Olivier Giroud got a rare start for Chelsea this past weekend against West Ham United and its fair to say the Frenchman did not do his Blues career any favours.
The World Cup winner has seen very little game time this season but with Tammy Abraham out injured, Frank Lampard chose to start him upfront vs the Hammers and not Michy Batshuayi.
Obviously this decision did not go too well since Chelsea ended up losing the game but the manager instead of pointing fingers at Olivier Giroud admitted that one of the reasons why the forward failed to make an impact was because he did not get proper service.
‘It was a difficult game for him obviously,’ Lampard told the club’s official website.
‘He probably didn’t get enough ball, and then the couple of chances he had didn’t go in for him, so a tough match for him but he wasn’t the only one who comes into a team and a performance that was slightly off it.
‘Michy’s had a lot of performances to come on recently and made a difference in certain games, but it was just the choice for this game.
‘I don’t want to talk about match fitness or sharpness because we train hard here.
‘I get it, I was a player and when you’re not playing regularly you’re need for games is big, but we have to be ready to try and come in.
‘We shouldn’t isolate individuals because they haven’t played, because then you could talk about a player who has been playing every game and wasn’t quite sharp. The reasons are not always as they seem.’
Chelsea take on Aston Villa in midweek and first-choice striker Tammy Abraham is still not a certainty for that game meaning Olivier Giroud could very well get one more opportunity to redeem himself.
But we don’t think he will be playing any part vs Villa since Lampard will most certainly turn to Batshuayi in case Abraham is unavailable.
