Considering the fact that the likes of Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla have taken to the Premier League so easily, there has been a lot of pressure heaped on the shoulders of Olivier Giroud over recent weeks. However, the Frenchman grabbed his first league goal at the weekend and Arsene Wenger says that this strike will do wonders for his confidence.
Giroud joined the club in a £13m switch from Montpellier during the summer, after experiencing a hugely fruitful campaign in France following a return of 21 goals. However, there appear to have been confidence issues blighting his Gunners career from the start and following a series of missed chances, some individuals claimed that this could have been one of Wenger’s less impressive purchases.
Fortunately, form to the 26-year-old has been slightly kinder over recent weeks. After scoring against Coventry in the Carling Cup a couple of weeks ago, Giroud followed up that success with an important equaliser in the game against West Ham on Saturday. The goal proved particularly crucial as the Gunners progressed to win the clash in 3-1 fashion.
Following on from the above, Arsene Wenger says he is delighted for the player. Speaking to the press he said, “In similar situations he nearly scored like that against Olympiacos on Wednesday night. He was good today. He had the physical presence and scored the goal. That will help him a lot I think to adapt very quickly.”
With Giroud now fixed on two goals for the Gunners, he’ll be hoping to make the most of his partnership with fellow summer signing Podolski. Wenger made no secret of the fact that he signed the duo to play together this term and with the German managing to already bag four goals, there are hopes that the two can combine to make Arsenal’s attack an even bigger handful.
