Patrick Vieira sticks up for Arsenal forward in France, after criticism comes his way

Arsenal legend Patrick Vieira has defended Olivier Giroud after he came under fire from the French media over the weekend. The press have questioned the Arsenal forward's partnership with Karim Benzema after France failed to score against Georgia in their World Cup qualifier on Friday night.

Le10 Sport have reported that the former Arsenal midfielder believes the two are the best strikers that France have and therefore the partnership doesn't need breaking up. With the lack of depth in forwards available to manager Didier Deschamps there are currently no likely candidates to step in to replace both Giroud and Benzema.

“I think Benzema and Giroud are currently the two best strikers in French football,” said Vieira on the possibility of the partnership being broken up.

The French have failed to score in their last five games and therefore have been calls for changes ahead of the Belarus game on Tuesday night. Benezma himself hasn't scored for the national team for 1217 minutes and has come under the most criticism. Despite the lack of goals the French still look likely to secure the runners up spot so they will qualify for the play offs. Spain looks odds on to win the group after they beat France in the all important 'decider' in March.

The criticism for the French front two comes at a time when Giroud has made a blistering start to the season with Arsenal. The forward was on the score sheet in their first game of the season despite losing to Aston Villa but he also got the all important against local rivals Tottenham Hotspur. Arsenal's failure to bring in another forward during the summer transfer window will mean Giroud has to take the role as Arsene Wengers’s leading striker this season.