Arsene Wenger has discussed the struggles Olivier Giroud and Alexis Sanchez face in scoring goals for Arsenal.
Chile forward Sanchez netted in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham –
his 14th goal for club and country this season – but before that Alexis
had gone seven games without scoring and Wenger knows it can play on
his mind.
But the Gunners boss has backed all his strikers to hit the
goal trail in the coming weeks after finally finding their scoring
boots.
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The Gunners face Watford in their FA Cup sixth-round contest on
Sunday looking to become the first team in living memory to win the
competition three times in succession.
Wenger’s side reached the last eight courtesy of a 4-0 replay win at
Hull – which saw Olivier Giroud and Theo Walcott both score twice apiece
to end their respective barren spells in front of goal.
Frenchman Giroud now has 20 goals for the season as he celebrated the
birth of his second child with a brace at the KC Stadium – but he had
gone 11 games without a goal before then.
Similarly, Walcott had just six goals to his name this season before
his fifth-round double – while Alexis’ strike to earn Arsenal a point at
Tottenham last weekend was his first in the Barclays Premier League
since October.
But now they are all back among the goals, Wenger believes the
pressure has been lifted ahead of a pivotal week which sees Arsenal
travel to Barcelona needing to overturn a 2-0 home defeat to advance in
the Champions League before a trip to Everton on in the Premier League.
“Look, it is a weight on the shoulders when the players don’t score,” Wenger said.
“So the fact that they score will of course take that weight off. Overall, I am pleased that they scored.
“But it is a bit cyclic always, especially for Giroud. Giroud has cycles so it was a weight off his shoulders. And Walcott too.
“You know this season for example he (Giroud) has had games where he
has gone boom, boom, boom, boom boom and after he had a little spell
where he didn’t score and now I hope he has a repetition of his former
spell and start to score again.
“You know that if you don’t score and you are a striker, somewhere you are not happy.
“Alexis as well against Tottenham scored. He suffers maybe more than everybody when he doesn’t score.
“Football has to be somewhere instinctive and you have to play with
freedom. When you play with a bit more freedom, the goals are natural.
Every striker will tell you that.”
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