Olivier Giroud claims he 'did not lose any sleep' over Thierry Henry's 'brutal' criticism, though Arsenal striker admits he was 'annoyed'

Giroud returned from a broken leg to lead the line for Arsenal but a run of eight games without a goal saw Henry criticise his performances

Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud (Getty Images)

Olivier Giroud has admitted that he was "annoyed" by Thierry Henry's "brutal" criticism of him following Arsenal's goalless draw with Premier League champions Chelsea, but has stressed that he did not lose any sleep over his compatriot's comments.

Giroud suffered a broken leg early in the season that kept him out of action until late December, but returned to find his best form and ended the season with 19 goals to his name, with his latest coming in the 4-0 FA Cup victory over Aston Villa last weekend.

However, Giroud did have to endure a fair amount of criticism when the goals dried up in April, and Henry was rather scathing in his assessment of the France international with his judgement that Arsenal needed “a top, top-quality striker in order to win this league again”.

Henry has since tried to explain his comments and said it was more of a call for Arsene Wenger to sign competition for Giroud rather than replace him, with the Arsenal great suggesting "people took it a bit the wrong way," and that "Olivier Giroud needs help".

Henry was critical of Giroud's performances (GETTY IMAGES)

However, when speaking at a press conference ahead of France’s match against Belgium this Sunday, Giroud admitted that while he was irked by Henry’s criticism, he chose to brush it off.

"It is part of the game. I will never win unanimous support," Giroud said. "Apparently Titi (Henry) corrected himself recently, he said that he was thinking about competition, that he wanted Arsenal to have many strikers who can score goals.

"He was a little brutal at the time, so it caused a fuss, but that is what he's asked to do as a pundit and I didn't lose any sleep over it.

"Of course, it hurts your pride, it brings into question the work you do every day.

"It irritates you, and I was a little annoyed, but I quickly put it behind me.

"

Giroud celebrates with Laurent Koscielny and Mathieu Flamini (Getty Images)

I talked to the coach (Wenger) and the most important thing is to have the support of the people around you, who have faith in you, the staff, my team-mates.

"Anyway we can only answer on the pitch and that is also why the FA Cup was important."

Giroud added that he will not hold any grudges against the man who made his name as Arsenal’s talisman, and who frequently visits the Emirates Stadium to watch Giroud and his team-mates in action.

"I am not really angry at him (Henry), we will talk about that together,” Giroud added.

"It is true that I found it surprising, but that is just football.

"I don't hold it against him and we will have a laugh about it when we see each other again."

With Giroud going eight games without a goal before he was dropped for the FA Cup final, Giroud may find himself out of the first XI when the new season starts. Theo Walcott was given a chance to show what he can do in the centre of the attack, and the England international repaid Wenger’s faith with a hat-trick against West Brom in the final Premier League match of the season along with the opening goal against Villa at Wembley.

Giroud lifts the FA Cup after Arsenal's 4-0 win over Aston Villa (Getty Images)

Giroud admits that he had a difficult run of games before coming off the bench last weekend to score the fourth deep into injury time, but he looked back at his return from his broken leg earlier in the season.

"I had three difficult months. It was the first time I had been injured for so long, there was a lot of work to do, I had to be patient, work harder," Giroud added.

"Some people said that I came back stronger. I did some good work to get back in shape, re-boosted and balanced physically.

"After that, I was very clinical and had good fortune. I had very good statistics in spite of a little drought at the end of the season.

"It's still a super season, and is great to end with a trophy."