He arrived during the summer as the deputy to Zlatan Ibrahimovic, but Olivier Giroud is now the man of the moment for Stefano Pioli’s Milan.
According to what La Gazzetta dello Sport (via MilanNews) are reporting, the hierarchies have reversed from earlier in the season as the Frenchman has become the point of reference for the attack, while the Swede continues to be tormented by injuries.
The former Chelsea man scored three goals across the games against Inter and Napoli in 2022, being the match-winner in each and showing that he is very much the man for the big occasion. He seems to have also tackled the curse of Milan’s No.9 shirt in the process.
In his 18 games as a starter, the Rossoneri’s record reads 13 wins, 4 draws and only 1 defeat. San Siro remains his kingdom as he has scored 10 of his 11 goals there this season, but on Sunday in Naples he finally got his first away goal.
If Milan want to have a better chance of winning the Scudetto they also need Ibrahimovic of course because he is a leader of this group, and he is back after missing a month due to inflammation of the Achilles tendon.
On Saturday against Empoli, Giroud will still be the starter though allowing the Swede to get back to 100% match fitness without any real rush.
Except for the fact that they dropped points against Salernitana and Udinese and were shut out by Inter in the Coppa Italia the previous 3 games. Giroud has scored some important goals for Milan this season, but if Ibra is healthy, he is better.
Yeah, Giroud is mostly invisible apart from when he scores.