Although the former Arsenal and Chelsea centre forward, Olivier Giroud, scored 90 Premier League goals in 255 games, he doesn’t always get the credit he perhaps deserves.
As a World Cup winner with France, Champions League winner with Chelsea, and a four-time FA Cup winner in England – three of which were with Arsenal – Giroud is a deservedly respected striker, but he’s never really been considered as a remarkable one.
During his time as the main striker at Arsenal, there was constant talk of an upgrade because he supposedly didn’t score enough goals – especially after the 2015/16 season, a campaign where he failed to find the net in 15 straight Premier League appearances, a return that many Gunners fans feel cost them the title.
He’s since revealed that talk of someone coming to replace him hurt him at the time, but has launched a defence of his goalscoring record to his Arsenal critics.
“Of course it hurts. I’m a human being, a person with emotions and the most important thing is not to pay attention to what people say on social media,” Giroud told the Mirror.
“But my record? That’s not bad! I’m very happy with that. The story of my life has been people asking if I think I was a bit underrated. I think it’s also partly because I’m not a centre forward with the skills who the youngsters dream about.
“But I think the most important thing is to be very efficient because as a striker you are judged on your statistics, how many goals you score, I’m happy to do the pressing that others don’t do and the [expletive] that others don’t want to do. But it’s so important to me.”
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The Frenchman continued by explaining how he is thankful for the career he’s had, and that he looks back as someone who’s proud of what he’s achieved.
"But as a striker, you will always be judged on the stats and when I look back, I tell myself that I am so thankful to God that I’m on the pitch to enjoy my career, he’s always alongside me to help me to make the right decisions," Giroud added.
"I’ve won so many things in my career that I could never have imagined when I started. When I look back, I am very proud."
