IT is unknown if Maurizio Sarri is a connaisseur of French football history. But the Chelsea manager would certainly be very familiar with Michel Platini and his exploits with France and Juventus in the 1980s or with David Trezeguet, who broke Italy’s hearts with his golden goal in the 2000 European Championship final and also shone for Juventus.
What Sarri may not know is that his Olivier Giroud has now overtaken Trezeguet in the France’s top scorer’s list (35 against 34) and is now only six away from Platini’s tally (41) after scoring against Moldova (4-1) on Friday and again against Iceland on Monday (4-0).
Make what you want of Giroud, the numbers speak for themselves. He might not be everyone’s cup of tea, he might not be the most talented striker to have played the game, the most elegant on the ball or the quickest either but he is regularly decisive for France: 89 caps already despite only starting his international career at 25-years-old, 35 goals (including just one penalty) and a ratio of 0.39 goal per game (not far from Thierry Henry’s one of 0.41).
GOAL! Olivier Giroud scores his 35th international goal for France! #FRAICE pic.twitter.com/MqvuxeleAX
— Goal (@goal) March 25, 2019
Add nine assists, a real fight for the team attitude both on the pitch, a perfect team spirit off it and you will understand why Didier Deschamps feels that he is indispensable to the team. The former Montpellier man is also a bit of a talisman: France have only lost twice when he has scored!
Funnily enough, we can even say that this World Cup winning team has been built around Giroud. The 4-4-2 formation is the system that fits him the most and it enables others around him to shine. The French head coach believes that Giroud makes Antoine Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé better and that his style of play suits the way the team plays. He is not just a goal scorer, he does much more than that on the pitch.
He knows that sooner rather than later, those two will better his record. “Grizi" is already on 28 goals at only 28 (in 69 caps) while “KMB”, still just 20, has scored twelve times already (in 30 caps). Both are currently on a 0.40 goal per game ratio.
Giroud’s critics can also state that he didn’t score at all in Russia in the 2018 World Cup and only twice in the 2016 Euros at home or that 21 of his 35 goals have come during friendly matches but that would be unfair over his whole contributions as his game is not just about goals. So for now, he is enjoying every second of it and rightly so, ignoring the negative vibes and just taking in the positive ones.
⚽ Players to have scored more than Giroud for France
Henry – 5⃣1⃣
Platini – 4⃣1⃣That's 3⃣5⃣ international goals and counting for the #CFC star! #FRAISL pic.twitter.com/b4d0U9mOW9
— Unibet (@unibet) March 25, 2019
At 32, the Chelsea striker knows it will not last forever. Euro 2020 could well be his last big competition with Les Bleus, after the 2012 and 2016 Euros and the 2014 and 2018 World Cups. “I want to play at least two more seasons in a good European club” he said after the Moldova game on Friday night.
Would that be at Chelsea? Not in the current context. Obviously, Giroud’s reality at Chelsea is totally different than with France. In one blue shirt, he is unquestionable and in the other blue shirt, he hardly gets a look in in the Premier League: only six starts, 21 appearances and one single goal so far this season.
Sarri’s stubbornness and lack of flexibility is certainly costing the Frenchman more game time in the league. His partnership and understanding with Eden Hazard could have really helped the team this season domestically. The former Arsenal star wants to play and needs to play more regularly if he wants to continue his love story with France. His contract with the Blues expires in June but they have an option to extend it for a further season. However, if Sarri stays next season, it could well mean that Giroud will not.
Eight and a half years after his France debut against the United States in Paris (1-0), in November 2011 and just over eight years after his first international goal in February 2012 in Germany (2-1), Olivier Giroud would have never thought that he would get this far. But it was always his ambition.
His career’s path has never been easy. He has always had to work harder and fight harder than others to make it to the top. He never gave up even when things were not going well in the French lower leagues and people didn’t think he will succeed. Now that he is right up there, he won’t change. He will keep fighting so it can last for as long as possible.
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