Here’s the latest Arsenal news from France…
Granit Xhaka
Switzerland 1-1 Romania
Granit Xhaka picked up his second successive man of the match award – we’re no idea who is voting for these, probably Arsenal fans on Twitter – as Switzerland came back from behind to grab a vital point. Romania took the lead courtesy of Bogdan Stancu’s second penalty of the tournament. Admir Mehmedi’s lovely strike on 57 minutes levelled things up and puts the Swiss, who now have four points, in a decent position to qualify from Group A.
Olivier Giroud
France 2-0 Albania
Olivier Giroud started for France as Didier Deschamps’ men laboured to victory at the Stade Velodrome. The Arsenal man hit the post in the second half, the closest he came on a night when he missed several decent chances with his head. He was replaced by Andre Pierre-Gignac on 77 minutes with the score still 0-0. Antoine Griezmann, who also came off the bench, broke the deadlock with just a minute remaining before Dimitri Payet grabbed Les Bleus’ second deep into stoppage time.
Laurent Koscielny
France 2-0 Albania
Kos played the full 90 minutes and missed a couple of opportunities as France pushed for a win in the second half. He didn’t have too much to do at the back.
Wojciech Szczesny
It’s been confirmed that Wojciech will miss Poland’s showdown with Germany on Thursday after picking up a thigh injury in the 1-0 win over Northern Ireland. Ex-Gunner Lukasz Fabianski will likely replace him between the sticks.
“There is no chance for Wojciech Szczesny to play,” coach Adam Nawalka told a pre-match news conference in Saint-Denis.
“The team doctor has made a decision. Tomorrow I shall announce the team and who shall play in goal.
“We cannot tell how long he will be sidelined. Hopefully, he will be ready for the match against Ukraine. That is what the team doctor has said.
“I will give the line-ups tomorrow and it will tell you who will be in goal, of course.”
Ok so Giroud missed a few chances but woah French fans are a tough crowd.
Was he booed again?
they are being pathetic.
IMHO, I like Giroud but at this level of football, he should have scored at least 2 goals. A frustrating night for him….
Imho, at this level, he should’ve scored at least 2
IMHO at his level, Ronaldo should have scored 5 against Island. With all 11 opposition players in front of him, Giroud had no clear chance.
It’s not like the ref didn’t do everything in his power to help Ronaldo and co.
I found myself wondering if the Portuguese team brought out machetes and hacked an Icelandic player to death, whether the ref might actually book one of them for it.
Giroud’s chances weren’t clear cut! He had to stop them man handling him as he’s going for the ball. He was unlucky with his last shot! Griezmann had a free header to be fair, nobody was marking him! Probably knackered after putting in that effort against Giroud!
Giroud wasn’t booed, they just cheered his replacement Gignac because he played for Marseilles!
You’re going to need a few more exclamation points to convince me.
And gignac and half of France’s midfield played fuck all, but that’s not a problem apparently.
they should really be booing Pogba, that guy’s been useless for them. Giroud put himself in great positions and was a bit unlucky. That Gignac guy looked really slow and didn’t offer much. Surprised Griezzmann didn’t start…
Sagna had a good game too. I have no idea how DeBuchy took his place even after Sagna came back from the injuries.
It’s Marseille, a shithole full of fickle fans.
Anyone who knows Xhaka knows he was again the most talented player on he pitch. And it’s no surprise that he ended up dominating and getting MoTM again.
Was Giroud booed again?
No, both Giroud and Gignac were cheered as he went off (admitedly Gignac a little louder, he played for Marseille)
boooed/jeered off when subbed off
Were the French fans booing Ollie?
Well there was significant boos as he came off the pitch. Either the booing was aimed at him, or the manager for taking him off.
The French fans are being too vocal in showing their displeasure for Giroud. The intensity with which they boo and jeer him is really sad. The tournament is taking place in your country and yet you boo a player who’s giving his heart and soul in trying to win a match. Yeah, he didn’t have his best of games, he should’ve scored a goal but you can’t just boo him off the pitch like that. I wouldn’t be surprised if Giroud doesn’t start against Switzerland.
I would be surprised if he didn’t. Didier Deschamps isn’t an idiot, and he’s well-acquainted with his fickle fellow countrymen. Giroud is their best option going forward, and if Deschamps didn’t have the confidence that Giroud couldn’t do a job upfront, then they sure as hell would not have left out Benzema.
I was there and the fans around me were very complementary about Giroud’s effort off the ball. Gignac is ex l’OM so bound to get bigger cheer.
I’ve watched xhaka in both games now and I’m quietly impressed with his passing range and quality. He reads the game and tackles well, reminds me a bit of Xabi Alonso.
Giroud isn’t a bad player at all but he will often leave a bit to be desired when the stakes are high. He didn’t play badly but you just feel he should have converted the chance that hit the bar (it was a tough one to be fair).
There’s a pre-set narrative about Giroud in the media regardless of what he does. I watched the game and I only recall one chance he headed onto the post. The rest were half chances to say the most, mostly with the ball behind him and him having to adjust his posture to try and redirect them on-target. Deschamps’ set up was a little confusing. France seemed to have no shape. He simply threw his best players in there to find their way. The Albanians on the other hand were very impressive with their team set up. They held off the… Read more »
Spot on with the Giroud comment, he missed chances but they were far from clear cut, having to adjust his body to then try and head the ball from behind him and get it on target, 90% of forwards wouldn’t even be getting on the end of those chances let alone almost converting them. Pathetic of then French to boo him like that, you reckon they were booing when he put them 1-0 up on Friday?
Xhaka seems to me a brilliant transfer. His crosses/long balls are excellent. Wins a lot of aerial duels and he has the most avg.passes per game at the tournament…
Hardly can wait to see him play next to our CM/DM’s!
I want Xhaka to play in partnership with Coquelin. A pair of no nonsense midfield enforcers. Opposition teams will be anxious to see the physio after they play against us. This will not happen because Wenger will put Ramsey in the middle for creativeness like we did not have Ozil.
The one that hit the bottom of the post he should have buried… but he’s still loads better than that bloke that plays CF for the Swiss.
But that Payet fella aye? Forget Vardy, give them $20mil plus Walcott and let’s wrap it all up before the knockouts!
I guess I was the only one who wasn’t impressed with Payet. He and Martial were abject in first half in my book. Poor corners and free-kicks (his specialty apparently) and poor decision making when in possession.
He got a goal (a good shot) when Albania were trying to equalize and were a bit open.
All this talk of betting in the text of the blog. Is this paid for advertising?
No. Today’s mention of Ladbrokes is – but the rest is just me sharing my terribleness at betting to add to the football.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Just sign a striker and centreback please.
Why are you here?
Giroud needs someone like Greizmann and wide players to make runs. Payet didn’t play too.
Switzerland’s Seferovic reminds of Giroud. I like Seferovic’s movement, gets into good positions but can’t finish.