Arsenal boss Wenger backs Olivier Giroud, hints at big summer spend

We break down the fallout from both a player and pundit perspective following Thierry Henry's comments on Olivier Giroud.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has reiterated his faith in his lead striker Olivier Giroud and insisted he is ready to spend big again this summer if the right players come onto his radar.
Gunners goal-scoring great Thierry Henry stated last month that Arsenal "need a top, top-quality striker in order to win this league again," but Wenger has given his full backing to Giroud in an interview with beIN Sports.

"Nobody can win you the Premier League title alone," Wenger said when asked about his French forward. "Olivier Giroud is part of the squad and he has done extremely well. He's scored 14 goals in the Premier League in 20 games. He works very hard for the team. Alone, of course he cannot win it.
"It is always like this when a striker misses chances. It happens to everybody. They are criticised but I always believe there is a difference between saying the performance of a player today was absolutely bad or is a difference between that and always saying, 'Look this player is not good enough. He is not the level.'
"You can never convict definitely a player. The players accept that they had a bad performance because top level players acknowledge when they don't play well. I believe that he has done extremely well. He has won the championship in France, let's not forget that."

Arsenal's Olivier Giroud received the support of manager Arsene Wenger on Thursday.

Wenger went on to suggest his side are edging closer to a position to challenge newly-crowned champions Chelsea in the Premier League, as he confirmed he is ready to add to his squad this summer.
Arsenal's most recent financial figures suggested the club had a surplus of £94 million available for transfer market activity, but Wenger warned spending money may not provide the most likely route to Premier League title glory.
"We are ready to spend the money for players who strengthen our team," he continued. "There is a difference in that and just spending money. If I ask you who has spent the most money this last season and if I give you last season, and the season before, it is never the teams who have won the championship.
"You have to be careful sometimes not to rate the players only by the amount of money they cost but just look at their performances.
"We are in a position where we just want a player with an exceptional quality in any area that can strengthen us. The depth of squad is important and any world class player in any position can help us achieve what we want to achieve."

Wenger confirmed that he appreciated there was still some frustration at his team's progress this season, even though they look certain to secure a top-three finish in the Premier League and could retain the FA Cup in next weekend's final against Aston Villa at Wembley.
"The question marks always exist because it's part of our job and we feel that we are in a cup final again, we have made progress in the championship," he added.
"I think we have moved forward, especially since December and January. We have become resilient, reliable and a consistent team. It is a good platform to move forward next season. I believe as well people always want more. That is normal.
"The consistency that we have shown over the years is absolutely exceptional and for years, where we had no chance to compete for the championship because we had restricted finances, we remained at the top and we developed many strong players. Now, I believe we are in a position where you can expect always more."