Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has come to the defence of beleaguered striker Olivier Giroud after his disappointing performance against Monaco in the Champions League in midweek.
The Gunners were favourites to get the better of Monaco in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie against the French Ligue 1 outfit on Wednesday. But the Londoners lost 3-1 which has put their progress to the quarter-final in jeopardy.
Wenger’s side were not helped by their misfiring forwards during their midweek defeat and Giroud has been singled out for criticism after missing a flurry of goalscoring chances.
However, Wenger has come to the defence of his compatriot saying that the striker is as disappointed as his team-mates after their inexplicable defeat to a team that are lying fourth in the French top division.
“Olivier is like everybody else – disappointed”, the manager was quoted as saying at a press conference by the club site.
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He added that the failure was collective and there is no need to single out any particular individual for blame.
“There’s nobody to blame individually. Who is a striker who didn’t miss a chance?”
The Frenchman pointed out that missing goalscoring opportunities was one of the reasons why the hosts lost and not the sole reason for their collapse.
“He had his chances and he missed. For us on the night, everything went against us.
“The fact that we missed some chances was only one of the characteristics of the night.”
However, the Arsenal manager has backed the 28-year-old to come back strongly in the club's upcoming matches.
“Olivier's a strong character. Personally I don’t blame him at all.
“We lost as a team, we fight for each other as a team and he worked hard for the team even on the night. He didn’t miss the chances on purpose.
“He wanted to score the goals but that can happen.”
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