Michael Owen has given a slightly bizarre response to Olivier Giroud scoring a remarkable five goals in his last two games for Chelsea.
The France international is in superb form for the Blues, showing that he is thoroughly deserving of more playing time after a lack of action under Frank Lampard this season and last.
Giroud has never been everyone’s cup of tea, having divided opinion for much of his time at Arsenal before making the move to Chelsea, where he’s also shown flashes of quality without that much consistency.
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Still, there’s also no doubt of Giroud’s talent, with the 34-year-old winning a World Cup with the French national side, and recently moving up to become the second highest scorer in his country’s history, behind only the legendary Thierry Henry.
Clearly, this seems like a player who deserves a lot more credit, but Owen has instead decided to focus on the negatives as he explained why Chelsea might struggle to win the league with this in-form striker leading their line.
“He is an all-round player, isn’t he,” Owen told Premier League Productions, as quoted by the Metro.
“He doesn’t set your pulse racing because he hasn’t got electric pace, he doesn’t do the exciting things. He doesn’t beat five players and smack it in the top corner but he’s a very, very functional player who adds so much to the team.
“He can hold the ball up, you can bounce off him, he scores goals. But hang on a minute, he has been around 10 odd years. Why did Arsenal let him go? Why have Chelsea rarely played him?
“He was close to leaving a season or so ago because there was a World Cup at the end and all these reasons, he had to start playing. A lot of top managers haven’t started him consistently.
“It’s not to say he’s a bad player but we’re talking elite, elite, elite to win the Premier League. You need one of the best few in the world.
“I watch him and I admire him. World Cup winner. Don’t get me wrong, I really rate him. Zero goals at the World Cup. He’s a very good player. But not everyone is wrong about him.
“Would you play him every single week if you were trying to win the league? I think you’d be looking for someone a little bit better. That’s what’s happened throughout his career.’
“Lampard did try and sell him 12 months ago. Of course, you’re well within your rights to change your mind. I’m just playing devil’s advocate. We’re all getting carried away.
“I just watched him and thought he was brilliant. I watched him midweek and thought he was brilliant. But you’ve got to think back and think, ‘hang on a minute’, he’s never been – for Arsenal he was never… and that wasn’t a league winning team.”