The second top scorer of the Blues (46 goals) will not be able to get closer to Thierry Henry (51) at the next meeting.
Indeed, Thursday, Didier Deschamps did not summon Olivier Giroud.
A great first under his tenure.
Because yes the neo-striker of AC Milan did miss the rally in October 2016 but it was following an injury.
Otherwise, the striker has always been there.
A faithful among the faithful of "DD".
The big loser of Benzema's comeback
But the situation has changed. Widely criticized since his 2018 World Cup without a goal scored, Giroud has always been protected by the coach. The latter never hesitated to go to the front to defend his striker who returned it well then on the ground. Despite a starving playing time in the club for many years. But last May, the return of Karim Benzema in Blues reshuffled the cards. The Madrilenian settled at the forefront of the attack, surrounded by Kylian Mbappé and Antoine Griezmann, dispatching at the same time Olivier Giroud on the bench.
The latter was quickly annoyed and his media release on the evening of the preparation match against Bulgaria, on June 8, cast a chill on the group: “Sometimes
we go shopping but the balls do not arrive.
You say that I was not seen much at the beginning but maybe we could have been better.
And more particularly on Kylian Mbappé.
The Parisian even wanted to come and explain himself to the press the next day.
Calmed down by Deschamps, the crack of Bondy, affected, had finally returned to the episode a few days later with his usual calm:
"Me, when I have something to say to someone, I tell him and it stays in. the locker room."
Atmosphere.
Olivier Giroud's first day at AC Milan
Statements that do not pass
And if anyone has really not tasted this media game, it is Didier Deschamps. During a long interview given to the daily
L'Equipe
, “DD” also returned to this verbal game:
“He knows it, I told him: he didn't have to say that, it's a certainty. . This generated small tensions over two, three days but that was during the preparation. ”.
As betrayed
,
he, the ardent defender of Olivier Giroud, whatever the situation. At the end of 2020, the coach still continued to protect him and proclaimed:
"Olivier Giroud is still here for a long time."
Eight months later, the climate is very different and the 34-year-old striker will watch his friends on TV in early September.
But that is not for all that definitive. Deschamps says:
“I have never had a radical position for anyone. It is a sporting choice compared to a list of 23 and to competition with the return of Anthony Martial, absent at the Euro. It's my choice today. It's up to him to be efficient and he remains available for the Blues
. " Now at AC Milan since this summer, Olivier Giroud's playing time promises to be substantial this season, far from that granted to him at Chelsea, especially with the many physical problems of Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The Grenoblois is currently the holder, at least until mid-September, and should then alternate with the Swedish giant, with the sequence of matches every three days. What to answer on the ground and to regain, why not, its place in the France team. And in this game, Olivier Giroud is very strong. Touched but never sunk.