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Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud‘s time with the club hit a new low after a tabloid exposed his extra-marital affair which happened before his team’s game against Crystal Palace on February 2. British newspaper The Sun lifted the lid on Giroud’s antics with American model Celia Kay in a London hotel a day before the match. The 27-year-old initially denied the allegations but was forced to admit to his wrongdoings after photos emerged of the pair in the hotel room. Celia Kay admitted to meeting the footballer but insisted that they did not have sex during their encounter.
The Frenchman took to social networking site Twitter to express how sorry he was.
Giroud is a human being like all of us and such things can happen to anyone but they come with side effects which will most likely show on the striker’s already erratic form.
The forward has shown some improvement since his debut season but has not been consistent when Arsenal need him to be. Giroud has virtually disappeared in all the big games this season barring the North London derbies. The forward has always been level headed and hard working but now that his affair is out in the open he will have some moments of weakness. Rival fans have been known to pick on players for their negative activities so Giroud must brace himself for such a reception when he visits opposing stadiums. Arsenal have some pretty big games coming up in the next two months and the news of their striker cheating could not have come at a worse time.
A prime example of a players form being affected after an affair is exposed can be found in the form of Wayne Rooney. The striker had his marriage rocked by a similar scandal back in 2010 when newspapers reported that he had cheated on his pregnant wife with a prostitute on numerous occasions. After the news was made public Rooney’s form was severely affected, and he managed to score just 16 goals which was a far cry from the previous season’s 34 goals. Manchester United still managed to win the Premier League that season because they had some capable replacements for Wayne Rooney. Giroud is not a prolific goalscorer like Rooney but is Arsenal’s main striker who has featured in all of their games this season. If their main man is less than perfect, then Arsenal are going to have problems.
Yaya Sanogo and Lukas Podolski were brilliant against Liverpool in yesterday’s 2-1 FA Cup win which should give Arsene Wenger something to smile about. As for Giroud, the only thing left for him to do is to learn from his mistakes and move on. Wayne Rooney became a better and more mature person after his mistakes and hopefully his counterpart can do the same thing. Giroud is a strong willed person and can emerge from this scandal as a changed man. But until then he must keep his head on his shoulders and concentrate on his football.
