Olivier Giroud is a player who has always had his doubters. Despite that, every now and again he pops up and reminds us just what a good player he is.
Last night’s last minute header against Rennes was one of those moments. With that goal, Chelsea sealed a 2 – 1 win and qualification to the knockout stages of the Champions League.
It was the archetypal opportunistic Olivier Giroud header. It highlighted his importance to the Chelsea team although he is not the first choice striker.
Olivier Giroud wants to leave the Blues in January so he can be fit for Les Blues come the Euros this summer. They would be mad to let him go.
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Against all odds, Giroud is on course to become France’s greatest ever striker. On 44 goals, he is eight away from overtaking Thierry Henry as the nation’s highest ever goalscorer.
If past activity is anything to go by, Chelsea will probably allow him to leave. However, manager Frank Lampard spoke in glowing terms about the Frenchman last night.
“Last year it was him or Tammy fighting for the number nine spot. Tammy had a great first half of the season. When we relied on him (Giroud) for the restart, he was fantastic,” said Lampard.
“What everyone feels is what a great professional he is and how highly regarded he is by his teammates and by myself. So for him to get a goal, you saw the reaction of his teammates. He’s so professional in how he looks after himself that age isn’t even a factor. In fact I think he’s getting even better with age because he looks after himself so well. So he offers a lot for us and I keep saying it.”
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“With the busy schedule coming up we’ll rely on players so thankfully for me he always keeps the right attitude and I know when I call upon him he’ll perform as he did today.”
