Chelsea: Olivier Giroud, the Blues’ underrated star
Olivier Giroud, despite being one of the senior players in Chelsea’s squad, is one of the most underrated players; he’s a true star for the side.
Chelsea is in rebuilding mode with terrific new acquisitions Hakim Ziyech and Timo Werner. Both are versatile players and while there has been much talk about acquiring a new striker in this transfer window, the Blues might are certainly set at this position right now.
Tammy Abraham will lead the line Sunday against Aston Villa and will be in the team next season, as well. Coupled with the versatile Werner—who will certainly play there—and Olivier Giroud, the club has three stars at the forward position.
The club extending Giroud for one-year, through next season, is an incredibly smart move to make. Supporters lamented his tearing Chelsea up on more than one occasion while at Arsenal, he is and was then a very underrated striker in both English and world football.
When he signed for Chelsea, many thought it was a silly move to make as Giroud rode the bench at Arsenal. However, it was a great move. Very few strikers in world football are as adept at hold-up play as Giroud. He’s a terrific back-to-the-goal striker who not only is a goal-scoring threat himself, but he also makes his teammates better.
Here’s what Eden Hazard said about Giroud’s ability to hold up play in 2018:
"“Olivier’s a target man, maybe the best in the world; I think so,” said Hazard.“When he gets the ball he can hold the ball and we can go in deep with him, so for us it’s a pleasure to play with him."
No one needs to look any further than Giroud’s role on the 2018 French World Cup-winning squad to see his importance. He didn’t score a goal, yet led the line for France all the way to winning the final. His contributions go way beyond just scoring goals and it’s about time fans appreciate that. That said, don’t sell him short in that department either.
He had a rough patch in the EPL early last season with some bad luck, but his play in Chelsea’s Europa League-winning campaign was enormous. In 14 appearances for the Blues, Giroud notched 11 goals to go along with five assists. Meanwhile, Eden Hazard won the Europa League Player of the Season award with just two goals and two assists. In other words, Giroud was robbed. Whether he received the award or not, Giroud was the best player in the Europa League and led Chelsea to the title.
Rumors have circled around the fact that that the Blues’ extension of Giroud may be just a means to extract some payment if he is subsequently sold. However, Giroud is an excellent player, far better than he is usually given credit for and still has a large part to play. He’s an asset for Chelsea as a complimentary striker or a starter. He delivers solid performances any time he’s on the pitch, whether he scores goals or not. But, he will score goals next year with a new and improved attack.
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Olivier Giroud will win a game or two in 2020-21 himself. Count on it. For this reason, letting him leave would be a mistake—unless he wants to go. Then, he should be allowed to leave as a courtesy to a top player who has performed exceedingly well for Chelsea Football Club. He deserves to be treated with that type of respect.