Arsenal Transfer News: Steve Bould Sees Gervinho Becoming a Complete Striker Amidst Comparisons with Thierry Henry

Oct 04, 2012 12:26 AM EDT

Steve Bould was happy to see Arsenal bounce back from a tough defeat against Chelsea with a professional 3-1 victory over Olympiakos in the Champions League, even if they might not have played at their best.

Arsenal had a poor first half against the Greek side where Kostas Mitroglou cancelled out Gervinho's opener. However, the Gunners put in a more improved performance in the second period and were duly rewarded with two goals from Lukas Podolski and Aaron Ramsey.

"We won the game and that's great for us," said assistant manager Steve Bould, who was filling in for the suspended Arsene Wenger. "They made it tough and I thought they were very good, their organisation was excellent.

"We improved in the second half with the ball, but we looked nervy at times I have to say. But overall we are delighted.

"This is a results industry and we got the result. We ground it out. I don't think they had too many chances, we limited them to a few and we could have perhaps scored a few more so without being fantastic we've had a great result."

Bould admitted the Chelsea loss was still affecting the Arsenal players' performance a little bit. "It probably knocked our confidence getting beaten," he said. "Even though we didn't play so great and we thought we should have got something from the game.

"Maybe there was a little bit of a carry over, but we're hoping now that has gone it is done and dusted. We did great tonight, without being fantastic. We have got back on track, and we're hoping we will get some confidence for the weekend (against West Ham) -- and that will be a tough game."

Gervinho is making the central striker role his own, with some good performances in the past few games, and the former Arsenal defender said the Ivory Coast international was improving with every game, amidst comparisons with Gunners legend Thierry Henry, who was also converted from a winger into a central striker.

"He is scoring goals, so his confidence is sky high," Bould continued. "I think his link play is gradually improving -- he set Santi (Cazorla) up quite a few times over the last few games. He is learning his trade.

"I don't think he has played there an awful lot and he is a danger with his pace and movement at times. He could be a top player.

"If he gets anywhere Thierry Henry we'll take that all day long. He is learning his trade there and is doing okay. I'm delighted."

Bould, who has been credited with Arsenal's defensive tightness this season, insisted he was not too worried about his team starting to conceded goals on a regular basis. "Well, it was always going to be that way," he said. "There was only one way to go. Three clean sheets and we've done okay. We haven't had an awful lot of goals against.

"The goals that have been against in the main have been set pieces, which we're all disappointed about and think we can improve. Things are looking okay."

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