Olivier Giroud attributes recent successes to 'mental strength'

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud has spoken out about Arsenal’s recent string of good results, admitting that the mental strength of the players was an important component in the team’s success (via Arsenal.com). The Frenchman went on to reveal that the team had big aspirations for this season, including the Champions League.

Giroud has done magnificently to recover from his slow start to the season, and found his goalscoring boots after being handed a start for France over the international break and netting twice against Denmark. After returning to the club, he scored in successive substitute appearances against Watford and Bayern Munich before being handed the start against Everton and netting once more.

Speaking to Arsenal Player, Giroud said, “I think we are stronger mentally this year. We are all fighting for each other. We have a great togetherness and we want to achieve big things altogether. We are showing a lot of leadership, we have team meetings and we all want to contribute and bring qualities to the big matches.

“We are all looking in the same direction and we know we need to be 100 per cent in every game. If someone is a bit tired then someone else will battle and fight for each other. That’s the mentality we need to show through the season.

“If we carry on like that then we will be difficult to beat, especially with our efficiency. I don’t want to look too far forward because we need to keep it up and carry on this momentum. It’s only the 10th game in the league so we’ve got 28 to go, so it’s a bit early.”

Giroud spoke about the team’s plans for the season ahead, admitting that the players were interested in mounting a run in the Champions League and also turning the Emirates into a fortress.

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“We need to keep focused on what we are doing well and it’s for sure that we have a lot of confidence and we want to show that we can get stronger and stronger against the teams who come to play at the Emirates” he said.

“We also want to qualify for the [knockout stages of the] Champions League so we’ve got big games to come so let’s see if we can keep it up.”

If Arsenal are to progress from the group stages in Europe, we will need to win against Dinamo Zagreb at home and also beat Olympiacos in Greece. A good result against Bayern in the upcoming game will go a long way towards helping our chances of qualification. Let’s hope we can do so and maybe finally progress beyond the last 16 as well.