Interview

'Lacazette and Giroud give us variety in attack'

Arsene Wenger would prefer not to go through 38 games of that nature this season - but he doesn’t mind suffering with the fans if it ends in three points.

 

Olivier Giroud’s thumping header snatched a 4-3 win over Leicester City on the opening night of the campaign after Alex Lacazette’s header had given us the perfect start.

There were twists and turns in between those memorable moments and the boss was left to ruminate on the options we now have in the striking positions.

“We saw a lot of variety going forward,” Wenger told Arsenal Player. “I changed a lot during the game and overall I think the players adapted well to what I asked them to do in different positions. In the end the remarkable spirit of people like Olivier Giroud paid off again. 

“Alex Lacazette adapted well on the left when I put him there and Olivier through the middle. I think he [Alex] has also shown quality tonight and that he will be an important player for the team.

“For my heart, it’s better if I don’t [suffer like that]!” the boss went on. “But overall I liked the quality we produced and the spirit we have shown. It seemed a continuity of what we did at the end of last season. 

“It’s good for the players when you’re in a difficult situation that you can get around it and tonight we have shown that we have quality going forward. We had 27 shots, we had 70 per cent possession, we want to play football. 

“It would have been a shame to lose the game and I’m so pleased that we started with a win. We have seen again that it’s difficult to win in the Premier League. Everybody is organised and fit. For a first game, it was a cracker from the two teams.”