Former Arsenal striker Olivier Giroud’s display in the World Cup final was not deemed worthy of a rating by French newspaper L’Equipe.
Giroud endured a disappointing World Cup final
Olivier Giroud did most certainly fail to the World Cup final alight on Sunday night.
The 36-year-old was hooked off as early as in the 41st minute for Marcus Thuram.
However, it is key to remember that L’Equipe themselves had reported in the build-up to the encounter that Giroud was not fully fit.
Furthermore, France had reportedly divided their training sessions, including the veteran and excluding him, as Thuram operated as the No.9.
Taking that into account as well as Les Bleus already being 2-0 down whilst having little to nothing of the ball, Giroud could not have been expected to have much of an impact.
L’Equipe’s no-rating stance is unfair on Giroud
Ultimately, a striker cannot be expected to change the game if his side struggles to get on the ball.
And especially a target man like Olivier Giroud, who has never been renowned for his silky feet or ability to run the show in deeper areas.
If anything, the midfield trio of Aurelien Tchouameni, Adrien Rabiot and Antoine Griezmann’s failure to dictate the game was perhaps France’s biggest woe on the night before Kylian Mbappe’s exploits.
Plus, Giroud was taken off early into the contest, which makes it even harsher to judge his game as L’Equipe have done so.
Unlike Ousmane Dembele who endured a horrific World Cup final, the AC Milan goalscorer was simply uninvolved in the first half.
Considering the ex-Chelsea No.9 scored an impressive four goals in Karim Benzema’s absence and was generally top class for France, it is unfair to not even have given any rating to him after his display.
Despite an underwhelming World Cup final, Olivier Giroud should be proud of his campaign.
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