Olivier Giroud has been one victim of Arsenal’s good form this season. The striker has missed large parts of this term through injury, and hasn’t played since the end of September when he featured for 11 minutes in his side’s 3-0 win over Chelsea.
In his absence, Arsenal have been excellent with Alex Iwobi, Mesut Ozil and Alexis Sanchez as a potent front three. The mobility and speed on the break that this front line offers really makes Giroud look ponderous.
The French striker is close to full fitness again, and will be hoping that he is ready to be picked in the Champions League tonight against Ludogorets. If Arsene Wenger decides to rest one of his current first choice attackers, Giroud is top of the queue to slot back into the side. If he can prove his fitness in time for tonight’s game, it would be the perfect first step back regaining his place in Wenger’s first choice side.
Arsene Wenger brushed off calls for Arsenal to bring in a veteran centre-back by praising defenders Rob Holding and Laurent Koscielny in a "great defensive performance" in Saturday's 0-0 draw at Leicester City.
Wenger decided to start Holding over Calum Chambers even though the newcomer from Bolton -- who cost just £2 million -- only made his Premier League last weekend when the Gunners conceded four goals in a 4-3 loss to Liverpool.
And while Arsenal are still looking for an experienced defender in the transfer market, and have been in talks with Valencia over Shkodran Mustafi, Wenger said Holding's performance showed that splashing cash is not always the answer.
"We have a whole team working on the strengthening of the team. I'm not the only one," Wenger said in his postgame news conference.
"Unfortunately no one speaks about the performance of Rob Holding. You should be happy, he is English and 20 years old. I am sorry he didn't cost £55 million, so he can't be good."
"We don't speak about the performances anymore and I think that is not right."
Angry Arsenal fans who travelled to the King Powe Stadium called for Wenger to make signings, but Wenger, clearly irritated by transfer talk, again defended his policies.
Asked if he is reluctant to spend money, the manager replied: "Why do you say I'm reluctant? If I buy you tomorrow for £45m, I have spent £45m, and I would have done well because I will have listened to you, but spending the money in itself is not a quality.
"Spending the money buying a top player is different and we are ready to do it. I just said I'd spend £300m if I find the player and I had £300m.
"Do not forget we are a club who has 600 employees who we have to have a responsibility to as well. It's a bit surprising you come out of games and don't speak about football. You have to speak about money.
"You have to respect the players who played and the performance from both teams. If we find the players to strengthen our team then we are not reluctant to spend the money.
"They [the fans] are highly influenced by the media, that's part of the process today. We try to make the right decisions, it's as simple as that."
Rob Holding and the Arsenal defence prevented Leicester City from scoring on Saturday.
Wenger brought Koscielny back into the squad after he was rested against Liverpool, when his absence was keenly felt in the defeat at the Emirates.
That led Wenger to rush the Frenchman back into the starting lineup even though he opted to keep Mesut Ozil and Olivier Giroud on the bench, with all three having returned late after the European Championship.
It turned out to be a crucial decision as Koscielny helped the Gunners repel the speedy threat of Jamie Vardy and Riyad Mahrez and made a crucial last-ditch tackle to deny Danny Drinkwater in the first half.
"The whole back four played well, and [Koscielny] guided the defence well. He had an outstanding game," Wenger told BT Sport. "And Rob Holding, Hector Bellerin and Nacho Monreal as well played very well.
"It was a game of high intensity, where both teams gave absolutely everything. On that front, I believe when you conceded four goals last week we have shown a great defensive performance.
"Overall we created the chances to win it. But you could see that they were not champions for no reason last year. It's a team that is very well organised, it's very difficult to create chances."
Arsenal's attacking performance was a lot less convincing, though, as Alexis Sanchez struggled to create chances in his role as the central striker. The Gunners immediately looked more dangerous when Wenger brought on Ozil and Giroud toward the end, but they still didn't create any clear-cut chances.
"Mesut Ozil is not completely ready yet to cope with the physicality of the game -- that is why we have to be a bit careful with him," Wenger told the BBC.
"We made many chances against a team that defends very well. Overall we still lack a little bit in our decision making and in the final ball but that will come. It's a positive game."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has pulled out of negotiations to sign Napoli’s Gonzalo Higuain in a swap deal for Olivier Giroud after news of the talks leaked, according to reports in Italy.
Quotes from Giroud’s agent surfaced on Tuesday, with Michael Manuello confirming that the French striker would be more than willing to move to Naples if Arsenal included him as part of a player-plus-cash deal for Higuain.
And now the journalist who interviewed Manuello and broke the story, Raffaele Auriemma, has provided a fresh update that will surely disappoint Arsenal fans.
‘Wenger has blocked everything,’ he explained on Radio CRC. ‘Arsenal were upset by the leak and amazed that after a few hours everything was out in the open, so have taken a step back.
‘Even [Napoli chairman Aurelio] De Laurentiis seems bitter, even angry, not because he wanted to sell Higuain, but because he feels betrayed by his market consultant, who blabbed about several different rumours.’
The news will come as a huge blow to Arsenal, who have already been snubbed by Jamie Vardy – who elected to sign a new contract at Leicester City instead – and are struggling to sign a new striker in time for the start of the new season.
The list of French stars NOT in coach Didier Deschamps' final 23 would make up a decent international side but there are issues at both ends of the pitch.
Michel Platini and Zinedine Zidane inspired France to the title the last twice Les Bleus played host to major tournaments.
Now, Didier Deschamps – the captain who lifted the World Cup for Zidane and co in 1998 – is under huge pressure to complete the hat-trick at Euro 2016 with the next generation.
This time, the French build-up has been beset with problems on and off the pitch, with the whole spine of a team absent from their final squad.
Raphael Varane, Mamadou Sakho, Lassana Diarra and Mathieu Valbuena are all missing, while Karim Benzema and Hatem Ben Arfa were controversially excluded .
Yet such is the talent in French football, the hosts are still favourites to lift the trophy in Paris on July 10.
Deschamps won silverware as France captain — now he aims to repeat the trick as their coach
Now a nation waits to see who will be the inspirational heroes to follow in the footsteps of Platini, Alain Giresse and Jean Tigana at Euro 84, and Zidane, Thierry Henry and Youri Djorkaeff at France 98.
The new generation play at the top clubs across Europe: Anthony Martial at Manchester United, Antoine Griezmann at Atletico Madrid, Paul Pogba at Juventus and Kingsley Coman at Bayern Munich.
Leicester’s N’Golo Kante has also stormed into the squad and West Ham’s Dimitri Payet has earned a recall. His superb recent winner against Cameroon showed he is bringing his club form and dead-ball expertise to the international stage.
West Ham idol Payet's free-kick wizardry has earned him a France recall
The two problems: scoring goals and stopping them.
Top-scorer Benzema has been left out after his alleged involvement in the blackmail of Valbuena, so Olivier Giroud will lead the line.
If he is not good enough to win the Premier League for Arsenal, can he score the goals to win Euro 2016?
The alternatives are Martial or Mexico-based Andre-Pierre Gignac.
The Premier League-based defence is also a concern, with the centre-back pairing of Eliaquim Mangala and Laurent Koscielny looking as watertight as the banks of the Seine after the recent weeks of torrential rain.
In pre-tournament friendlies against Holland (3-2), Russia (4-2) and Cameroon (3-2), France had to score three times to win.
You can’t emerge victorious in an international competition like that.
But roared on by a French public seeking unifying success to take away attention from widespread industrial action and the threat of more terrorism, Deschamps’ team will be serious contenders.
The Rumour Mill is usually at its most plump and juicy when there isn’t much football news to report upon elsewhere. When space needs to be crammed with half-truths and gossip, and people need their fill of news and so forth. So given there’s not much else around today for anyone to get excited about, you can only imagine there’s going to be some red hot stuff ahead.
We could start here, at the good old Guardian, where there’s word that new Manchester City head honcho Pep Guardiola is set to start the uphill battle of grappling the title from Leicester City’s grasp by triggering Athletic Bilbao defender Aymeric Laporte’s release fee, which stands at €50m. It says here - here - that: ‘The club’s sporting director Txiki Begiristain was pictured in Bilbao last month, with Basque newspaper EITB reporting that City have told Athletic officials that they are willing to meet his release clause. “It is a specific request of Pep Guardiola,” read the report.’
On to other places now, and word on the street is that Wolfsburg, afterre leasing Nicklas Bendtner, have learned their lesson about signing lumbering Arsenal fancypants strikers who probably think they’re a bit better than they actually are, and are… oh, wait, hang on … they’re keen on Olivier Giroud. Hmmm. Yes. Well. Other targets for them Wolves – not them Wolves – supposedly include Besiktas striker Mario Gómez, according to Kicker magazine. Sound the alarm.
Oooh, here’s one – France Football report that Liverpool are running the rule over Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Javier Pastore, a man who’s mulling his future in France due to… well, largely due to not playing that many games. Just the 10 starts this season, all in all, and you’d imagine young Javier more fancies his chances of dislodging Adam Lallana than Ángel Di María. Sorry Adam.
Andriy Yarmolenko. He’s good. So good, in fact, that his current chairman thinks it would be beneath him to play for some of the finest clubs dear old Blighty has to offer. Well, sort of. Dynamo Kiev president Ihor Surkis doesn’t think the winger will leave his club this summer, but if he does then it will be for one of the big dogs. “He is already a top player, so he should go to a top club,” Surkis said. “My position is that we should not let Yarmolenko go to such clubs as Everton and Stoke City. Dynamo is Dynamo and Stoke City is Stoke. We’re playing in the Champions League and Stoke City are fighting for survival.” Well, they’re 10th, but who’s counting?
How ‘bout some sexy new contracts? John Terry wants one, and what John Terry wants from Chelsea, John Terry usually gets, but even this one might be beyond his creaking ol’ limbs. Erik Lamela fancies one too, hoping to stick around with Tottenham despite their abject, disgraceful and catastrophic failure of a season. And Riyad Mahrez is in line for a spanking, shiny, digit-filled deal too. He’s probably earned that one.
And finally, here’s word from South Wales, where the local journal has it that Francesco Guidolin has impressed Watford sufficiently that they are considering replacing Quique Sánchez Flores with him. The Pozzo family, Watford’s owners, know the Italian well after he spent four years managing Udinese.
The Frenchman went 11 games without a goal before his double in the FA Cup replay and Arsene Wenger says it's a weight off the striker's shoulders.
Arsene Wenger has backed Olivier Giroud to go on another scoring spree now the France striker has been set free by his brace at Hull.
The Arsenal boss admitted his Gunners are striving to “stay alive” in three competitions this week – starting with Sunday’s quarter-final with Watford.
And Giroud is set to play a central role after coming back from the dead and ending an 11-game barren run with his double strike on Tuesday.
The £13million forward has form for following famine with feast – and scored seven in seven in one burst in the autumn.
And along with fellow forwards Alexis Sanchez and Theo Walcott, Wenger reckoned his fellow Frenchman is ready to fire again as the Gunners continue their quest for a record third consecutive FA Cup.
Drought: Giroud was closing in on a dozen games without a goal
“It is a weight on the shoulders when the players don’t score,” he admitted. “So the fact that they score will of course take that weight off. But it is a bit cyclic always, especially for Giroud. Giroud has cycles so it was a weight off his shoulders.
“Football has to be instinctive and you have to play with freedom. When you play with a bit more freedom, when the goals are natural. Every striker will tell you that.
“With Giroud, this season for example he has had games where he has gone boom, boom, boom, boom boom and after he had a little spell where he didn’t score and now I hope he has a repetition of his former spell and start to score again.”
Super cool Giroud always appears unfazed as he approaches defenders and life with a Gallic shrug.
But Wenger admitted: “Between what he says and what is real, even I don’t really know what is going in there. You know that if you don’t score and you are a striker, somewhere you are not happy.”
Walcott revealed after the Hull win that Arsenal, who ended a five-match run with a win at Hull, had held a fiery team meeting to get their faltering season back on track.
“We manage this club in a very modern way,” Wenger insisted.
“We do many meetings with the players. Sometimes we encourage them to do as well their own meetings. Incidentally, I was completely aware of that. Just like to reiterate that was before the Swansea game that we lost. That was not unusual and, as well, not a miraculous result!”
In pictures - Hull 0-4 Arsenal:
Gunners host Watford before mission impossible at Barcelona in the Champions League and then a crucial league match away to Everton.
Wenger said: “We want to stay alive in all of them but then again lets be focused on the next one. I don’t know if the FA Cup is our best chance of a trophy. I don’t think like that.”
Asked if his players could be complacent about finishing in the top four for a 20th consecutive season, the Gunners boss insisted: “The players are not in the comfort zone and want to do well and they’ve not given up (on the title) or the Champions League.
“I feel we can have a run but we know how quickly it can change – we lost two games and suddenly looked like we would be in the Championship next year so it is game by game and all we know is we can not afford any more slips ups.”
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has backed his strikers to hit the goal trail in the coming weeks after finally finding their scoring boots.
The club face Watford in their FA Cup sixth-round contest on Sunday looking to become the first team in living memory to win the competition three times in succession.
Wenger’s side reached the last eight courtesy of a 4-0 replay win at Hull City – which saw Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott both score twice apiece to end their respective barren spells in front of goal.
Frenchman Giroud now has 20 goals for the season as he celebrated the birth of his second child with a double at the KC Stadium – but he had gone 11 games without a goal before then.
Similarly, Walcott had just six goals to his name this season before his fifth-round double – while Alexis Sanchez’s strike to earn Arsenal a point at Tottenham Hotspur last weekend was his first in the Premier League since October.
But now they are all back among the goals, Wenger believes the pressure has been lifted ahead of a pivotal week which sees Arsenal travel to Barcelona needing to overturn a 2-0 home defeat to advance in the Champions League before a trip to Everton on in the Premier League.
“Look, it is a weight on the shoulders when the players don’t score," Wenger said.
“So the fact that they score will of course take that weight off. Overall, I am pleased that they scored.
“But it is a bit cyclic always, especially for Giroud. Giroud has cycles so it was a weight off his shoulders. And Walcott too.
“You know this season for example he (Giroud) has had games where he has gone boom, boom, boom, boom, boom and after he had a little spell where he didn’t score and now I hope he has a repetition of his former spell and start to score again.
“You know that if you don’t score and you are a striker, somewhere you are not happy.
“Alexis as well against Tottenham scored. He suffers maybe more than everybody when he doesn’t score.
“Football has to be somewhere instinctive and you have to play with freedom. When you play with a bit more freedom, the goals are natural. Every striker will tell you that."
While Wenger admits that he has spoken to his attacking players about their goals drying up, the Frenchman was keen to stress it is more of a team effort – creating the sort of chances the likes of Giroud, Walcott, Sanchez and the fit-again Danny Welbeck can tuck away.
“We speak about it but the best way to speak about it, to sort it out is to play better collectively," he added.
“When the quality of the cross, the quality of the final ball is better it is easier to score and sometimes what you forget when you get in the final third, you have 0.1 to 0.2 seconds to make the right decision.
“And when you have a little hesitation, just a fraction short – in midfield you have 1-2 seconds to make a decision sometimes – when it gets there, just to be very quick and very decisive, decisiveness can go when you are not successful for a while."
