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| Chelsea Manager Frank Lampard |
It is no surprise Chelsea seem determined to keep hold of Olivier Giroud.
He has, since his reintroduction to the side early this year, reminded everyone that he is amongst the most accomplished strikers in the Premier League.
The Frenchman looked certain to leave in January, having made just five league appearances and with six months of his contract remaining.
But things have changed. An impressive run of performances following an injury to Tammy Abraham has seemingly put Giroud back in Frank Lampard’s plans.
It will have helped that his last game – before football across Europe was postponed – was a 4-0 win over Everton. He was a standout performer in that victory, leading the line with typical authority and scoring his side’s fourth goal.
Giroud is 33 now but he remains almost unique amongst modern forwards. He is a player with power and guile in equal measure, a striker capable of the deftest touches but also of bullying defenders, of acting as a battering ram.
Those traits are clearly what appeals to Lampard. He does not have another forward like that at his disposal, and it became clear when Giroud was in the side that Chelsea’s other attacking players thrived.
Willian and Pedro, in the aforementioned Everton game, were a constant threat, helped by Giroud’s simple lay-offs, his ability to bring teammates into play. He is a selfless striker, but also a focal point. And that may be exactly what Chelsea need with the likes of Callum Hudson-Odoi, Mason Mount andHakim Ziyech expected to feature regularly next season.
The issue, for Lampard, is that Giroud is not a player with years ahead of him. He will be 34 in September, and leading the line every week – while maintaining the kind of form he was in during the second half of this campaign – might not be realistic.
Giroud’s contract extension will likely only be for another year, too, so his inclusion in Lampard’s plans for the future is by no means long term. He is an option – an excellent one – but not a solution.
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| Darren Walsh | Chelsea FC |
And it is clear that Lampard does have a problem to solve. Abraham started the season superbly, and his total of 13 Premier League goals from his first top-flight campaign is impressive. But the 22-year-old dropped off before his injury, finding it hard to play with the consistency of the season’s first few months.
That is to be expected with such a young player, still new to the level and still developing, perfecting his game. To expect a year of constant goal scoring from Abraham would have been naive. What will concern Lampard more is whether or not his team are more effective with a player of Giroud’s ilk up front. Chelsea’s attacking output since his re-inclusion might suggest so: ten goals in five league games, including two in a 2-0 win over runaway leaders Liverpool. Before Giroud was brought back into the fold, Lampard appeared to be searching desperately for a solution. There was a lack of cutting edge, a lack of focus to his side’s attacking play. But that was restored, however briefly, when Giroud returned. The dilemma now is where to look to find a player who can replicate Giroud’s role, but one who is not approaching his mid-30s. Chelsea have been regularly linked with the likes of Dries Mertens, Moussa Dembele, Timo Werner and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. But would any of them complement Chelsea’s other attackers in the manner of Giroud? Perhaps not. Their own abilities in front of goal might make that irrelevant anyway, but Chelsea will want to get the best out of the players behind the frontman. A forward like Raul Jimenez at Wolves might fit the bill, although his club would almost certainly be reluctant to sell. Lampard, then, finds himself in a strange situation: searching for a replacement for a player who, until the last few months, appeared to be entirely dispensable. |
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