Three big questions: Chelsea’s Olivier Giroud and the exponential

Chelsea’s Oliver Giroud had himself a Renaissance on the back end of last season. What questions should be asked before the new year?

By all accounts, Olivier Giroud was all set to leave in January. He had barely played and Chelsea’s pursuit of a new striker seemed a matter of if not when. But then that pursuit fell flat and Tammy Abraham missed time through injury. Not only did Giroud stay, but he then had a Renaissance thanks to some adjustments from Frank Lampard. He ended the season as the first choice striker. What questions need to be asked about the French striker before next season?

1. How much longer can he keep this form up?

Giroud was supposed to be gone in January. Stylistically, he was a poor fit for the tactical set up Frank Lampard was running. But when Tammy Abraham became injured, Lampard adjusted to make room for the Frenchman. Instead of focusing the play from the inside to the outside, the team reversed. Play down the flanks became more important with the ball only coming back inside in the final third.

This allowed the team to work around Giroud’s lack of speed while taking advantage of his positioning and his strength. Furthermore, it kept the opponent’s midfield pinned back somewhat in case they needed to support the defense, which gave Chelsea’s own midfielders more room to operate.

It worked well and the Frenchman had one of his best runs in a Chelsea shirt. But at the end of the day, it was an adaptation to an issue. Giroud kept earning starts based on form, but if that form goes, how much of a shot does he have to work his way back in?

Managers like to use their own tactics. Good managers, like Lampard, will adjust when they cannot use the shapes and styles they want. But they always naturally want to return to what they think works best. So, if Giroud’s form dips, will Lampard still leave a lane open for the Frenchman to come back? Or will the Renaissance be over?