Olivier Giroud fears rival Premier League teams may already be working out Chelsea’s approach under Maurizio Sarri and has urged the team to become more flexible.
The west Londoners dominated possession and territory against West Ham at the weekend, having 73% of the ball, though they mustered few clear-cut chances and left the London Stadium with a goalless draw. With West Ham sitting deep, it was difficult for Chelsea to play the intricate, one touch football known as ‘Sarri-ball’ demanded by their manager, and Giroud felt they needed to try something different.
The French striker said, ‘I always want to take this frustration to transform it into a positive thing for the next game, I’m not saying it’s a tactical problem. Sometimes as players we have to recognise the best way to put them in difficulties.”
He was subbed off for Alvaro Morata after an hour.
The 2018 worldcup winner continued by saying, ‘Sometimes we rushed our game and have not been patient, or maybe we did not put enough pace in our game. Now our opponents are starting to know Chelsea well so we need to bring something else. Maybe we need to give a bit more on the pitch as well. ‘It’s a tough time, but this is when you see the men and we have to show stronger character and response in the next game. As a team, we didn’t succeed in finding the solution.”
The former Arsenal man concluded by saying, ‘We tried too much to play centrally and against a strong defence like that, a lot of players, it was very hard to combine, especially in the last 30 yards. ‘Maybe we should have gone a bit more down the wings and put in more crosses into the box. It was a bit disappointing, we are aware of that and we will work on it. We want to bounce back as soon as possible.”