While the only Arsenal player that might have been on show in the first of the Euro 2016 semi-final clashes will have to watch from the sidelines after Aaron Ramsey picked up his second yellow card of the tournament as Wales kept their dream summer going with that wonderful win over Belgium, the second semi-final is likely to see Arsenal players starting for both teams.
The France pair of Olivier Giroud and Laurent Koscielny are well aware of just how much damage their club colleague Mesut Ozil could do the host nation’s chances of getting to the final and lifting the trophy, especially the big centre forward as he is the player that is usually the main recipient of Ozil’s final killer pass or piece of creative magic.
Giroud made it clear in a report by The Sun that his Arsenal team mate on the opposite side is the player that France really need to stop from having a big influence for Germany. And perhaps the understanding he has gained about the way Ozil plays, although at times in the second half of last season it was hard to see, means that Giroud and to a lesser extent Koscielny will be able to prepare their French team mates for the job of stopping the German Gunner from wreaking havoc on Thursday evening at the Stade Velodrome in Marseilles.
He said, “Ozil is a very talented player in terms of his passing and his vision for Arsenal and for Germany.
“He likes to drift between the lines so you have to keep an eye on him. We will have to stop him.”
Who do you think will come out on top?
Bob.