Arsenal: Olivier Giroud’s statements are unflinchingly true

Olivier Giroud called into question Arsenal’s strength and desire after a horrifying defeat at the hands of Jürgen Klopp’s men om Sunday. The Gunners suffered a 4-0 demolition that put a dent in their early season hopes. But the French striker believes that changes need to be made and wants to stay.

Arsenal’s bearded frontman Olivier Giroud has held the Gunner’s frontline uncontested for years before his injury paved the way for Alexis Sanchez to step up and Arsene Wenger to experiment a little.

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While Theo Walcott, and others like Yaya Sanogo, Danny Welbeck and even Joel Campbell, has been present during the towering Frenchman’s tenure at the Emirates, the Englishman hasn’t exactly been a threat to Giroud’s position.

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However, then came Sanchez, and while Giroud may have been pushed out of his starting position, it certainly doesn’t mean that his presence has been. The 30-year-old is among one of the longest serving players and, despite his critics, has somehow managed to score just shy of 100 goals.

Although Wenger no longer needs a tall and towering centre-forward to hold-up the ball, there is certainly a degree of dependence on the Frenchman’s goals off of the bench. Nonetheless, even Giroud couldn’t save Arsenal from Liverpool’s blistering performance. And the striker was scathing in his assessment of the performance.  In an interview with French radio, Giroud certainly didn’t hold back:

"“I was ashamed when I left the pitch against Liverpool, felt bad for our fans. That wasn’t us, that wasn’t Arsenal. It was embarrassing. We have to change something but I have decided to stay. It’s my choice, even if everyone does not understand it. I still want to win the Premier League here.”"

While I admire Giroud’s resilience to stay and fight for his position, despite the fact that there are clubs that would easily allow him to play first team football, it’s the fact that he’s right that concerns me so much. Here is a player who has just been replaced after spending a year on the bench, has put the club’s future first and looked past all that, and is absolutely justified in his brutal evaluation of his teammates’ recent performances.

Every player on the pitch should be ashamed because as Giroud rightly said, that wasn’t the Arsenal that is expected and demanded. Something needs to change, whether it’s on the pitch or off, and it needs to come from one of the senior players, like Cech, Koscielny, Giroud, in tandem with Wenger as manager.

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Because when push comes to shove, even as early as this in the season, Giroud should be right in the middle leading the pack, whether it’s off the pitch or on it.