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Arsenal FC and the Blame Game
Olivier Giroud
He was bad. Good lord, he was awful, and it came at a terrible time. It may have knock-on effects on his confidence, which may be part of the reason Wenger took him off.
A striker’s state of mind is so important, and his took some brutal damage in North London. Is this a defence of him? Maybe. Footballers play pretty well most of the time. They’re special occasionally. They’re divine on rare occasions. And on similarly rare occasions, they make pub players look like they have a chance in professional football.
We saw that level of horrendous from Giroud, and it came at a horrible time. Let there be no dispute- this squad is better with Giroud in it, and I believe it would have been even uglier if he hadn’t seen the pitch. It doesn’t make his failures okay, but if anything it lends some perspective to a situation where we need it.