Chelsea striker Olivier Giroud has revealed he enjoys the rivalry he has with Alvaro Morata at the club after he joined from Arsenal in January.
The France international has not scored a goal for Chelsea this season but has contributed significantly. He continues to enjoy minutes in the first team alongside the likes of Eden Hazard, Pedro, and Willian. His move to Chelsea raised eyebrows, with pundits feeling he may not be a significant upgrade on Morata who has failed to show his true goalscoring ability at Stamford Bridge since his arrival at the club.
Against Cardiff, Maurizio Sarri decided to go with Giroud over Morata who had started all of the four Premier League games this season. The 2018 World Cup winner has earned 159 minutes with three assists to his name while Morata has scored once in 291 minutes.
At the moment it’s safe to say both players have equal favor with Sarri and the Italian will rotate them to match the opponent as and when they come and Giroud believes so far, between things have been ‘positive’ between them.
“It has always been a fair competition between us, and we will both try to step up to help the team reach our target. I didn’t play at the beginning of the season because I came back late from the World Cup. I had to be patient, I had to reach a decent physical level.
“The coach said he wouldn’t make many changes until the end of August. He was clear about that. Alvaro did well at the start, he did all the pre-season. It was fair he started the season. I’m happy to have a team-mate like that, who pushes me to do better. It’s positive for both of us. I want to play as many games as I can and try to be as efficient as I can for the team.”
Olivier Giroud, Evening Standard
