Olivier Giroud’s poor form continued with a miserable showing on international duty (France) against Serbia on Monday. The 28-year-old was eventually hauled off in the second-half following a host of missed chances, and will be desperate to get his season back on track following a lacklustre start to the new campaign.
The French supporters have been hard on him of late due to his form, with many having booed him off the pitch. Despite impressing in an injury-hit last season, Giroud just hasn’t been able to find the right positions to be a threat so far this season. He’s staying positive, however, revealing that he’s not dwelling too much on his mistakes.
“As a striker, what you got used to on a daily basis, it is to be applauded when you score goals. When the opposite happens, it’s difficult. Everybody gets criticised one day. That’s not the first and surely not the last time it happens. I have the mental strength to bounce back. Now I am going to focus on working. I am everything but worried about that. I will bounce back,” he said.
Giroud added that he was lacking efficiency, with his conversion rate likely to be woeful this season following a host of missed opportunities. His national team manager Didier Deschamps is pinning his faith in his form, however. The French coach said: “Giroud got unlucky on a few chances because the goalkeeper made a great save, but he got three clear-cut scoring opportunities.
“One was not on target, a header close from the goal-frame. Obviously if he had been more efficient the score would have been much higher. In his role he made a lot of effort.
I always leave a lot of freedom to the three attacking players so he also had to counterbalance. Obviously he knows about his performance, and is the first to be sad. It happens sometimes. If it’s not Olivier, it might be Karim Benzema. The performance of the entire team remains of a great level, however.”
This season, Giroud has just one goal for Arsenal in all competitions, and even found himself dropped for Theo Walcott in the Gunners attack before the international break. It’s been a testing few months, but Giroud is sure to turn things around in due time. He scored 19 goals in 34 games in all competitions this week, but can he finally pick up where he left off in 2015/16.
