Why Olivier Giroud Is the Most Criminally Underrated Player of This Generation

Ask any ardent football fan, past and present, about some of the cult heroes or legends of the game they know and love, and there is a good chance most of the names will be similar.

From Cristiano Ronaldo to Lionel Messi for the millennial football fans, to Haaland and Kylian Mbappe for the so-called Gen Z. The older generation will likely mention big names like Zinedine Zidane, Thierry Henry, Diego Maradona, Ronaldo Nazario and if you go further back in time, Johan Cruyff.

All these names are just a few of some of the greatest players ever to grace the game and are rightfully in the debate.

However, there exists an elite group of players who, despite everything they have brought to football, still remain in the shadows as far as their status among legends is concerned. Olivier Giroud is unfortunately one of them.

Giroud’s background

Despite being of Italian descent, Giroud was born in Chambéry, France in 1986 and began playing football for his hometown club, Olympique Club de Froges before eventually joining Grenoble aged 13.

At Grenoble, he honed his skills as a footballer and was offered a professional contract at age 21. As they say, the rest is history.

Having made a name for himself in France, Giroud made the switch to English football, joining Arsenal from Montpellier in June 2012 for a mere £9.6 million

Underrated Giroud

At the time, Giroud was competing for a spot in the Arsenal XI with fellow summer signing Lukas Podolski, who had a more extensive profile than the humble Frenchman. This did not deter him as he established himself as an integral part of Wenger’s squad.

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Playing as the classic number 9, Giroud was not the paciest man on the football pitch, but he always used his physical attributes to his advantage.

Giroud not only had a lethal left foot, the Frenchman’s hold-up play to allow wingers like Theo Walcott into the game was quite brilliant, not to mention he was a great header of the ball.

He left Arsenal quietly in 2018 to join Chelsea, and in many ways, his departure was underwhelming because he scored 105 goals and won three Community Shields and three FA Cups with the Gunners.

Did we mention that Giroud also won the FIFA Puskás Award for a stunning back-heeled scorpion kick scored in 2017 against Crystal Palace?

His stint at Chelsea was fairly short but arguably his most successful as a footballer.

Not only did he win the FA Cup with the Blues, he scored in the final as Chelsea won the Europa League against Arsenal.

And despite being an unused substitute, Giroud was part of the Chelsea squad that defeated Manchester City in 2021 to lift the Champions League.

Les Blues’ hidden gem

Perhaps the department where Giroud is the most underrated is in international football, as people don’t seem to grasp just how crucial the striker has been for his country since making his debut in November 2011.

Les Blues always has heavyweights in and around its squad, and this tends to eclipse consistent performers like Giroud, who happens to be the nation’s all-time goal scorer with an impressive 54 goals, according to Transfermkt.

To put this into perspective, Giroud is ahead of one of the greatest players in football history Thierry Henry, who managed 51 goals for the national team in 123 games. Another point to note is Giroud has a better goals-per-game ratio (0.43) for France than the Arsenal legend (0.41).

At 37, Giroud has played for France 125 times, which is more than any other player in the nation’s history; this stat further underlines just how crucial he is for the national team.

His presence in the squad is not in vain either, as in 2018, Giroud played every single World Cup game for France as they won the most coveted football trophy on earth.

From the foregoing, it is quite easy to see how much of a success Giroud has been as a football player, but somehow, his name is rarely mentioned among the greats.

This surely cannot be a coincidence for Giroud at this point. The guy simply knows how to win wherever he goes, and this is an attribute that is not talked about enough in the football realm.

Giroud's show goes on in the Serie A

Another attribute Giroud possesses that signifies a top player is his longevity, as he is still playing at the top level in Serie A with Milan.

More recently, the 37-year-old unleashed a hidden talent as he stepped into goal to help Milan to a 1-0 win over Genoa after the home side’s goalkeeper, Mike Maignan was sent off on October 7.

Milan are in contention for the Serie A title, and Giroud is currently 6th in the top scorer charts with four goals in 8 games for his team, as cited on BBC.

Giroud’s experience as a goalkeeper

The striker did brilliantly to stop a potent attempt by George Puscas, just before the full-time whistle, and that piece of play proved to be the difference between a win and a draw for the Rossoneri.

Giroud briefly turning into a goalkeeper has come with its fair share of ripple effects, as he was included in the Serie A team of the week, and Milan made his goalkeeper shirts available for purchase