On Matchday 11 of the 2025 MLS season, LAFC recorded a 2-0 win over the Houston Dynamo - and Olivier Giroud went as an unused substitute as the Black and Gold claimed a much-needed three points in MLS action. Watching along as his teammates triumphed, Giroud slumped back in his chair on the bench, not factoring into the result.
It has been a theme for the Frenchman since he joined MLS, and whether he's been on the pitch or not, he has not factored into results.
When LAFC signed Giroud on a free transfer from Serie A outfit AC Milan in the summer of 2024, expectations were high for the veteran striker. A dream of a target man, Giroud had plied his trade with the likes of Arsenal and Chelsea in the English Premier League, and with the Rossoneri in Italy. Oh, and he is France's all-time leading scorer with 57 goals.
A 2018 FIFA World Cup winner with France and a 2021 UEFA Champions League champion with Chelsea, Giroud added 11 other top-flight trophies over the course of his illustrious career. When he joined longtime friend and former France teammate Hugo Lloris in Los Angeles, expectations were high that the then-37-year-old would make an immediate impact.
That didn't happen. And frankly, it didn't even come close.
In 10 regular season appearances and four playoff matches, Giroud didn't net once. He scored once across all competitions, with his lone goal coming in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup final - an important effort, but it was the only score in all competitions over a roughly five-month span.
Fast forward to 2025, and the Frenchman has featured in 11 games for the Black and Gold across all competitions, but has been blanked in 10 of those - scoring just once. His lone effort was also a brilliant goal - finding the back of the net from a free kick - but it's not a goal that changes the course of how his MLS career has started.
He's not been good enough - but there's more to it. He moved across the world to a completely different environment, and was thrown into a tactical system not built around him. On top of that, LAFC have constantly changed personnel on the pitch - giving him little consistency in the final-third. There's also the fact that he is reaching the tail end of his brilliant career. But are those valid excuses? Has the Western Conference side failed him? Or, is this just sometimes how the twilight of a career goes?
GOAL expands below.
