October 15, (THEWILL) – In a frank assessment of varying club cultures at London sides that he featured in, Olivier Giroud has acknowledged that his time at English Premier League side Chelsea was far more demanding than his time with Arsenal.
Giroud joined the Gunners in 2012 and stayed at the Emirates Stadium for six years before moving to west London in 2018. After leaving for Stamford Bridge in July, he now plays for Milan.
His experiences on both sides of the divide have given him a unique perspective on each club, which he recently shared with The Athletic in an interview.
“At Chelsea, when you are not scoring enough goals they might pick up another striker to replace you,” he said. “Maybe in a club like Chelsea you have less time to show your qualities than at Arsenal. That’s the main difference and the last ten years show that Chelsea have won more trophies.
“But they spend much more money than Arsenal. I loved playing at Arsenal with Arsene Wenger. It was my childhood dream and I can never thank him enough. But it was so hard to fight for the title. Always the target was for us to finish in the top four. To fight for the title was too difficult.
“The money is huge. If you win the Champions League and buy a striker at £90m, it shows the money is huge. But there might be something else that makes Chelsea win more than Arsenal. Maybe we’re more demanding because you have to fight for the title from the start of the season.
“We were ninth when Frank was sacked… maybe if it was at Arsenal, they would have given him longer to come back. At Chelsea it never happens and that’s why you have to be good sooner.”
Last season, Giroud was a member of the Chelsea team that won the Champions League under Thomas Tuchel. Despite being an unused substitute in the final, he scored the game-winning goal in his side’s round of 16 first-leg victory over Atletico Madrid and played a significant role in several other crucial matches, including scoring four goals against Sevilla in the group stage.
Giroud went on to explain how Tuchel and Lampard approached the job differently, implying that the latter was given the job too soon.
“Tuchel wanted to play a certain way. His philosophy was clear and we improved so much tactically,” Giroud continued. “Lampard was maybe a bit young. It was maybe a bit too early in his managerial career to take a club like Chelsea. I don’t know if that’s true but maybe you can explain it like that.
“Under Tuchel we played in a very offensive 3-4-3 or 3-4-1-2 and I really improved tactically. He always tried to adapt to the team we faced. He has his ideas but the main thing is you know exactly what you will have to do before facing an opponent and the shape fits so well to our team.
“We had the players to play these positions and we were so strong. We had not only the quality but the quantity. When one player in the starting XI was tired, another top player could replace him.
“But I think Frank has got the potential to become a top manager. He needs time and experience to improve himself as a coach and you cannot become a top player or manager just like that.”
Jude Obafemi is a versatile senior Correspondent at THEWILL Newspapers, excelling in sourcing, researching, and delivering sports news stories for both print and digital publications.
