Yes, you may well be right that Arsene is placating Giroud. At the expense of the bloke who was bought to be better than him, and now gets to sixty minutes in every game knowing that he has just ten minutes to score before getting the hook. What does that do for him?
It ought to tell him to get a move on. It's the same in FIFA; as a new, young player, you only usually get an hour to make your mark, earn your points, so you'd better get on with it.
"Plenty of strikers can score goals," he said, gesturing to the famous old stands casting shadows around us.
"But a lot have found it difficult wearing the number 9 shirt for The Arsenal."