Olivier Giroud has insisted he shouldn’t take the blame for Arsenal’s failed title challenge last season.
The Frenchman scored 24 goals in all competitions for the Gunners, but went on a 15-game goal drought in the second half of the season and was criticised in some quarters for his performances.
Mesut Ozil appeared to take a dig at Giroud’s form after liking an Instagram post which laid the blame of the German’s final assist tally on the striker.
However the 29-year-old believes everyone at Arsenal needs to take the blame for their failed title challenge, including Ozil, who he believes also faded in the second half of the season.
“Our problems were collective,” Giroud told French newspaper L’Equipe.
“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.”
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