DIDIER Deschamps has no problem with Olivier Giroud not scoring. When it comes to not playing, however, it’s a very different matter.
Giroud famously went through the whole of France’s World Cup triumph in Russia last year without scoring a single goal, but Deschamps has continued to pick him and the 33-year-old striker has continued to repay his coach’s faith.
His 79th-minute penalty in Thursday’s 2-1 win over Moldova was his seventh goal in his last 10 France appearances and it secured a victory that sent the world champions to the top of their qualifying group, their place at Euro 2020 having already been assured by Iceland’s 0-0 draw against Turkey earlier in the day.
The Chelsea striker also played a prominent role in France’s first-half equaliser, albeit one that should probably have been punished with a free-kick to Moldova, when his collision with visiting goalkeeper Alexei Koșelev allowed Raphaël Varane to head the ball into an empty net following an Antoine Griezmann free-kick.
Giroud may be struggling for minutes Chelsea, but he can't stop scoring for France ♂️
He's now scored in his past three international appearances pic.twitter.com/l4adaH6b03
— Goal (@goal) November 15, 2019
It was not the first time that Giroud had come to France’s rescue in the current qualifying campaign. In addition to being on target in one-sided wins over Moldova, Iceland and Albania, he scored the goal that earned Les Bleus a crucial 1-0 victory away to Iceland last month and followed it up with a goal in a 1-1 draw at home to principal Group H rivals Turkey.
Throw in the winner in a 1-0 friendly success over Uruguay last November and the goal that sank the Netherlands in France’s first home game of the Nations League in September 2018 – as well as the brilliant understanding that he has developed with attacking partners Griezmann and Kylian Mbappé – and it’s not hard to understand why Deschamps persists with the former Arsenal man despite the fact that he has spent the vast majority of the club season to date glued to the bench at Chelsea.
“He makes himself useful and he’s indispensable,” Deschamps told reporters at Stade de France following the win over Moldova. “He’s also very efficient. He enables the players around him to have chances as well. That explains why he’s stayed with us despite his playing time at Chelsea.”
Giroud’s penalty against Moldova was his 39th goal in his country’s colours, meaning that he now needs only three goals to overtake the great Michel Platini and move into second place behind Thierry Henry (51 goals) in the list of France’s all-time leading scorers. But while his place in the history of the French national team is already secure, his time at Chelsea increasingly resembles a disappointing footnote. Having been sustained by playing time in the Europa League last season, Giroud has disappeared from view almost entirely at Stamford Bridge this term, featuring for just 211 minutes of the campaign so far.
He has not started a Premier League game since Chelsea’s 1-1 draw at home to Leicester City on the second weekend of the season and since the end of August his only time on the pitch in the league amounts to a 20-minute run-out in a 4-2 win at Burnley at the end of October.
Tammy Abraham and Michy Batshuayi have moved above Giroud in the strikers’ pecking order and for all that the busy festive schedule is likely to offer the Frenchman more opportunities, Frank Lampard has warned both Giroud and Batshuayi that he cannot afford to take their situations with regard to their respective national teams into consideration when he is picking his starting XI.
Olivier Giroud has 5 goals in 44 PL games for Chelsea…
He has 5 in 8 qualifying games for France!
Like two different players… pic.twitter.com/m9Fl0cLfnG
— Oddschanger (@Oddschanger) November 14, 2019
“It is difficult for me and it is difficult for them,” the Chelsea manager said earlier this month. “We both have our jobs, so it doesn’t feature in my thinking. I have to care for all the players. I have to pick the squad as I see it for the best of Chelsea, as they do for their countries.”
Deschamps, clearly, is in no hurry to dispense with Giroud’s services. Naturally conservative, the France coach has remained faithful to the men who took the team to glory in Russia, with Barcelona centre-back Clément Lenglet the only player to have successfully muscled his way into the starting XI since the World Cup (although Kingsley Coman is threatening to do the same).
But Deschamps also knows that Giroud’s situation at Chelsea is not ideal and he has made several pointed references to the potential remedies that will be on offer in the January transfer window. The former Montpellier striker found himself in a similar position at Arsenal two seasons ago, when the January arrival of Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang cast his hopes of going to the World Cup into doubt, and on that occasion he took the plunge by electing to move to Chelsea.
He has been linked with several clubs in recent weeks, among them Lyon, Crystal Palace, Borussia Dortmund and Inter Milan, and although his stated intention is to “fight for my place at Chelsea”, he has also indicated that if the situation does not improve, he will have no choice but to look elsewhere.
“We’ll weigh things up in January,” Giroud said in October. “I don’t necessarily want to leave, but I can’t be happy with what I’ve got. Even without the Euro, I’m 33, I’m fit, I look after myself well and I still have great years ahead of me. “I want to enjoy myself and play more matches. The priority at the moment is to stay at Chelsea. If I have to make a choice, I will, like when I left Arsenal.”
Giroud will have another opportunity to illustrate his worth to Deschamps on Sunday when France travel to Albania for a game that they must win in order to guarantee top spot in the group. Beyond that, with France not in action again until March, a long winter beckons.
