Olivier Giroud Talks Mesut Ozil, Arsenal and France Criticism Ahead of Euro 2016

Olivier Giroud believes all of Arsenal’s players, including Mesut Ozil, must take responsibility for the Gunners’ title failure this year and believes he perhaps does not get the recognition he deserves.

According to French outlet L’Equipe (h/t Charlie Phillippe of the Express), he said:

Our problems were collective. I’ve been less efficient compared to the first half of the season, but it is same for all the players, either Ozil or another.

We mostly talk about the striker because you are at the end of the line. 

I didn’t play well in some matches, it’s true, but I was also present in very important matches, against Leicester for example.

In the Champions League, if we qualified from the first knockout round it was also through my hat-trick against Olympiakos.

The striker went on a barren 15-game Premier League run in the second half of the season before discovering his form once again in the final two games, bringing his tally to 16 overall.

Similarly, Ozil finished the campaign with 19 assists in the league, but picked up just three of those in 2016.

Per Metro Sport, the German seemed to agree with the notion that Giroud was responsible for him failing to pick up more assists: 

Ozil likes Instagram post blaming Giroud for failing to beat Henry’s assist record… https://t.co/v5qp8EaID6 #afc pic.twitter.com/thiuGzxYXb

— Metro Sport (@Metro_Sport) May 22, 2016

He was certainly still creating opportunities—according to Squawka he provided his team-mates with 4.27 chances per 90 minutes, finishing the season having made 144 overall.

However, while Giroud’s goalless run certainly played a significant part, Arsenal were simply not good enough all over the pitch and lacked the mental strength to sustain a title challenge—something they must all be accountable for, as should manager Arsene Wenger.

The 29-year-old, who got 24 goals and six …

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