Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud does not want to be anyone’s backup

Olivier Giroud was the player picked for the press conference ahead of Slavia Prague. He showed himself to be proper Chelsea and no one’s second.

Oliver Giroud owned his press conference for the Europa League. The only way he could have owned it any more would be if he had worn his World Cup winner’s medal during it.

In summary, Giroud came out and said his scoring record is so good in the Europa League because that is where his minutes are. He was saying that if he plays, he scores. He pointed out how he saved his frustration for the pitch and how he does not want to be second choice. He has offers elsewhere and he will not play second fiddle any longer.

This presser ringed similarly to one Cesc Fabregas gave a few weeks ago. Fabregas said he had to leave because of Maurizio Sarri’s relationship with Jorginho and the subsequent lack of playing time he would get as a result. For anyone keeping count, that is two World Cup winning veterans of the Chelsea side who feel like they never had a fair shot at playing. The captain Gary Cahill has no World Cup to speak of, but he would surely understand the sentiment. It is telling.

Giroud was brought in last season to supplement Chelsea’s weakened and out of form strike force. What he lacked in goals, he made up for in aiding others (a trend that continued at the World Cup). Eden Hazard even called him the world’s best target man as their partnership grew. But like many players, Giroud quickly found himself out of consideration by new manager Sarri.

When Morata fell out of form again, Sarri did not turn to Giroud. Instead, he opted for Eden Hazard up top. And when January came, Sarri went to the board and got his own man in Gonzalo Higuain.

Giroud has had to sit on the bench and settle for Europa League minutes as Higuain has stumbled his way through matches. It will be almost impossible for Higuain to end the season as anything other than a total flop, but Sarri has already mentioned that he wants him to stay if possible. Giroud, meanwhile, is lighting up the scoring charts knowing it does not matter.

What Giroud was saying in his presser was basically what is blatantly obvious: Chelsea is not a meritocracy right now. Sarri has shown little to no care as to who is in form or who is better because he has been focused on building around his guys.

N’Golo Kante and Hazard are Chelsea’s best two players by some margin. But the system is not built around them or their success. It is built around Jorginho and now Higuain. Giroud is only seeing minutes in the Europa League now because Sarri is so focused on playing Higuain in the Premier League at almost every chance.

Fabregas saw this lack of meritocracy and left. Giroud is preparing to do the same and he wants the world to know. Cahill has been quiet this whole time, but he will also depart having never actually been given a chance. Sarri came in, decided who was good enough and who he could not work with, and disregarded all other evidence.

It is that lack of man management that will see Chelsea lose a veteran striker and defender on the back of losing a veteran midfielder all in the space of one season. They did not need to play all the time, but by being marginalized from the start, Chelsea is losing a lot of experience and leadership that could prove useful if the squad has to become suddenly younger.

But Giroud knows it never mattered. He told the world as much in his presser without having to say it directly. If Chelsea wins the Europa League, it will be in large part due to him. But he knows that the story will not be twisted that way.