Albin Mouton
Since Olivier Giroud signed for Arsenal from Montpellier in 2012 as a French Ligue 1 winner and Golden Boot holder with 21 goals, he has made his mark in North London. Today, the Frenchman is at the centre of many rumors regarding a move to West Ham, Monaco and now Lyon. In a recent conversation with Jean-Michel Aulas, Lyon’s president, Olivier Giroud said he still hoped to be Arsenal’s number one striker next season.
Not used as heavily as he was in previous seasons by Arsène Wenger, the Frenchman managed to score 16 goals in 40 appearances in all competitions, including six coming off the bench, more than anyone else in the Premier League.
But with the prospect of him leaving Arsenal, the debate surrounding him is as divided as it always is with Olivier Giroud. Some people want him to leave, others want to keep him. With Giroud, it’s always 50/50. You either love him or hate him. It has always been like that, wherever he played.
Mostly, it’s due to two reasons: his playing style and his character on and off the pitch. Let’s start with his playing style. His unique role as a striker is something that you don’t see often anymore. Only a few of his type remain, and even less play for top clubs in Europe. Nowadays, strikers need to be fast, technical, be able to create chances by moving into the space and make runs behind the defenders. Obviously, Giroud is none of that. He’s the kind of striker we used to witness a decade ago, a playing style perfectly suitable for English football. His specific profile is what makes him so controversial in the first place. Because he is not someone very spectacular, people will always prefer other strikers. Also, he’s not one to score more than 20 goals in a season very often. He did once with Montpellier but never with Arsenal in the Premier League. And as Thierry Henry said, you can’t win a title with him. Well, in a very competitive Premier League, you can win the league with Giroud if he is not the main source of goals. Wenger just needs to use him as a supersub like he did this season. More than his playing style, his tendency to often miss big chances in important games has frustrated Arsenal fans again and again over the years.
But then why is he starting for the French National team?
Once again, his relationship with the French public is complicated. Oliver Giroud is the perfect man to blame when things go wrong or when the team is not playing well. And the French people love to hate him and to bully him. Another reason for that is his behavior on and off the pitch. Because he spends so much time on looking perfect with his hair and beard, people always say he needs to focus more on the game than the superficial. French fans love to hate him and he’s not allowed to make mistakes. That’s something they are waiting relentlessly for to have an excuse for demanding his exclusion from the national team.
In France, the debate surrounding him is more 70% want him to be a substitute and 30% respect Didier Deschamps’s choice of trusting him as the number one striker. Not a very popular decision but one that pays off. Olivier Giroud constantly reminds critics why he’s starting by scoring again and again.
There’s an origin to all the hate. In June 2015, Mathieu Valbuena pressed charges for an attempted blackmail involving a sex tape with his wife. Around October 2015, it was reported that a close friend of Karim Benzema was supposedly involved in the blackmail. On 4th of November, Benzema is held in custody by the French police. The next day, Benzema is charged for complicity and the attempt to blackmail someone. He’s placed under police control and not allowed to speak to Valbuena or any other suspects involved. On the 13th of November, Benzema confesses his role of intermediary between one of his closest friends, the presumed blackmailer, and Mathieu Valbuena. Since then, Karim Benzema has remained out of the French team. At first, it was until the Real Madrid striker could be called up again judicially speaking (given his not allowing to talk with certain individuals). But on the 18th of February 2016, charges against him were dropped and everything could return to the way it was. In April, Didier Deschamps and the French Federation make the decision of leaving him out of the national team for the Euros. Considered as one of the best strikers in the world, this decision causes a lot of consternation in France.
So, what’s the connection with Giroud?
In the meantime, Giroud is struggling to score any goals and with the Euros approaching, people want Benzema to lead France upfront. But what happened with this case has gone far beyond football and became a national society topic. Why? Simply because Benzema and Giroud are different. Giroud is white, tall, good-looking and his performances at the time were questionable. Benzema has Algerian origins, is seen as the bad guy but plays for one of the best teams in the world: Real Madrid. The story became a debate about racism. And because it happened in 2015, the year France suffered from several terrorist attacks, let’s just say the climate was tense on that point. Benzema even accused Didier Deschamps of not calling him up for the national team because of that. In an interview for Marca in June 2016, the Real Madrid striker said that Deschamps let his decision be dictated by a racist French part of the population. Frustrated by his non-selection for the Euros, Benzema deliberately sabotaged the French manager by saying what was complete nonsense in public.
Because of all of this, Giroud paid the price of being hated by a lot of people for no reason. Based on some nonsensical racial accusations, the Arsenal striker had to deal with a great deal of weight on his shoulders, right before the Euros. When you add that hate to the people that already didn’t like him for his playing style, it’s a lot to process. But as the grand champion that he is, that’s the moment he chose to start scoring again for the French team. Since then, France lost in an unfortunate final they should have won against Portugal and Giroud just kept scoring. Against Paraguay in June, Giroud scored a hat-trick. The next day, Benzema won his third Champions League with Real Madrid. So, Giroud’s triumph was put in the shadow by Benzema. For no reason, the abuse never stops when it comes to Giroud.
On social media, Olivier Giroud is always in the centre of the most intense debates. If you try to defend him on Twitter for example, you will get the same abuse as he gets and it can be quite violent. People never acknowledge his performance or his talent. If he scores, it will always be because the opponent is weak, because it’s a tap-in or because his partner gave him the perfect assist. Whatever happens, he will not get the credit for his goal. Also, he is never defended by the French press. Because the majority of people don’t like him, it’s easier to go their way and make jokes about him than try to support someone that has never said or done anything to deserve the amount of abuse he gets. And you have to admire him for that. Even when the abuse and the criticism were at their peak, he never said or did anything to give in to these provocations. He never complained publicly and has always answered on the pitch.
In his last 17 games for the national team, he scored 16 goals. A tremendous streak that makes him 8th in the list of highest goalscorers for France. With his last goal against Sweden (at 1’51), he managed to draw level with Benzema. But with 64 selections, against 81 for Benzema, Giroud has almost ended the debate. Olivier Giroud became essential when France needed him the most and when he was under so much pressure. But even in the light of these statistics, people still compare him to Benzema.
For that, French fans start to recognize him as they should. During the last game against England, the public started to sing Giroud’s famous Arsenal chant ‘NA NA NA NAAAA GIROUUUUUD’. That was the first time ever. In a recent survey in France lead by L’Equipe, people had to choose the 23 players they wanted to go in Russia for the 2018 World Cup. Out of 300,000 answers, Benzema didn’t make the squad, only selected by 35% of the people. On the other hand, Giroud was chosen by 65% of the voters. A change in the French opinion he had to earn the hard way. And still, once he stops scoring, people will quickly forget what he has done for the country and starts criticizing him again.
