Former Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger has revealed why he got rid of Olivier Giroud in 2018.
Olivier Giroud, who has just announced his upcoming international retirement, was starring in a documentary on Canal+ on Sunday evening. During this film, many people who knew him during his journey testified. Arsène Wenger is one of them.
The former French coach was the one who offered Giroud his first chance abroad, recruiting him to Arsenal in 2012. A choice he did not regret. “When I saw him for the first time, during a French team match in 2011, I said to myself that this guy understood football.”
Wenger recognizes technical shortcomings in Giroud
The Alsatian technician bet for a long time on the native of Chambéry, but he ended up relegating him to the bench then transferring him to Chelsea. He explained: “His weak point was running with the ball. Starting 50 meters from the goals was not his strong point. It was less pleasing to the eye, in style. While Arsenal had a slick game at that time. That’s why it took him so long to convince people. »
Wenger also made it known that he did not want to hamper Giroud from the moment he was no longer counting on him: “I negotiated with Chelsea and I thought he had to play. He had given Arsenal six years and he deserved to be praised for what he did. I wanted to show him that I had respect for him. »
“He has an ego but he doesn’t torment”
If he ended up letting his compatriot go, Wenger also admitted that he had a lot of respect for who Giroud is as a person. “He isolates himself and comes back even more determined. He doesn’t let go. Deep humility, he knows how to accept the judgment of others and turn inward to ask himself what he can do to change that. It is not made to be on flat paths, but rather rocky paths.”
Finally, Wenger also expressed his admiration for the religious side of his former protégé: “I have met 2.3 guys like him in my career who are inhabited by a superior force. In the darkest moments, this strength always resurfaces. And it reassured me to know that someone loves something bigger than themselves, because starification feeds the ego a lot. He has an ego, but a quiet ego. Who does not torment him.”
