Giroud was very underrated in my opinion.
For the 12 to 14 million we bought him for he gave us fantastic service and could never understand why he was given a hard time by some of our fans.
Very good striker albeit lack of pace but excellent technique.
He would be so good for this current team.

I think the fact that he got so much stick is simply because Arsenal fans were hoping he'd be our next star striker, and he didn't quite live up to that. We went from Wright to Henry to van Persie, and the hope was obviously that Giroud would be that goalscorer up front, capable of giving us 20+ goals in the league.

He's a bit similiar to Lacazette in that regard - both victims of high expectations they couldn't live up to, both very good but not great players.

Or perhaps the Faroe Islands.

South Africa's trajectory in the AFCON is possibly the most ignominious of all.

They won it at the first attempt (1996). were runners up in the next tournament (1998), semi-finalists in 2000, quarterfinalists in 2002, failed to get to knockout stages in 2004, came last in their groups in both 2006 and 2008, and failed to qualify in 2010.

As a former driving instructor you will appreciate such smooth backward maneuvering

However they actually managed to top that in terms of wretchedness in 2012, by failing to qualify after laughably misreading the rules and playing out a draw when they needed to win. An excruciating experience. I stopped watching their televised matches after that. Life is too short.

I think the fact that he got so much stick is simply because Arsenal fans were hoping he'd be our next star striker, and he didn't quite live up to that. We went from Wright to Henry to van Persie, and the hope was obviously that Giroud would be that goalscorer up front, capable of giving us 20+ goals in the league.

He's a bit similiar to Lacazette in that regard - both victims of high expectations they couldn't live up to, both very good but not great players.

Wow. I hadn’t realised that it was so abject. I always think that the stadium in Cape Town is such a waste whenever I wander around it

You (understandably) missed out Anelka.

From listening to a few in the know journalists it seems Vlahovic is now or never. He'll have many more teams wanting him in January. It seems not many teams are looking to add a top quality striker this winter which means we could steal a march on them for whoever we want.
Come the summer a lot of teams will be after a striker: You could make a case for all the big 6 needing a striker:
City wanted Kane last summer, Man U have two 36 year old strikers, Chelsea are struggling with Lukaku, Liverpool need to get a succession plan for Salah/Mané/Firminho and Spurs might be Kane-less

Blimey!

Just googled Comoros.

I'd never heard of the place - unsurprising since you can barely see it on a map of Africa.

100%. Always liked Giroud. Best header of the ball up front since Alan Smith IMO.

As it stands it will be a miracle if we get past Liverpool tomorrow night.

It is a great pity because there is a lot of talent and money in SA football. But our football administration is a corrupt, bungling mess, unfortunately.

Vlahovic bid accepted according to several tweets.

https://www.cbssports.com/soccer/news/arsenal-transfer-news-pierre-emerick-aubameyang-loan-offer-made-by-saudi-giants-al-nassr/
Saudi team want Aubameyang for £8m. I suspect us getting £8m and moving his £350k a week wage (which he can earn for the next 18 months £27.3 million(!) would be something that would very much appeal to Arsenal right now.

I actually thought about him - and Adebayor, who did score 24 goals the season after Henry left - but they only really had one season each when they were at that top level.

Xhakas yellow card being investigated. Suggestion it was deliberate by the player

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... s-25993200


Would explain a lot

Where does it say it is a Xhaka yellow card?

Unless the FA have evidence of emails/texts or recorded conversations between the player and various people saying he will make sure he gets booked in a certain game it has to be very difficult to prove that a lot of money being dropped on a player getting booked and then that player does get booked has anything corrupt behind it.

if it is Xhaka I wouldn't have thought it is the most wild bet to have that he gets carded in any given match

Strikers that have cost over £65m in history
Mbappe £130m
Felix £114m
Griezmann £108m
Ronaldo £105m
Lukaku £103m
Ronaldo £85m
Higuain £81m
Lukaku £76m
Suarez £74m
Osimhen £68m
Lukaku £67m

Both hits and misses in that bunch. If we spend that much we can't afford to be one of the misses.

There is a guy on twitter who does a huge amount of stat based scouting on potential Arsenal players. One of the things I like that he sometimes does if just give you the stats of various players but doesn't tell you the player. You decide who's looks like the sort of player you want.

Anyway, these are 4 Serie A strikers - in all cases the taller the bar the better that attribute is. Which striker would you want?

Xhakas yellow card being investigated. Suggestion it was deliberate by the player

https://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football ... s-25993200


Would explain a lot

An alleged match-fixing plot also cropped up in Ghana last summer.
Inter Allies' Ghana Premier League clash with Ashanti Gold which was at the centre of the scandal.

Inter defender Hashmin Musah intentionally scored two own goals for his already-relegated side to prevent an alleged pre-arranged result involving his team.

Musah's deliberate actions went viral across social media, having come on with 12 minutes remaining as Allies trailed 5-0, and he claimed to have received praise for his teammates after the match ended 7-0.

"After the game, my technical team commended me for spoiling the bet they had staked," Musah revealed to Kumasi FM post-match.

"I promised my coach that if he allows me to play from the bench, I will spoil the bet. And after the game, my team congratulated me."

South Africa's trajectory in the AFCON is possibly the most ignominious of all.

They won it at the first attempt (1996). were runners up in the next tournament (1998), semi-finalists in 2000, quarterfinalists in 2002, failed to get to knockout stages in 2004, came last in their groups in both 2006 and 2008, and failed to qualify in 2010.

As a former driving instructor you will appreciate such smooth backward maneuvering

However they actually managed to top that in terms of wretchedness in 2012, by failing to qualify after laughably misreading the rules and playing out a draw when they needed to win. An excruciating experience. I stopped watching their televised matches after that. Life is too short.