Olivier Giroud enjoying assisting role at Arsenal

Giroud assisted Wilshere's wonder goal against Norwich.

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud believes a striker's ability to link up with teammates is as important as scoring goals yourself,according to Arsenal's official website.

After somewhat struggling in his first season at Arsenal, Giroud has established himself as an important piece in Arsene Wenger's attacking jigsaw.

The French international has scored seven goals in 12 appearances for Arsenal this season, but insists assisting goals for his teammates is equally important.

Giroud played a big part in Jack Wilshere's superb goal against Norwich, which has fallen into the category of one of the goals of the season so far.

"It is a great thing because the goal was shown all over the world - I am proud of it," Giroud told Arsenal Player.

"It is a quality when you are a striker to not always be greedy and when you have a team-mate well placed on the pitch, in a good position, you have to assist him.

"Strikers are judged on their goals but we must also [provide] assists and that is what I try to do: help my team-mates.

"It is easy to play with people like Jack, Mesut, Santi or Tomas - all my offensive team-mates. We have good relationships on the pitch and when we play one-touch football like [against Norwich], it is a pleasure.

"We try to do it in every game, and when we succeed it is fantastic."

Wenger believes Giroud's improvement is largely down to the striker improving his technical ability but the 27-year-old said his improved self-belief has made the difference.

"I think technically I had it before, maybe I progressed because we have worked on it a lot in training,” the long-serving manager said.

"It is also (down to) confidence. I did well from the start of the season, I had good preparation with the team - instead of last season when I wasn’t here from the beginning - and I scored early in the pre-season games.

"I feel really confident, the boss made me feel good and that is why I feel good and try to improve every day. It is all about confidence I think."

Arsenal are currently licking their wounds having been bested 2-0 at home by Chelsea in the Capital One Cup this week. They remain top of the table, but Giroud and co. will have to ensure they are firing on all cylinders if they harbour any hopes of beating high-flying Liverpool this weeken
d