Wenger confident Giroud will improve

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has thrown his support behind striker Olivier Giroud after his side's 0-0 draw with Sunderland.



The Frenchman, who signed for 12 million pounds from Montpellier, had a golden chance to earn his side three points on his English Premier League debut but fired wide when one-on-one with Simon Mignolet.



Wenger admits a lot is expected of the 25-year-old, but feels optimistic he can score goals in England as he becomes accustomed to the league.



He told Sky Sports: "That's the burden you face when you take over from Robin van Persie because people are used to seeing him score.



"But he missed some chances as well and I feel Giroud will score goals but he rushed his chance a bit. He had more time than he thought he had and I believe in time he will get there. I'm not worried too much about that and I'm sure I'm right."



Wenger hopes that is the same of all his new faces including Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla, who he feels had a strong outing against Sunderland.



However, he was not satisfied with his team's overall performance against Sunderland and believes they need to improve in the coming weeks.



"They are good player. Once they are on the pitch they play. We have seen Cazorla today, it doesn't take him six months to adjust to play," Wenger said.



"Sometimes it's a little bit of an easy excuse. I believe our pace in our passing was too slow. Out from the back it wasn't sharp enough, we usually do better on that front.



"It was frustrating because we played with the right attitude and the right focus but overall I believe our creative level was not good enough today for different reasons."



Sunderland manager Martin O'Neill praised the effort of his players after they battled for a draw, defending stubbornly.



"It was a great point for us and I'm obviously delighted with it," he told Sky Sports. "I would have taken it before the game, especially considering our circumstances with the players we had today not all being fit.



"So overall it was a fantastic effort. Of course we'd like to rectify situations by getting some goals. Playing Arsenal any time is pretty difficult but today was a magnificent effort."