By Guillaume K. | Sports journalist
Arriving in MLS with superstar status, Olivier Giroud had difficulty establishing himself on the pitch. Too rarely a scorer for a player of this caliber, the Los Angeles FC striker will have to do better in his second season. In the meantime, he was defended by a teammate.
After a long and successful career in Europe, marked in particular by victories in the Europa League and the Champions League, Olivier Giroud chose to join the United States. Along with his friend Hugo Lloris, the top scorer in the history of the French team followed the same path as certain football legends.
Pelé, Andrea Pirlo, Frank Lampard and more recently Lionel Messi, all decided to pass through Uncle Sam's country before hanging up their boots. Unfortunately for Giroud, the experience is not the most conclusive for the moment… In 20 matches in all competitions for Los Angeles FC, he has only scored 2 small goals.
LAFC player defends Olivier Giroud
An individual poor form which also contrasts with the collective results of his team, champion of the United States Cup. But because football is not just a matter of statistics, should we really judge this season as a failure? Maxime Chanot, Luxembourg defender of LAFC, spoke on this subject in “After Foot” on RMC :
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It's complicated to judge Olivier's season because he arrived in the middle of the championship, it's not easy. He didn't have a break after the Euro and we were already in full swing. Then he arrived in a team that was doing well. He didn't have a very good season from an accounting point of view because he didn't score a lot of goals, but he brought us a lot into the game.
It's like with the France team. They won the 2018 World Cup without Olivier scoring a goal, yet he had a top competition. It would be dishonest to summarize him only by his number of goals. And then in terms of motivation, each player is different when he arrives in the United States. For example Andrea Pirlo arrived on vacation in New York. But others want to show why they had this career in Europe, and this is the case of Olivier and Hugo.
Olivier Giroud did not panic the counters like some for his arrival in MLS, but his teammate Maxime Chanot can understand why. He was still tired from the Euro, even if he played little, and above all had to adapt to a team that was functioning perfectly well. The second season will undoubtedly be much better.
No, Olivier Giroud was not the best player in Los Angeles this season, despite an exceptional reputation. His teammates know that the attacker had extenuating circumstances and do not overwhelm him.
