"Giroud's a team player and that's the problem" - Merson

Paul Merson of Sky Sports thinks he’s found the one thing holding Olivier Giroud back as a striker.

A style of play not conducive to showers of goals is preventing Chelsea from drawing valuable points out of close games, in the mind of former Arsenal man Merson.

The regular pundit said in an interview on Sky Sports: 

“Giroud’s a proper team player and that’s the problem.”

“He reminds me a bit of Emile Heskey. When the team are winning, it is all great and he brings people into the game.”

“I think Hazard would rather play with Giroud. You could see it the week before when Hazard got his hat-trick, Giroud was involved in a few of those goals.”

“He is a big player for Chelsea but when you draw 0-0, the stats appear and they are not very good.”

The World Cup winner has scored five goals for Chelsea in 24 appearances since joining in January, and has proved to be the key rival to Alvaro Morata.

Michy Batshuayi was loaned out to Borussia Dortmund last year, and has received another chance at Valencia this season. - Read Sport