by Nia Griffiths
Olivier Giroud has been speaking ahead of our pre-season Asian tour and comparing our fans from around the globe.
The striker has come to the conclusion that we’re all crazy – cheers mate!
Speaking recently about travelling to Singapore, the 28-year-old said, “It’s always a pleasure and a really good experience because you can see the fans are crazy all over the world. They support the team until they die and they are fantastic.”
He went on to describe what he believes a true Arsenal fan to be, saying, “A proper fan has to learn all the Arsenal songs so it’s nice to hear them singing our songs and the way they are singing is even more surprising because they sing with their heart.”
“I remember when we landed in Vietnam very early in the morning but there were 2,000 people who were waiting for us and cheering us on,” he continued. “It was a great feeling and it makes you want to produce even better performances when you get onto the pitch.”
This will be the fifth pre-season that Arsenal have traveled to Asia as part of their training. We have a huge following over there and the turnout is always unbelievable. The humid conditions make physical activity particularly difficult and therefore, in a sense, fast-tracks the footballers to a higher level of fitness than they would if they were just training in a climate they’re used to.
Our first match of the Barclays Asia Trophy tournament, which we’re taking part in while over there, is against Singapore Select XI. Other Premier League teams set to take part in the competition are Everton and Stoke City.