Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud: We've always finished in the top four, we aren't feeling the pressure

1/23
James Benge25 March 2017

Olivier Giroud says Arsene Wenger has told Arsenal players to ignore the mounting pressure on him and focus on improving their stuttering form.

Arsenal are in the midst one of their greatest struggles of Wenger’s 20 year reign after four defeats in their last five league games, their worst run of form in the top flight since 1995.

Their losing run has put Arsenal’s annual berth in the top four, and the Champions League qualification it brings with it, in great doubt. Wenger’s side are sixth with 11 games left, six points off fourth-placed Liverpool but with two games in hand.

Wenger has come under mounting pressure from a vocal section of pundits and supporters but Giroud revealed that the manager is attempting to shield his players from the worst criticism.

“For five years we have had these sorts of sensations and we always finished in the top four,” he told L’Equipe. “The team does not feel that pressure, which you describe from the outside.

“The coach regularly tells us to ignore what is going on around us and to leave him to deal with the critics. Play, I will deal with the rest.”

​Giroud added that another disappointing run of form had not prompted him to consider his future two months after signing a new contract.

“To win titles is our aim, but it is not a determining factor in my career,” he said. “I am very happy at Arsenal.”

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in