France manager Didier Deschamps has backed Arsenal’s Olivier Giroud to continue scoring goals for Les Blues.

  • Giroud has a good scoring record despite being a sub most of the year
  • The striker was the first player to score a hat-trick for France in 17 years

Olivier Giroud has been a much criticised player of the years, but possesses a very good scoring record for both club and country. He scored a hat-trick for France in their latest game against Paraguay.

Deschamps has publicly supported the player, saying to L’Equipe: “At Arsenal, he didn’t play much but was very efficient with his time, which is good. Olivier knows what he’s capable of doing and he knows that I have confidence in him.”

Giroud has never been seen as the undisputed number one striker for both Arsenal and France, and calls to replace him with more mobile players have been constant no matter how many goals he scored.

Alexandre Lacazette and Kylian Mbappe are two strikers vying for Giroud’s place after prolific seasons in France.

Giroud, though, works well within France’s system, and despite spending most of the season on the bench he looks set to remain first choice for now.