The warm up games are winding down as we edge closer to the European Championships and there were some Gunners involved in international duty for their respective nations. Euro hosts, France, have been doing their bit to compete in competitive friendlies as they didn’t go through the rigors of qualifiers.
Didier Deschamps has become accustomed to setting out his side in a 4-3-3 tactical setup. When France hosted Scotland, Dechamps fielded the old guard of Patrice Evra and Bacary Sagna flanked Arsenal’s own Laurent Koscielny and Adil Rami. The all-powerful and energetic midfield trio of N’Golo Kante, Blaise Matuidi and Paul Pogba provided industry at the center of the park while Olivier Giroud spearheaded the attack and he was supported by Dimitri Payet and Kingsley Coman on the wings.
Giroud opened the scoring in such a cheeky fashion and it deserved a second viewing on this blog.
Surprisingly, the pass came from an unlikely source, Bacary Sagna. I didn’t know he had an assist or two in him. Giroud doubled his money when he reacted first to Payet parried shot to hand his nation a comfortable advantage. With eight goals in his last five games for club and country, he has been doing his bit to silence his critics.
Or maybe he heard about a certain Jamie Vardy that is scheduled to have his medicals at London Colney today. At first, it sounded like a smokescreen but when his manager, Claudio Ranieri, confirmed that Arsenal had submitted a bid for the player, and the club was powerless to put up a fight, as his release clause was activated. I have done my bit on this Vardy issue and I wouldn’t bother myself writing about it again.
I am hoping for Giroud and Vardy to have wonderful campaigns in the Euros and return unscathed. Vardy also offers his versatility as he’s very playing on the right wing, just in case Arsene Wenger decides to go all Wengerly with his team selection. You know, Wenger has a knack for featuring square pegs in round holes.
More on the Vardy situation as it develops.
Have a happy Sunday.
Download the Gooner Daily BlackBerry App to receive notifications on your Smart Phone when a post is published.
Follow Gooner Daily on Twitter @goonerdaily.
Visit Gooner Daily’s Facebook page.
Click on the “Follow button” to join Gooner Daily’s Mailing List
Leave a Reply