Olivier Giroud says in-form Arsenal teammate Mesut Ozil is now showing his true greatness after his match-winning performance sent the Gunners to the top of the Premier League with a 2-0 victory over Bournemouth on Monday.
Ozil had one of his best performances in an Arsenal shirt, creating nine chances, passing successfully at a rate of 95%, and assisting his teammate Gabriel before adding his own name to the scoresheet when he put the ball past Bournemouth’s net after receiving the ball from a sublime Giroud flick. This win was very much needed as it helped Arsenal recover from their terrible 4-0 loss against Southampton at St Mary’s stadium.
Giroud met with L’Equipe and praised the German playmaker, discussing his slow rise to the top and the sense of security Ozil brings to the team.
He got a lot of criticism from the start because he wasn’t efficient enough.
Now he’s showing what a great player he is.
His stats are impressive. He breathes football.
With a player like that, you know you’re going to get at least one goal chance per game. It’s a joy to play with him.
The 29-year-old, who has been one of the main beneficiaries of Ozil’s assists, was more than happy to create a goal for the player on Monday.
It’s almost as enjoyable as scoring, especially since it was for Mesut who’s laid on a few goals for me this season.For once, we switched roles.”
For once, we switched roles.
The French striker also gave a few comments on the Southampton game, describing it as an accident where the team just didn’t turn up.
We felt very quickly that we weren’t good.
In a season there are matches like that where you don’t perform. We’ve used up one of our wild cards.
But at the same time it’s better to lose 4-0 once than 1-0 four times.
Arsenal’s win over Bournemouth saw them move ahead of Leicester City in the table to end 2015, as Manchester City held the Foxes to a 0-0 draw.
