Giroud more hungry than ever

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has admitted
he was frustrated by criticism as he
struggled to overcome the ghost of Robin
Van Persie and cement his place as the
Gunners' go-to goalscorer last season.
Giroud moved to North London from
Montpellier in 2012 and was tasked with
filling the void left by Van Persie's transfer
to Manchester United.
The Frenchman's initial stumbling footsteps in an
Arsenal shirt left fans questioning the club's wisdom
in signing him but the Frenchman ended 2012-13
with 17 goals and 10 assists.
The sceptics have been soothed and Giroud has
continued his fine scoring form this season with six
goals in ten games. However, the 27-year-old striker
has not forgotten the early criticism.
"At a point in time last year, certain things annoyed
me," he said. "I wasn't hurt, I wouldn't go that far.
But they p***** me off. You run yourself into the
ground on the pitch, you do yourself in, and you get
the impression that people didn't see the game. At
the end of the match, they just look at the score and
don't see the content.
"It's perhaps also due to my game, I've always made
those around me play. Perhaps I think too much
about others, but that mustn't change. I have to stay
myself."
Giroud explained that the shadow of Van Persie had
loomed large over him at Emirates Stadium.
"When I arrived last year, subconsciously, I perhaps
put myself under more pressure than I do today,
perhaps too much because I'd 'replaced' Van Persie,"
he said. "I tried to keep myself free of that, but of
course I thought about it.
"At the start of last season, honestly, I wasn't doing
the right things. When it came to finishing, I was
tense. You would have said I was as stiff as a stick. By
winning my place over the course of the matches, I
played a little less with the handbrake on."
Giroud's contribution of six goals already this season,
including one in Tuesday's 2-0 Champions League
win over Napoli, suggests he may not suffer the
"second season syndrome" that has put paid to many
a career in England.
"When you arrive in this position, you have to have
ambition, know what you're getting yourself into,"
Giroud said. "Now, you're in the big boy's
playground. I wanted to be here, at a big club, but
you have to accept that afterwards. "I say it again,
I'm happy with my first season and I'm happy with
my good start to this season. Frankly, I'm really
enjoying myself right now."
And citing the arrival of Mesut Ozil from Real Madrid,
he added: "What's more, we've picked up a great No.
10 who's going to chip in. They're going to say it's
easier to score at Arsenal now that there's Ozil. That
if Giroud scores, it's because there's Ozil. But Giroud
scored before Ozil arrived."
Giroud also scored before he came to England,
working his way through the lesser lights of French
football such as Grenoble, Istres and Tours, where he
played alongside current Arsenal team-mate Laurent
Koscielny, before joining Montpellier in 2010 and
finishing as Ligue 1 top scorer to help the south-coast
club to their first-ever French title two years later.
"I've had to root around in the s*** to get where I am.
That's a great source of strength. I've always had to
fight. That's why I've succeeded, because I've always
been hungry. I'm more hungry than ever. I'm
enjoying it, but the more I progress, there's less
which seems inaccessible to me," he said, suggesting
that even the Ballon d'Or may soon be within his
reach, though not before he has fully established
himself in his new home.
"It's a dream. But the key to my success has always
been to set myself reasonable targets. I've developed
like that, stage-by-stage. Before I can think about the
Ballon d'Or, before I get into the top ten players in
the world, I first have to think about being among the
top ten strikers in England."
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.