Can anyone explain...

..how Andy Carroll's bicycle kick goal beat Giroud's scorpion kick to GOTM for Jan?

Don't get me wrong, Carroll's goal was a good 'un, but you see those goals scored all over the world regularly. Giroud's was remarkable, far, far harder to pull off

Not only that but the whole Arsenal move was a thing of beauty, a perfect example of catching your opposition on the break with electric pace, starting on the edge of their own box then one- and two-touch passing (including a sublime flick by goal-scorer Giroud inside his own half) all the way until the goal. The fact that it goes in off the underside of the bar is the icing on the cake.

The only reason I can think of for it not getting Jan's GOTM is that December's GOTM was also a scorpion kick (Mkhitaryan's - which was a farce to be given the award as it was clearly offside, as good as it was).

Personally I preferred Carroll's goal. Great improvisation as it was from Giroud, his goal still comes across as a fluke to me. It's not even clear he was actually trying to shoot, just sticking out a leg to try and get a touch on a poor cross played in behind him.

Carroll's on the other hand was clearly intentional, and perfectly executed. Right choice for me.

I'm actually stunned that you think that rc

There's no doubt in my mind whatsoever that he meant it, look at the way his foot kicks forward after contact, also he immediately looks goalwards as he lands, he knows fine well where he meant the ball to go.

As I've said, I'm not dissing Carroll's goal at all, it was a fantastic strike, but a) any competent agile footballer can pull off a bicycle kick with practice* (admittedly this was a great one) and Carroll was, after all, unmarked so had time and space to set himself up perfectly, and b) the whole move by Arsenal adds to the quality of the goal (which should, imo, be included in judging quality of goal, not just the finish - remembering not only did Giroud help set up the move with a great flick but then sprinted for what must have been approx 70 yards to finish the move off).

Oh, and the keeper was completely stranded for Carroll's goal so he had a fairly large area to aim for, whereas Giroud's effort really had to be right in the corner, the keeper's hand covered all bar about a square foot of the top corner.



*

Yeah, I always know where I mean the ball to go too, whether it actually goes there is another matter though

If you gave me 10 attempts to try to recreate each of those goals, I'm pretty confident I'd come a lot closer to repeating the Giroud one than I would the Andy Carroll one. And I'm not a competent, agile footballer.

I'll give you that one, the move as a whole is better for this goal. Almost let down by a shit cross at the end though

You're not seriously going to tell me you think he was actually aiming for the top corner as well? The ball was behind him, the move was going to break down otherwise, he stuck a leg out to try to flick the ball goalwards and make something of it. Don't get me wrong, it was a great bit of improvisation, but in terms of skill and technique, Carroll's goal was much better.

Giroud had no more control or idea of where the ball was going to go than this bloke did

We'll have to agree to disagree then, but your last comment is preposterous (unless you're joking ).

OK, the last point may have been pushing it slightly

But anyway, ODM agrees with me, Hotspur disagrees with me. If that's not conclusive proof that I'm right, I don't know what is