Giroud's Disaster Start at LAFC

Olivier Giroud, France’s all-time leading goalscorer, Puskas Award winner, four-time FA Cup victor and World Cup champion. The striker followed his French teammate, Hugo Lloris, to Los Angeles last summer and was instantly one of the biggest names in the league. Giroud, 37 at the time, had just scored 15 goals in the Champions League and Serie A, leading the line for AC Milan. It was no surprise that most tipped him to be a goal machine, linking up with Denis Bouanga in a fierce LAFC attack, but that has not been the case. Now, over seven months into his time in SoCal, it is clear that things have not worked out, but Giroud’s poor displays have also been damaging for the Black and Gold’s league form. His story on the West Coast is not the first time a big name has struggled in the MLS, and is a cautionary tale about how the league is not necessarily as easy as it looks…

Stats Don’t Lie

Since the start of 2019, no player has logged more goal-less minutes while playing as a striker in the MLS than Giroud (965), his name is this category sits amongst forgotten faces and paints a damning reality. The striker has two goals to his name, arriving in August and September respectively, which makes it six months since the Frenchman last found the back of the net.

First goal for Olivier Giroud and it comes in a final! 🇫🇷@LAFC x @LeaguesCup pic.twitter.com/8Ktf1jMtU6

— Major League Soccer (@MLS) August 26, 2024

LAFC averaged 1.85 goals per game in the 2024 regular season, but over the 10 that Giroud played, that figure dropped to 1.5. It was clear that Steve Cherundolo’s side was lacking that third link to join Denis Bouanga and Mateusz Bogusz’s creativity and output together, yet the big name they brought has seemed to cost them goals rather than add.

Giroud has amassed a grand total of 1.5 xG in his 13 regular-season appearances for the club, a shocking fall off coming from the man with 90 Premier League and 57 French National Team goals. To make matters worse, the former Arsenal man has been sidelined in recent weeks with a leg injury, which has led to Jeremy Ebobisse and Nathan Ordaz fighting it out for a spot that Giroud never seemed to fill.

Shoehorn Effect

MLS Cup and Supporters’ Shield-winning coach Cherundolo has got his LAFC team to generate 429 direct attacks since he took charge of the club in January 2022, 78 more than any other team in the league in that time, with the average MLS club generating 273.5. A Bouanga-led attack in recent years has required fast breaks and pace to advance the ball rapidly upfield. Giroud is a target man who relies on other qualities and not speed to become an effective player.

The Frenchman’s average positioning in the opening games of the 2025 campaign sees him often popping up around the centre circle despite being most effective in the final third, highlighting that he perhaps cannot keep up with the game and get into those positions he has relied on in the past.

Giroud was not a signing to necessarily improve the team, his playstyle directly contradicts Bouanga’s and upturning a team that has built a strong identity over the last couple of years does not seem worth it. Shoehorning the striker into the team clearly isn’t working either. LAFC are currently placed 16th overall in the Supporters Shield standings and have lost three of their last four in the league. Something has to change soon, especially as Giroud takes up a valuable Designated Player spot, which could be taken up by a more useful player of a similar calibre.

Big moment, big player 😤

Olivier Giroud is there to give us the lead.#LAFCvSKC 1-0 pic.twitter.com/NgHaDgJKgl

— LAFC (@LAFC) September 26, 2024

Underestimating the MLS and Similar Stories

Having to pick between playing to Giroud's or Bouanga’s strengths perfectly reflects the battle between big-name signings and lesser-known players who have taken the league by storm. Players coming to the end of their careers are finding it harder to keep up with MLS action, as we have also seen with Marco Reus on the other side of Los Angeles.

Luis Muriel could be an exemplar for Giroud, the Colombian international and former Atalanta forward scored five goals in 33 MLS games last season, but has seen much improvement in 2025 with three goals and two assists in six games. LA is not unfamiliar with luring former world beaters in just to spit them out again. Douglas Costa, Gareth Bale and Giorgio Chiellini have all had minimal impact in recent years. On the flip side, Carlos Vela, Dejan Joveljic, and Joseph Paintsil have all had vital seasons in LA despite not becoming household names in Europe.

Cherundolo has a problem on his hands. Giroud was not needed in LAFC’s run to the 2022 and 2023 MLS Cup finals, but with the legendary striker at the club, it feels like there is an obligation to give him minutes. In an ideal world, Giroud would get up to full fitness and learn how to function in LAFC’s current system, but so far, his time in Los Angeles has been a rude awakening, highlighting the harsh reality of the MLS.