Published: 28 January, 2016
by STEVE BARNETT

ARSENE Wenger may just be wishing that Laurent Koscielny had waited a week before paying homage to fellow Frenchman Olivier Giroud. 

The Gunners’ defender heaped praise on Giroud – and his nose – on Tuesday, saying that the forward’s fine form was down to “smelling situations well”. 

Koscielny certainly has a case as Giroud is Arsenal’s leading scorer this season having scored 18 goals in all competitions. 

With that in mind, there was shock and criticism in equal measures on Sunday when Wenger chose to substitute the 29-year-old just 22 minutes into the Premier League clash against Chelsea following Per Mertesacker’s red card for bringing down goal-bound Diego Costa. 

Wenger hit back at claims that any chances the Gunners had of taking something from the game disappeared with Giroud when the striker was hauled off the pitch. 

Snapping at the media, the Arsenal boss said, “You want to make a poll for every decision to see who does what?” 

With the 1-0 defeat against Chelsea and that seemingly desperate reshuffle still looming over the Emirates Stadium, Koscielny might have picked a better time to reveal just how impressed he’s been with Giroud’s all-round play this season. 

“When he plays simple, he’s the best,” Koscielny told Arsenal Player. “He’s tall, he’s big, and when you try to find him, he keeps the ball. No defender can pass him. 

“He’s so massive and that’s one of the best qualities for a striker. 

“When he can play like this, with one or two touches, and staying in the box – which is where we want him – we can also score in the air. 

“I think Olivier has a work rate for the team which is very high. 

“He’s not just a forward, he’s always there when we have free-kicks or corners against us. 

“He’s the first guy who tries to head the ball clear,” Koscielny added. 

“He can give assists too.

“You can see now that he smells the situations well – when he needs to shoot quickly, or control the ball, like he did against Liverpool recently with his second goal. 

“I think he’s in good form this season and I hope he will stay in that form until the very end.”