Wenger relief at striker’s decision to stay
Arsene Wenger has confirmed that last night’s match-winner Olivier Giroud has decided to stay with Arsenal, ending interest in the striker from Everton, West Ham United and Marseille.
Giroud, 30, had been seriously considering his future following the £52million club-record signing of Alexandre Lacazette and the concern he would be pushed into a “super-sub” role.
Wenger has been desperate to keep Giroud in his side because he offers something so different with his aerial presence, but was also willing to let him leave if he felt he needed a guarantee that he would start more frequently in this World Cup season.
Frenchman Giroud scored the winning penalty in the Community Shield on Sunday and, having finished last season with the best goalscoring ratio of any Arsenal attacker, continued that form by coming on last night to clinch victory in a dramatic seven-goal thriller with Leicester City.
“I love the man and the player,” said Wenger. “He’s a fantastic guy and he’s committed. I opened the door for him because I know it’s important for him to play, but I don’t want him to go. In the end he decided to stay and it was one of the great days of recent weeks for me.
“Giroud is in his prime – he is at the top of his game. I know how important he is, not only as a player but also in the group, he has a big weight. It was a relief for me he decided to stay.” Giroud said that he wanted to play, but that he would “do a job for the team”.
Another big positive for Wenger was how new man Lacazette scored within two minutes of his Premier League debut and then in the second half showed that he can also play alongside Giroud.
With Aaron Ramsey and Danny Welbeck also scoring – and Mesut
Ozil, Aaron Ramsey and Theo Walcott all contributing last night – Arsenal’s attacking options look vast, even with Alexis Sanchez’s future uncertain.
Of Lacazette, Wenger said: “It’s simple, in every game he is stronger since he joined us. Even when I played Giroud through the middle and him on the left, he did very well. He adapts slowly to the way we want to play. He is an intelligent player. It’s a long time since we had so much quality.”
Despite the thrilling win, familiar defensive frailties were evident, but Wenger is confident that he will resolve those problems, particularly as his four most senior defenders were unavailable.
“With a bit of work we can get that out of our system,” he said. “The spirit of the team was outstanding. It was a top-quality game. You want the Premier League to be the best in the world and you have to produce games like that.”
Leicester manager Craig Shakespeare felt that his team showed no weakness, but was “disappointed” that referee Mike Dean missed a blatant handball by Ozil in the build-up to Arsenal’s third goal.