Sign up to FREE email alerts from Mirror - Arsenal FC Subscribe Thank you for subscribing We have more newsletters Show me See our privacy notice Invalid Email

Olivier Giroud - you will not be surprised to know - takes his own grooming kit to every match.

Well, when he fills his vanity case for the trip to Monaco, he should make sure he packs these shooting boots alongside his shampoo.

Because - despite his barn door-missing nightmare three weeks’ ago - Giroud remains the best man to spearhead an unlikely Arsenal turnaround in Monte Carlo.

In fact, Giroud remains one of the most underrated strikers in the game.

(Image: PA)

Match report:Arsenal 3-0 West Ham United

In an interview with a glossy magazine, Giroud kindly talked us through the contents of his gameday wash-bag.

Moisturiser? Tick. Conditioner? Tick. Hair gel? Tick. Wax strips? Tick.

But the preening stops when he hangs the Louis Vuitton on his locker-room hook.

His commitment - even to the ugly necessities - is unstinting.

His strike here, though, was a thing of beauty that broke West Ham resistance.

In pictures - Arsenal 3-0 West Ham:

The build-up was catwalk-elegant, the finish front-cover handsome.

Never mind the first leg line-fluffing in the Champions League, Giroud CAN be word-perfect in front of goal.

The unconvinced - and there are many - believe he thrives only against the mediocre.

Yet this season, he has scored against both Manchester clubs and Liverpool.

And anyway, Arsenal’s failings against the elite over the last few years have been collective ones.

(Image: Michael Steele)

Giroud will continue to have his detractors but he has always found a response to the minor crises that punctuate every high-class footballer’s career.

Remember him being dropped last season when slightly more salacious evidence of his proud personal hygiene habits appeared?

Arsene Wenger said it was a footballing decision, of course, but Giroud admitted it was a scandal that was ‘hard to live with’.

And how did he react when Wenger recalled him?

With goals - including two against Everton in an FA Cup quarterfinal - and with character.

“Always,” repeated Wenger after this match when asked if that is how Giroud ALWAYS responds to difficult times.

“Don’t forget this was a player who was in the French third division at the age of 22 or 23 and went on to play for the national team.

“There has never been any red carpet for Giroud. He has had to work for everything.”

(Image: Action Images)

It is not just Giroud’s mental toughness that is not suitably feted.

So many people fail to look far enough to find the quality beyond the quiff.

Maybe Giroud would be more prolific if he was not so selfless, if he did not seem so pleasingly intent on developing his all-round game.

They love an assist at Arsenal. They probably have a competition for assist of the season. Wenger daydreams about assists.

Olivier Giroud 2014-15 24 Games 14 Goals 4 Assists

And Giroud’s talent as a striking cog in the whirring wheels of Arsenal’s midfield wizard is growing by the game.

His finesse, flicks and foresight had already created plenty of opportunities before his pass for Aaron Ramsey’s goal was the football equivalent of a waiter lifting one of those silver dome thingies from a platter.

His part in Arsenal’s third - a lavish welcoming gift for substitute Mathieu Flamini - was small but perfectly-formed.

Wenger described Giroud’s performance as ‘outstanding’ after a result that had some inquisitors asking Arsene if the title was still on.

(Image: Getty)

Wenger said he was concentrating on overhauling the 3-1 deficit Monaco and reminded us all that Arsenal had won at Old Trafford last week - a game in which Danny Welbeck started ahead of Giroud.

And he claims he is not guaranteeing Giroud a place in this week’s Champions League eleven.

Who is Wenger trying to kid?

There is more chance of Giroud forgetting his gel than not starting against Monaco.

Giroud said he was "hurt and embarrassed" after the first leg.

He has been hurt and embarrassed before and come back stronger … and that is why the Monte Carlo stage is set for one of the game’s most stylish strikers.