Frenchman is currently in the best form of his life at the Emirates.
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Arsenal front man Olivier Giroud has hit back at his critics in north London last season, while also claiming that his recent good run of form in front of goal has nothing to do with the arrival of club-record signing Mesut Ozil at the Emirates in September, according to reports in the Sunday Mirror.
The much-criticised France international has begun the new campaign on fire for the Gunners, having found the back of the net on six occasions in total already in the club’s first ten matches in all competitions.
And that recent good run also includes four strikes in the six Premier League contests that Giroud has featured in so far this season going into Sunday’s top-flight encounter with in-form West Bromwich Albion at the Hawthorns, with all four of those goals coming in the Gunners’ opening four league encounters of the campaign.
However, Giroud’s current red-hot goalscoring form is in stark contrast to his struggles to net for his new team in the capital this time last season following the 27-year-old’s move from Ligue 1.
The striker joined Arsenal from Montpellier in June 2012 for a fee of £9.6 million and despite eventually scoring 17 times for the club in his debut campaign, it still took Giroud a long time to win the Gunners faithful over though.
“I had to put up with a lot of c**p. You work like a donkey on the pitch, you get knocked around and it feels like people are just not watching,” said Giroud.
“People will say it is easier to score for Arsenal now that Ozil is here.
“And when Giroud scores, it will be because Ozil was there.
“But I was already scoring before Ozil arrived.”