Olivier Giroud became France’s all-time top scorer by scoring France’s first goal in their 3-1 win over Poland.
It took him 117 matches to break the top scorer’s record of Les Bleus. The former Chelsea striker has now scored 52 goals for France.
Giroud’s latest feat raises the question of how good he is or how underrated he is among his peers.
Olivier Giroud started playing top-level football in the 2010/2011 season with Montpellier in the French Ligue 1. Top-level in this case is playing in the top 5 leagues in Europe.
Since then, he has played for Arsenal and Chelsea and he is currently under contract with Serie A defending champions, Ac Milan.
He has played 514 games and netted 206 goals since the 2010/2011 season when he played his first game at the top level. That is an average number, isn’t it?
He has won the Golden Boot once which was in 2011/2012 when he helped Montpellier win the Ligue 1 title by scoring 21 goals. That is his best tally for any club to date and it happened 10 years ago!
Despite playing for Chelsea and Arsenal, two of the biggest teams in Europe, Giroud has never scored beyond 16 league goals in a season since he won the Golden boot in Ligue 1.
Let’s face it. Giroud has never been a World class player and, unsurprisingly, he doesn’t get enough praise like Lewandowski, Benzema, Kane, and the rest.
Yes, he is capable of scoring incredible goals but he is not a prolific goalscorer. You can’t enjoy the same amount of praise as the best students if only you do is excel once in a blue moon.
Giroud has never been good enough to be called a World class player and to say he is being underrated holds no water.
A player would be underrated if he has done brilliantly in his career. Giroud has done well in his career, becoming France’s all-time top scorer which is no small feat but he hasn’t been great.
Giroud has never netted beyond 21 league goals career, a feat which he achieved just once, his best tally since then has been 16 goals which he achieved twice in the 2013/2014 and 2015/2016 seasons.
The Identity card of a striker is goals! As a striker, if you don’t score enough goals, you won’t get enough praise. Lewandowski, Benzema, Kane, and Haaland are scoring regularly and they are being praised. If Giroud has been prolific as any of these guys, he will be highly regarded and his praises will be heard by angels in heaven.
The only exceptional thing Giroud has done as a striker is becoming France’s all-time top scorer and nothing more.
Since Giroud hasn’t done enough to be on the same level as the best strikers of his generation, it is my strong conviction that the notion that he is underrated should be thrown into the Atlantic Ocean.
C’est fini.
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