Olivier Giroud will remain as one of the great strikers in the Premier League.
Former Arsenal and Chelsea center-forward Giroud, 35, has scored 90 goals in 255 games, which puts him above Cristiano Ronaldo, Fernando Torres, Eden Hazard and Dennis Bergkamp in the best list scorers.
But, strangely enough, Giroud doesn’t always get the respect his remarkable career deserves even though he’s won the World Cup with France, the Champions League with Chelsea and three FA Cups with Arsenal.
In fact, in each of his six summers at Arsenal there was always talk of an upgrade as Giroud was reportedly not good enough to level them up even though he did reach the top of the game. game and his former club did not.
“Of course it hurts. I am a human being, a person with emotions and the most important thing is not to pay attention to what people say on social media, â€said Giroud.
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“But my record? Not bad! I am very happy with it. The story of my life has been about people asking me if I think I was a little underestimated. I think it’s also partly because I’m not a center forward with the skills youngsters dream of.
“But I think the most important thing is to be very efficient because as a striker you are judged on your statistics, the number of goals you score, I am happy to do the pressing that others do not do and shit other people don’t want to do, but it’s so important to me.
“But as a striker you will always be judged by the statistics and when I look back I tell myself that I am so grateful to God that I am on the pitch to enjoy my career he is always by my side to help me make the right decisions.
“I have gained so much in my career that I could never have imagined when I first started. When I look back I am very proud.
Giroud’s new book is called Always Believe and it is fitting because it reveals his faith, how being a Christian has given him faith on the ground and also to never give up when others doubt you.
His career is littered with setbacks, dropped by his first club from Grenoble for not being good enough to leave both Arsenal and Chelsea to chase more playing time to play for France.
Giroud left Arsenal after six years in January 2018 for Chelsea, won the FA Cup and did enough to secure his place in the France World Cup squad and they won the trophy just two years after losing the Euro final at home.
He recognizes the symmetry with England who lost the Euro three months ago and are now aiming for glory in Qatar next year. Paul Pogba gave the France team a pre-final team speech, telling them that they could no longer suffer the heartache of the Euro.
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“It was part of our success because we had to remember the pain we had to lose the final to Portugal,” said Giroud. “It helped us remember to never have that moment again.
“I couldn’t be happier than coming back to win the World Cup. You always have to learn from these painful moments. I loved Nelson Mandela’s quote when he said, “Don’t judge me on my success, judge me on how many times I’ve stood up.
“It was the best reaction we could show. You have to use these motivations to make them better days after.
It was more the words of another former team-mate, Chelsea defender Antonio Rudiger, who stuck with him after winning the World Cup as a message to all who doubted him.
Rudiger told him: “Olivier, winner of the 2018 World Cup. No one can ever take him away from you.
Giroud added: “I feel blessed because you are on top of the world as a player when you win the World Cup. It’s the best feeling you can have as a player.
“When you get titles, the World Cup, it helps your confidence and helps you believe. I never have too much self-confidence and I have a personality that keeps my feet on the ground. But maybe other people saw me differently after that.
Always Believe by Olivier Giroud, now available from Pitch Publishing, priced at £ 19.99.
