Olivier Giroud: Chelsea must 'stick together' in these tough times

Olivier Giroud has urged Chelsea to “stick together” as the pressure mounts on manager Maurizio Sarri.

Giroud is refusing to write off Chelsea’s season ahead of the FA Cup tie  with Manchester United at Stamford Bridge and a potentially pivotal two weeks for the club.

Sarri is under scrutiny after the 6-0 battering at Manchester City last weekend, while his methods and training regime are understood to be an issue with certain Chelsea players.

An exit from the FA Cup to United will only turn up the heat on the Italian, who is also preparing for the Carabao Cup Final against City and a  Premier League meeting with Tottenham Hotspur.

Giroud helped ease the pressure on Sarri with the winner over Malmo in Thursday’s Europa League and the France striker insists now is not the time to panic.

“I have always had to deal with pressure all throughout my career. I played big games with my clubs, the national team, and in these kinds of moments  you need to stick together and think collectively with togetherness and be  positive,” he said.

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“We are not in the best position, but we have big games to come. We want to qualify in every single competition, so United is going to be a massive game. We need momentum and to keep going that way, so we are looking  forward to it.

“We are not worried about the situation and I am sure Man United will drop  points [in the league]. We are confident and we want to carry on with a  good spirit and humility.”

Giroud became the first Chelsea player to score in four successive games in Europe since Victor Moses in May 2013 with his goal in Sweden, but is  likely to start on the bench against United Sarri’s recent criticisms of Chelsea’s players have been strong but Giroud  says there are no issues with the manager.

“I think and I believe that it is the case that there’s criticism of the coach, but I haven’t felt anything about them dropping the coach,” he said. “I don’t have much to say about that. We stick altogether, the staff and  the team. We want to look forward and be positive. That’s it. We will work  on the same path and the same targets.”