Olivier Giroud has had one of the best years of his sports career in 2020. In fact, he is the footballer who leads the table of averages, with a goal every 106 minutes in the Premier League. Players of the stature of Agüero, Mohamed Salah or Bruno Fernandes follow him, but they are not able to hold his 'killer' pace. At 34, he has also had a stellar performance against Sevilla, scoring four goals in the group stage of the Champions League. What is your secret? The forward himself has revealed it in an interview on Sky Sports.
“I'm not going to tell everything because then it would be easy to read (laughs). As a striker, if you want to free yourself from the defender, you have to do a first race and then another. You pretend to go to the second suit, but you end up going to the first. It is a movement to free yourself from the defender and receive the ball. It is not random. There is nothing random when you score goals. Never. You can't be lucky. You are relentless and tough. You always keep believing. That is one of the main qualities of a forward. Never stop and always believe that you are going to score even if you fail the first or second “, explains the forward in the interview.
He also wanted to talk openly about the reasons why he dances, especially in certain areas of the pitch: “There are certain situations in a match where you have to go to the far post because there is congestion at the first post.. Depends on the situation. But as a forward, like '9', sometimes you have to run just to move your defender and free up the space behind you for another player. When the center reaches the near post and you are in front of the defender, you can finish the play and surprise the opposing goalkeeper. That's why I like doing that move so much. It's something that I work a lot in training“.
The work of a forward goes further. As offensive references, they are the axis by which the team's attack turns and, therefore, the finishers of the coach's board. For optimal attack performance, the '9' must be in perfect sync with its assistants. Giroud also spoke about his preferences when it comes to receiving balls: “I ask my two full-backs to put the ball in early, not to wait too long. It is not necessary that they approach the goal line before putting it. “The Chelsea striker adds taste:”I feel more comfortable heading the ball when it comes from the left“.
He does not say it for saying. Statistics reveal that of the twelve goals he has scored with a header for Chelsea, ten of them have been from his favorite side. Giroud, although for years he has not carried the band of a devourer of the area, has 31 of his 37 goals for the Stamford Bridge team in first-class shots. This is how he explains it: “It is true that it is very rare that he is in a position to face the goal. I have done it sometime, but I remember few. Most of the time I have my back to the goal and I am trying to help by doing one-two. I used to do that a lot with Eden Hazard. “
The year of the scorpion
Back in 2017, Giroud, wearing the Arsenal jersey, welcomed the new year with a colossal scorpion shot that went around the world. In 2021, that feat is still remembered, of which the forward is very proud. However, he wants to emphasize that he is not a profile player frills: “My type of game is more to prepare my teammates and be alive in the area, prepared to finish. It's something I practice a lot, being quick in the area and finishing the plays as quickly as possible. To be honest, I have never done the scorpion auction. “
Despite the passage of time, he continues to remember the play and sends a generic message of what to do every time the ball flies towards him: “When you're in the area, you know you don't have much time to shoot. There will always be a central close by and you will have a better chance of scoring when you shoot at first touch. That's why I try to work on it every day in training. “
Room for improvement?
Experience is a degree, but at 34 it seems that his career can only go so far. The protagonist himself does not think the same. Sky Sports asked him about his growth margin and Giroud, ambitious, criticized himself and set goals: “I still think that sometimes I go too fast to the first post and that does not give me a good shot angle. But I am forced to do it because the defender is marking me well. It's about quality and talent. I've been doing it all my career and that's thanks to the work of training. I try to maintain quality. My strength is the way I head and how I finish. I try to keep it“.
Although everything previously exposed speaks of the good moment of Giroud, it is not even the undisputed headline. Chelsea has three brilliant tips in the figures of Giroud himself, Timo Werner and Abraham. Lampard rotates them and sometimes lines up two at the same time. Something that does not worry the Frenchman, focused on his team achieving as many victories as possible: “We'll see what happens in the next few months, but I just want to keep my effectiveness high. When I'm not on the field, I try to be part of the team. I really want the best for everyone and we have a great chance to win a title. I will try to continue like this. “