Sport
MANAGING GIROUD’S CONFIDENCE ISSUES KEY TO SUSTAINED TITLE CHALLENGE.
Footballers are strange beings. Some of the most extroverted shy away on the pitch, letting unrest from fans get inside their heads, yet, some of the more reclusive individuals who rue the intrusiveness that is modern day football show confidence on the pitch that defies their character.
One prime example of the former conundrum is Olivier Giroud. The French hitman is no stranger to partaking in photoshoots wearing little other than a pair of briefs and a suggestive smile, but once he crosses that white line at the Emirates in the red and white of Arsenal, it is a different story altogether.
“Sometimes I struggle a bit more, but it is always a determination, I try to keep it high in my head, because it is my worst enemy,” Giroud said earlier in the year. “(I am asking myself) am I ready or am I not?”
Hardly words that inspire, but with an experienced manager to guide him, the best of the Frenchman can be eked out by using him sparingly, in an environment that won’t affect him psychologically and, despite often the figure of exasperation, Giroud could play a pivotal role in the Gunners’s title tilt as a result.
Giroud has the best goals to game ration in the Premier League this season – the only player averaging more than one goal per game – without an over-reliance that has often plagued his overactive mind.
The France international has been the focal point of Wenger’s attack ever since arriving from Montpellier in 2012, but 16 league goals stands as his best league goal return to date.
Few have doubted Giroud’s credentials as a very good striker, but even fewer regard him as the world class marksman that can make the difference between Champions League qualification and Champions.
Yet, what if, Giroud is NOT the main man, but a peripheral figure who revels away from expectation, and can subtly allow others to fire on the grandest of stages, but ensure the job is done against less high profile opponents?
Injuries could of course scupper any such plan of course with Theo Walcott expected to miss the next three games with yet another setback, but should the England forward return in the same rich vein of form that has helped propel Arsenal up the table, then he must continue to lead the line.
Walcott’s personality is not like Giroud’s – despite being very articulate and comfortable in front of the camera, he is much less gregarious off the pitch – on it, he is not shy of taking on the responsibility of the lone front man, and even less cautious about proclaiming himself capable of doing so.
His performances against Manchester United and Bayern Munich added weight to his own self-prophecy, but where the Gunners would often come unstuck after impressive performances against the very best was the week after, against lesser opposition.
Reduced to roles as an effective substitute, Giroud was given his first league start since August against Everton with Wenger shuffling his pack, and the Frenchman delivered a blockbustering display of dynamism and directness rarely seen from him.
Being booed by your own countrymen after a limp display in friendly against Serbia can’t have sat well, and turning out at the Emirates to a soundtrack of moans and groans would affect even the most confident player, but Giroud takes it to heart more than most.
Kept in the wings by Wenger making goalscoring cameos and being the difference when asked to spearhead the attack can only make Giroud hungrier, and such a potent weapon could add to what is already an impressive attacking force.
With Alexis Sanchez the talisman, Walcott as the willing runner and Mesut Ozil finding his passing range to devastating effect, Giroud can be kept back, but rather than causing disgruntlement, the Frenchman seems to revel in such a role, and if this is the way to keep his confidence at a premium, then we could at last see the best from Giroud, and Arsenal could have found an unlikely title-winning, bit-part hero.
