Giroud has Arsenal believing again
AFTER one of their truly great displays in the Champions League this week, Arsenal are gunning for the top of the English Premier League with victory at bottom club Aston Villa today.
The good news for Villa is that manager Remi Garde is set to end Jack Grealish’s exile and may allow the midfielder to return to the first team.
Grealish was banished to the under-21 squad after reports of a visit to a Manchester nightclub hours after Villa’s 4-0 loss at Everton on November 21 and was not included in Garde’s side for the last two league matches.
But the 20-year-old is poised to rejoin the senior squad after playing for the reserves against Derby County.
The manager, whose side prop up the Premier League table and are six points adrift of second-from-bottom Sunderland, hailed his team’s unity after they secured a 1-1 draw at Southampton last Saturday.
“I saw solidarity between players and the desire to fight all together and not concede goals,” he said. “We didn’t have the same attitude at Everton or even in our last home game against Watford [a 3-2 defeat].
“Solidarity for me is the key when you are fighting not to be relegated. If we show this kind of performance again in terms of spirit in the team, we will get more points.” PLEASED: Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger is happy with Olivier Giroud’s great form
But it is a revitalised Olivier Giroud on who most attention will focus today.
It has taken fully 10 months but, as Giroud looked to the sky and then fell to the floor after scoring both his and Arsenal’s crucial second goal, it was not difficult to sense that a path to redemption was complete.
Giroud, remember, had been the main focus for blame when Arsenal suffered the 3-1 defeat against AS Monaco back in February that was to effectively end their Champions League hopes last season.
He also endured the ignominy that night not just of missing a virtual open goal among a series of clear chances to propel Arsenal towards the quarterfinal, but loud cheers from his own fans when Arsène Wenger finally took the sensible decision to substitute him.
Giroud subsequently admitted to feeling “embarrassed”, but even amid all the criticism, including Thierry Henry’s claim that Arsenal needed a better striker to win the Premier League, there was always a note of defiance.
“I will keep working hard and bounce back — I have never given up in my career,” he said.
A glance at Giroud’s unusual record — notably his late development into a truly international class footballer — had always suggested that he was a player of unusual resilience.
A first Arsenal hat-trick against Olympiakos at the moment of his club’s greatest need simply delivered emphatic proof. In the port city of Piraeus, it also provided unexpected buoyancy to a Champions League campaign that had appeared sunken in September.
“It was the perfect performance from Olivier,” said Wenger. “He scored a header, one from a great pass and a penalty. He found himself in uncomfortable positions but he showed skills and character. SPECIAL CHARACTER: Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud celebrates with the match ball after scoring a hat-trick against Olympiakos this week. He has his sights on Aston Villa today
I saw solidarity between players and the desire to fight all together I will keep working hard and bounce back — I have never given up
“He had to fight like mad. I have always defended his character. He has something special on the character front and he showed that again.”
Giroud’s form should also aid Arsenal’s Premier League title push and will certainly avert renewed questioning of Wenger’s project.
The days of restricted commercial income while they funded the construction of the Emirates Stadium have passed and Arsenal are supposed to have entered an era in which they could go beyond reaching the last 16 of the Champions League to challenge the recent dominance of Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.
With yearly revenues now soaring towards £350-million, Arsenal expect to be driving forwards in Europe. They have salvaged that chance thanks to Giroud. — ©