Giroud has high ambitions for Arsenal by Darren N
There is nothing wrong with confidence in the Arsenal players but listening to Olivier Giroud I would say there is a fine line between confidence and madness! I agree that when Arsene Wenger used Theo Walcott as competition for the centre-forward spot the Frenchman suddenly started knocking in the goals. Since the New Year though he has been very lax in front of goal, as have anyone else who gets a shooting chance for the Gunners.
Everyone goes on about Ozil’s amazing assist record, but let’s be fair, if our players had converted even a quarter of the other chances he created we would be well clear in the League and Ozil would already have smashed Henry’s assist record. Giroud has scored 12 League goals this season, but he has an aim of 25-30 before the end of the season, and with 15 games remaining he would have to score in nearly every single game to achieve that.
Here is what he said on Arsenal.com today when he was asked if he inspired to beat Robert Pires record of 84 goals for the club: “Yeah, of course.” he said. “I want to mark the history of the club, and for a striker you always do this by measuring how many goals you score and how many assists you give. I know the part that my team-mates play of course, but the most important thing you check is the goals of the striker. So yes, hopefully I can beat my friend Robert soon!”
Then he starts getting into the realms of fantasy when asked about his immediate goals. “Yes, to be honest I would like to reach 25 goals this season, and after that why not keep going? Between 25 and 30 could be nice. But in the league, yeah, hopefully I could reach 25 – that would be a nice line,”
Yes Olivier it would be great if you really could, but let’s be honest. If your record in the last ten games is anything to go by, you will be lucky to get to 15! I would love you to prove me wrong, but I certainly wouldn’t put money on it!
Darren