Tag: Arsenal

Notts County Ladies annoyed they can never use successful free-kick trick again

Notts County Ladies have gained international recognition for a clever a free kick routine they pulled off in their 1-1 draw against Arsenal. Laura Bassett stopped her run up to the ball and pretended to argue with teammate Alex Greenwood, creating a diversion so Greenwood could tap a pass to Ellen White, who curled a shot into the back of the net.

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Projecting Arsenal’s future Champions League misery

Arsenal carried on their consistency in Champions League masochism by soundly beating Monaco 2-0 in the second leg of round of 16 tie to be eliminated on away goals with an aggregate score of 3-3. Anyone and everyone with so much as a passing familiarity with Arsenal’s recent history in the competition — four (now five) consecutive round of 16 eliminations —predicted this exact result, as their narrow avoidance of advancing further has become more reliable than a Japanese train schedule.

It’s with this knowledge that we can accurately predict what horrors will come next for Arsenal in the Champions League. But first, a refresher on the last five years.

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The key differences between Olivier Giroud then and now

Olivier Giroud scored both of Arsenal’s goals in their 2-0 FA Cup win against Middlesbrough over a span of just two minutes, highlighting his noticeable improvement since he joined the club three years ago.

“I believe that he is a different player today than the guy who arrived here,” said Arsene Wenger of the French striker, who was widely mocked for having the shooting accuracy of a drunk lemur in his first season with Arsenal.

If we compare 2012 Olivier Giroud to 2015 Olivier Giroud, we can pinpoint exactly how he has improved himself.

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If it continued… (Man City v Arsenal)

Arsenal finally decided to adapt to their opponent instead of the people in their dressing room mirror and ended up beating Man City 2-0 at the Etihad. It marked the first time since 2010 that they have won at City (when the score was 3-0, with goals from Samir Nasri, Alex Song and…Nicklas Bendtner). Defensive midfielder Francis Coquelin stepped into the starting XI and though Arsenal uncharacteristically allowed City to have 65% of possession, goals from Santi Cazorla and Olivier Giroud made the difference. Given the rarity of this event, we really must ask “What if it continued?”

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