qualities for a striker. When he can play like this, with one or two touches and staying in the box – which is where we want him – we can score in the air.
“I think Olivier has a work rate for the team which is very high. He’s not just a forward, he’s always there [when we have] free-kicks or corners against us.
“He’s the first guy who tries to head the ball. It’s important that he can give assists too.
“You can see now that he smells the situations well – when he needs to shoot quickly, or control the ball, like he did against Liverpool with his second goal.
“I think he’s in good form this season and I hope he will stay in that form until the end of the season.”
He certainly is knocking them in on a regular basis, but even if he ends up with 30 goals this season, will the Arsenal fans ever fully appreciate his talent?