Maurizio Sarri doesn’t usually hang around once the final whistle is blown, preferring instead to retreat backstage, light up a cigarette, and prepare his team talk. But in Baku he was part of it in every way: partly responsible, joining in the celebrations, hoisting the Europa League trophy aloft having just seen his side see off Unai Emery’s Arsenal in the most convincing fashion. Much of the t...

The warning signs were there for Chelsea in January. Yet they decided to ignore them. Gonzalo Higuaín was who they needed, was who Maurizio Sarri needed. With him at the spearhead of the Blues attack, everything would be alright. “This season he had some troubles but I think that’s part of every player’s career, you have your down moments,” Sarri said about the Argentine&#8...

With his goal in France’s 4-0 win over Iceland on Monday, Olivier Giroud took his Les Bleus tally to 35, making him the third-highest scorer in his nation’s history. The Chelsea striker’s haul is greater than that of legends like David Trezeguet, Jean-Pierre Papin and Juste Fontaine, while only Michel Platini and Thierry Henry have scored more goals for France. Yet Giroud isnR...

Imagine Olivier Giroud’s last ten months… now apply that to your own life. You take some time away from your day job to undertake a freelance project. In the process, you win the biggest prize in the field, bringing glory and happiness to your nation. Then you return to the day job, the old nine-to-five, and it’s like none of that ever happened. “Of course it’s frustrating,...

Chelsea ended Manchester City‘s unbeaten start to the Premier League season by winning 2-0 at Stamford Bridge to ensure Liverpool will end the weekend top of the pile. The Blues were scarcely able to get out of their own half in the opening 45 minutes but took a shock lead in first-half stoppage time. It was route one, but it was effective. A long ball forward from David Luiz eventually foun...

The opening weeks of the 2018/19 season have been kind on Chelsea fans. Their side is playing entertaining attacking football under a forward-thinking manager. Eden Hazard is in the best form of his career at Stamford Bridge. And an unlikely tilt at the Premier League title seems possible. And yet there is one fairly large area of concern for Blues supporters; the lack of goals from their strikers...

Forget Sarriball. Forget gegenpressing. Sometimes a football match can change with the swing of a talented individual’s leg. And that is exactly what happened between Chelsea and Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. For much of the evening it appeared Eden Hazard’s brilliantly constructed first-half goal would be enough to see the Blues to victory. But then, in the 89th minute, Daniel Sturrid...

Maurizio Sarri may have claimed on his Chelsea unveiling that he is “bored by the transfer market” but signing a striker appears to have become the Blues  priority as they look to mount a return to the top four of the Premier League. Of all the missing pieces for Chelsea last season from their title-winning campaign under Antonio Conte, arguably the most keenly felt was the departure of Diego Cost...

France, for the second time in their history, have won the World Cup, beating Croatia 4-2 in the Luzhniki Stadium on Sunday. Twenty years ago, Zinedine Zidane stepped up to become his country’s hero, scoring twice against Brazil in the Stade de France. Through the 90 minutes in Moscow, Les Bleus discovered new heroes all across the pitch. Antoine Griezmann’s free-kick was headed into his own...

With 70 minutes played and the scoreline tied at 1-1, France were in trouble. Among the favourites to win this summer’s World Cup, Les Blues were struggling to lift themselves to break down Australia in their opening group fixture. And so Didier Deschamps turned to a familiar face, introducing Olivier Giroud off the bench. For a such a modern team with such world-class talent, this was a decidedly...

Last summer bolstering their attacks was a matter of high importance for both Manchester United and Chelsea. With Zlatan Ibrahimović injured, José Mourinho dipped into the market and spent £75million to secure Romelu Lukaku’s services from Everton. Antonio Conte was in a similar bind. The Blues were fresh from winning the Premier League title but Diego Costa was set to return to Atlético Mad...

Alan Hansen famously said ‘you can’t win anything with kids.’ Although Manchester United emphatically disproved such an assessment, you could see where the pundit was coming from. Hansen’s statement continues to be debated widely but what can’t be argued is the simplest of footballing axioms: you can’t win anything if you don’t score. If only the act of pu...

Chelsea needed two second half goals to defeat Southampton and book an FA Cup final encounter with Manchester United. Olivier Giroud and Àlvaro Morata fired home the goals to give Antonio Conte’s side a comfortable 2-0 victory in the end. Last season’s beaten finalists started the match on the front foot and Willian saw his effort cannon back off the crossbar. It appeared as though it...

There is a certain class of player who can’t help but make a difference. While much of football’s planning focuses on the eleven who first take the field, there are the reliable few who managers will turn to when Plan A isn’t quite working. They are the difference makers. The super-sub. The Premier League has its fair share of these players. They aren’t all star names but their impact...

Olivier Giroud has had to be patient since his January move to Chelsea from Arsenal. The French striker, presumably, made the switch to Stamford Bridge in hope of finding more playing time after the Gunners added Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang to a striking department which had already been augmented by the arrival of Alexandre Lacaette from Lyon last summer. But opportunities have been few and far bet...

Only Jermain Defoe has more Premier League goals from the bench than new Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud. But the Frenchman has to start for his new club against West Bromwich Albion on Monday. The Baggies have been the grim reaper for Chelsea bosses twice in recent memory with André Villas-Boas and Roberto Di Matteo both feeling the full force of Roman Abramovich’s ruthlessness after losses...

There appeared to be a Mexican standoff. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang‘s move to Arsenal was reliant on Borussia Dortmund bringing in Michy Batshuayi, which in turn hinged on whether Chelsea could convince Olivier Giroud to swap the substitutes’ bench at the Emirates for the one at Stamford Bridge. One deal couldn’t be completed without the other. To begin with it appeared Arsenal we...