How hyper-focused Olivier Giroud helped Lille beat Monaco

There are coaches who harp on about how concentration is everything, and there are those who listen to them. Since the beginning of a career that never stops stretching, Olivier Giroud has not often allowed himself to be distracted. On the contrary, the French international (157 caps) is a sponge, he has learned a lot, and Lille is now reaping the benefits. Against Monaco, at the end of the second day of Ligue 1, it was this connection to the game and to others that allowed his team to win (1-0) .

With him, the young Hakon Haraldsson (22 years old), for example, should find football much easier. When the northern defense tries to extend, the Icelander knows that his partner will never be delayed. On the contrary, the Frenchman makes his breaks at the right tempo, the one that allows him to suck in a defender and allow a second attacker to rush in behind him. Where some act in reaction, once the ball is cleared, Giroud (38 years old) practically tells his teammates where to play, opening up spaces up front. Shortly after the 20th minute of play, this is how LOSC came so close to opening the scoring.

When the ball gets close to him, the Dogue isn't bad at hyper-concentration either. Sometimes, you have to take your eyes off the ball carrier to see just how much. Between the 47th and 54th minutes of Sunday night's match, for example. Everything was already there, well before the striker gave his team the victory in added time. Thanks to good information gathering, we saw him first accelerate the game - when several "pivots" of his style would have slowed him down - via an impeccable pass to Félix Correia (47th).

A few seconds later, we saw how Giroud had lost none of his sense of positioning: his gaze sometimes pointed towards the offside line to avoid being trapped, sometimes towards the opposing goal, which he never takes his eyes off for very long. All this accompanied by work on small supports that a tennis coach would not have disowned (51st). Like all fans of the yellow ball, the center forward knows how much footwork conditions everything that happens next, when it comes time to strike.

Les Bleus' top scorer (57 goals) is always ready, whether the ball has a good chance of reaching him or not. On yet another Correia cross that Ayyoub Bouaddi unsuccessfully turned in (54th), Giroud was thus lying in wait, just in case. And not passively. On the contrary, the striker had, beforehand, made an initial call. A good half hour later, it was from a similar situation that he scored the saving grace. Here again, one of his teammates was in the path of the ball, at the near post. Here again, the Lille veteran was on the lookout, in the second line.

Haraldsson could only touch the ball and Giroud's calm, impeccable at the moment of concluding with two touches, did the rest (1-0, 90th + 1). "It's not by chance, it's the result of a lot of work, passion for football and humility," Bruno Genesio analyzed after the match. A technician who must also be delighted by the physical form displayed by his player, who has just completed 90 minutes for the second time in a row. However, we cannot say that his "target man" spares his efforts. When LOSC defends, he displays, on the contrary, this same mixture of attention and determination.

How many times have we seen him check what was happening behind him, closing down a passing angle that seemed to be available to an opposing defender? Concentrated until the end, he was also the one who came to intercept a ball that was hanging around in the local area, at the end of added time. It was only a few seconds later, when the opportunity to give himself a double was offered to him from the penalty spot (90th + 8), that Giroud missed the boat. Because he had just let his guard down, after having been particularly "focused" until then? Because he was cooked? Probably a bit of both, but no one could blame the hero of the evening.