Olivier Giroud: Club Football’s Unsung Hero
One of football’s unsung heroes…
Olivier Giroud has recently found himself in the mouths of fans and pundits after his recent form, suggesting he should start upfront in the star-studded Chelsea team.
With the World Cup winner recently making Champions League history, it seems like a good time to reflect on his underrated career in club football.
Image via Darren Walsh/Chelsea FC & Getty Images
The striker’s professional career began in 2005, when he signed for Ligue 2 side Grenoble at the age of twenty-one.
A late start in comparison to most players, Giroud’s qualities in the reserve squad were noticed by then manager Thierry Goudet who handed him a sporadic role in the first team.
Despite a slow start to his career, Giroud found success in the 2007-2008 season as he went on loan to Istres who were in the third level of French football at the time.
The step down in level was great for Giroud as he hit fourteen goals in thirty-three matches.
Unfortunately, he was hit with a setback as he returned to Grenoble.
Mehmed Bazdarevic had taken over as manager of the club whilst Giroud was loaned out and deemed him surplus to requirements.
Tours FC saw otherwise and decided to take a gamble on Giroud, which paid off as he was vital in their promotion push in the 2008-09 season.
With nine goals in twenty-three league games, it can be argued that the club would’ve been promoted had he not been injured.
What did become clear was that Giroud was ready to lead the line and become the main striker.
The following season saw him become the league’s top scorer as he found the net twenty-one times in the 2009-10 league campaign.
His performances won him the ‘Union Nationale des Footballeurs Professionnels’ player of the year award.
Top division club Montpellier noticed Giroud’s eye for a goal as they bought him in the January transfer window that season, letting him officially join the club for the 2010-11 season.
Montpellier’s early business seemed to be smart as Giroud instantly demonstrated why he’s ready for the big show.
A goal on his club debut in the Europa League against Hungarian side Gyori foreshadowed a promising season.
His debut season resulted in him finishing as top scorer for the club and helping Montpellier to a runners-up place in the Coupe de France. His goal against PSG in the semi-finals of the tournament meant that the club had reached a major final for the first time since 1994.
The following season was even more impressive as Giroud claimed the Golden Boot for the 2011-12 Ligue 1 season, as well as driving Montpellier to their first-ever league title.
His inspirational season was catching the attention of top clubs around Europe, but it was Arsenal who won the race for his signing.
It would be fair to say a large amount of Arsenal fans may not have the greatest affection for their former striker.
Giroud’s name is synonymous with the supporters for the club’s failure to win the 2015/16 league title as well as Mesut Ozil not securing the assist record for a single Premier League season in the same campaign.
However, for a fee around £10million, it can be argued that Giroud had paid back the fee with his contributions to the club.
His debut season for Arsenal in the 2012-13 campaign saw him end with seventeen goals and eleven assists in all competitions.
The following season would be even better as he scored twenty-two goals but, more importantly, he helped Arsenal break their nine-year trophy drought by winning the 2013-14 FA Cup - a trophy that he would help the team retain the following season in 2014-15.
Despite a disappointing 2015-16 for Arsenal, the following season saw Giroud help the team to another FA Cup win.
In spite of not featuring heavily in the season, Giroud came off the bench late in the final against Chelsea to assist Aaron Ramsey to win the trophy.
But the real moment for Giroud that season came when he scored with an unbelievable ‘scorpion kick’ against Crystal Palace that earned him the FIFA Puskas Goal of the Year award.
The goal was a result of incredible improvisation, one of his best attributes, and solidified him in Premier League history as it remains in highlight reels for years to come.
Giroud hit the hundred-goal landmark for Arsenal at the start of the 2017-18 season in a Europa League match against Bate Borisov. However, he did not find himself as the main striker in the squad as Alexander Lacazette was signed to play ahead of him.
The January transfer window saw Piere-Emerick Aubameyang join Arsenal on deadline and so Giroud found a move to rivals Chelsea on the same day.
A moment that proved Giroud was worth the transfer can be found that season in the FA Cup semi-final match against Southampton.
After beating two players with excellent close dribbling, the Frenchman scored the opening goal to break the deadlock to inspire Chelsea to a 2-0 win and help his eventually win the final.
Whilst he may be struggling for minutes for now and in recent years, Giroud always pops up with moments that spark an argument for him to be a starter.
In the 2018-19 season, he made use of his Europa League appearances as he finished as the tournament’s top scorer as well as helping Chelsea lift the trophy.
A favourite personal moment for him may have been scoring against former team Arsenal in the final and screaming “Thank You, Arsenal!” in the post-match celebrations.
After helping Chelsea qualify for the Champions League in the COVID-19 hit 2019-20 season with a goal on the last day against Wolves, he finds himself once again having fans question his game time as he continues to write himself into history books.
After scoring four goals against Sevilla in the Champions League last week, he became the oldest player to score a hat-trick in the tournament since Real Madrid’s Ferenc Puskas in 1965.