Chelsea: James, Pedro, Giroud looked out of place for different reasons

2. Pedro and Olivier Giroud: Low on space and time

Pedro and Olivier Giroud each started the game looking like they were picking up where they left off, long ago in their last start.

Pedro showed an almost timeless character to his game, showing up in Pedro positions at Pedro moments at the end of Pedro runs. With Olivier Giroud dropping deep to help build the play, Pedro would come in behind Giroud to be ready for a run through the lines. As Chelsea built their attack in the final third, Pedro was just as likely to follow a loose ball to the outside to dribble it back in or make a mazy run to get to the top of the box in the hopes of curling in a 20-yard shot.

But while a player’s best moments may be timeless, time still leaves them behind. After the first half hour, neither Pedro nor Giroud had much influence on the game.

Giroud tried to fill Tammy Abraham’s boots too closely. Giroud can either drop deep to support build-up or he can be waiting in the box for a cross. But he cannot do both in the same sequence, as Abraham can. He is not fast enough to keep up with the play and be where he needs to be in the box within a few seconds.

The other side effect of Giroud dropping deep is that he was not able to pull West Ham’s defenders out of position to create space for Mason Mount and Christian Pulisic. This was his major contribution to France’s World Cup win, and he has showed some of it at Chelsea. But he has to be in a position sufficiently threatening for the opponent to take the bait. He did not find those positions against West Ham, so they could let him go until the centrebacks easily picked him up when he came central.

Chelsea should have been using Giroud the way Leicester City use Jamie Vardy: expect him to do very little of anything other than lethally convert the few chances that come his way. Chelsea tasked Giroud with too much, and the end product was too little.

Olivier Giroud and Pedro took different approaches to the game. Giroud tried to replicate Tammy Abraham, while Pedro did what he has always done. Giroud was not suited to his task, and Pedro’s efforts did not mesh with that of his teammates.

That pretty evenly distributes responsibility across those players, the others on the pitch and the tactical plan for the day.