Giroud hails player power at the Blues

OLIVIER GIROUD says Maurizio Sarri’s criticism of Chelsea after the 2-0 defeat at Arsenal was merited but the players had independently resolved to put it right against Tottenham in the Carabao Cup semi-final.

The World Cup winner, who came off the bench in the Arsenal defeat last week but started in the win on penalties over Tottenham on Thursday, acknowledged the players had to accept Sarri’s questioning their mentality and motivational capabilities last weekend.

Asked it if it was fair, Giroud said: ‘Yes, I mean you can see from the start that you are not really in the game when you miss passes and you lose duels. That’s the first thing in football. We didn’t want to talk too much about that but we knew we wanted to have a strong reaction.

‘We had to show something else (against Tottenham): strong character, team character, the team monster on the pitch. We showed that straight away, that we wanted to bounce back. We did very well pressing the ball, covering the ball, and the boss is always talking about that.’

Chelsea take on Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cup fourth round today and Giroud said the players had talked about the improvement that is needed.

‘We are professional, we know we can play well and that we need to do more,’ he said.

‘We talked between us but afterwards you have to put the action on pitch.’

With Gonzalo Higuain likely to make his debut this evening, the Frenchman will have to battle with Chelsea’s new loan signing after seeing off Alvaro Morata.

‘I think it will help me to step up again and keep me fighting to be competitive by working hard in training,’ he said of Higuain’s arrival.

Giroud looks likely to stay next season and compete for his place. His contract comes to an end this summer but Chelsea can extend it a year.