The place of Olivier Giroud in France national team is being threatened and his time in the team might be determined by his relevance at Chelsea football club. Unfortunately for him, the coach of the Premier League side, Frank Lampard has so many options that he prefers ahead of him.
Due to this, the head coach of the France national team, Didier Deschamps has urged Giroud to find another alternative before March 2021 if he wants a place in the squad that will represent France in Euros 2020. This means that the striker has only the January transfer window to change his situation at Chelsea if Lampard continues to overlook him.
Though Giroud is France’s second all-time highest goalscorer (42 goals in 102 games behind Thierry Henry with 9 goals difference) that might not force Deschamps to continue to use him if he keeps sitting on the bench at Chelsea. Besides, he is now 34-year-old which means that he has already passed his prime by all footballing standards.
Moreover, France is one of the biggest national teams in the world which is blessed with top-class talents scattered across the major leagues in Europe. In Giroud’s position alone, there are at least two top-class forwards that can mount it perfectly if the former Arsenal’s starman is not available.
The likes of Manchester United’s Anthony Martial and FC Barcelona’s Antoine Griezmann can easily make France forget that the country’s national team has a forward like Olivier Giroud.
As it stands, the Frenchman must be bitting his fingers for not taking the chance to leave Chelsea for Tottenham, Inter Milan, or Lazio that came for his signature during the 2020 summer transfer window. Instead of going for any of the clubs, he decided to sign a one-year contract extension with Chelsea with the hope that his fortunate at the club will improve.
As funny as it seems, the coming of a prolific goalscorer like Timo Werner and two other attacking-minded players like Hakim Ziyech and Kai Havertz to Chelsea did not threaten the France international that his time at the club is up.
Recall that before Chelsea signed these players, Giroud was hardly used in the first half of the 2019-2020 season. Frank Lampard depended more on England international Tammy Abraham. It was towards the second half of the season that the Frenchman started enjoying game time again to the extend of playing 12 times in which he scored 7 goals.
So far in the 2020-2021 season, Giroud has managed to play only three Premier League matches most of which was from the bench. He has also played one Champions League match and two EFL Cup matches. In all the 6 games he managed to feature in, he has managed to score just a goal.
“Olivier Giroud knows it – the situation he’s in today cannot drag on forever. Before March he will have to find another situation than this one,” Deschamps told French radio station RTL.
“I never give advice, I give an opinion. At the end of the day, it’s the player’s decision. He has had situations that have sometimes been complicated to deal with.
“Today, it is not good for him. Will it stay the same or will it improve? It’s up to him. He knows what I think, even if I don’t forget everything he has done and everything he would still be able to do.”
Unlike Frank Lampard, Olivier Giroud is still a regular feature in Deschamps’ squad and the 34-year-old is expected to be in action today, November 17, when France faces Sweden in UEFA Nations League match.
De 1 à 100 🇫🇷💯🙏🏼
— Olivier Giroud (@_OlivierGiroud_) October 10, 2020
Merci mes copains pour vos témoignages ❤️#FierdetreBleus https://t.co/CN5OvgPQGQ
