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Cape Town - Olivier Giroud has revealed that he tried to emulate legendary striker Andrey Shevchenko when he was growing up.
The France international was a huge admirer of the former AC Milan and Chelsea forward and studied his game in detail.
Giroud then took his findings on to the training pitch as he attempted to model himself on the Ukrainian international.
“When I was young I tried to run like Shevchenko because he was a fantastic player and really elegant as well,” he told Arsenal.com.
“Sometimes at training I used to start running like him. He runs in a special way and he was really powerful - short but strong. I tried to imitate his shots as well.
“I don’t think [my coach] noticed though, because it was a quick try. It was not an obsession!”
Giroud has mastered the timing of his own runs now, and has had particular success in recent years with near-post goals against Tottenham and Newcastle.
“Sometimes the boss used to say, ‘Of course the striker has to go to the near post because after it will create some space behind you, even if you don’t get the ball, the defenders will have to follow you,’” He said.
“After it’s easier for maybe a midfielder or the other forwards to make other runs. We say most of the time, ‘first post, first there’.
“In that situation it was true but the crosses Hector [against Newcastle] and Theo put in, against Spurs last year, were perfect. After that, it’s all about the outside of my foot.”
