Arsenal and Everton drew 1-1 on Sunday in a fantastic back-and-forth match between two teams high on style. Zapatos Ecco España . Both sides passed the ball with confidence, and despite only coming away with a point, Evertons confidence will get a massive boost from having played so well at The Emirates Stadium. One of the talking points during the game was how high Arsenal were defending wide free kicks. The game commentator said it was a dangerous tactic from the Gunners, as it invited the ball to be played in behind the defenders. I disagree, for a number of reasons. 1. The goalkeeper needs space if he is to come and attack the ball. It is essential for the defenders to set a defensive line that gives the goalkeeper enough room to come and claim the ball if (when) it comes into the penalty area. It is a fine balancing act, though, and this is something that Arsenal do exceptionally well. In the 15th minute, Everton had a wide free kick. Arsenal have not yet picked up their defensive marks in this picture, but it indicates just how high they are prepared to hold their line. They are not even ten yards from the line of the ball, and when the ball is played short by Everton, they are quick to react and force the ball away from goal. Wojciech Szczesny has the entire penalty area to come and claim the ball if it is flighted into the box, which is all that he can ask for - an excellent example of a well-organized defensive line from Arsenal. 2. Defenders need to be ball-side, goal-side. By this, I mean that good defenders are always in a position where they are favourite to win the ball if it is played in behind them, and can also get a challenge in if the ball is played into the attackers feet. When defending wide free kicks, it is imperative for the defender to be ball-side, goal-side. You do this by ensuring that you are “touch-tight,” meaning that you are close enough to touch the attacker, and closer to your goal than the attacker. With a more central free kick, Arsenal still hold a very high line; they are inviting Everton to play the ball into the penalty area. But because they are ball-side, goal-side, they are favourites to win the ball when it comes into the area. The one Everton attacker that is in behind the defensive line is in an offside position, and must come back onside before the ball is kicked. At this point, the Arsenal defenders must get ball-side, goal-side, or they run the risk of being second favourite to win the ball. 3. If the defensive line is set too deep, the goalkeeper cannot react to a header or deflection. This point was perfectly exemplified in Canadas 2-0 loss to the Czech Republic in November. Canadas defensive line was set so deep, that goalkeeper Lars Hirschfeld could do nothing about the first goal, scored in just the third minute of the game. Look at how deep the Canadian defensive line is (in red). When the ball is flighted to the near post, Marcel de Jong is out-jumped by Ondrej Celustka, who heads the ball past Hirschfeld. The goal could have easily been prevented had Canada held a more aggressive defensive line nearer the 18-yard line. If the ball is floated in behind the defensive line, it is a much easier play for Hirschfeld to make. Being a good defender is about assessing, prioritizing and mitigating risk. You always want to be in a position where you are favourite to win the ball if it comes into the most dangerous area - which is generally closer to your goal. But there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to your distances from the ball, when to drop in and when to hold your line. That is down to the judgment of the players, who must make those decisions based on their individual and collective skill sets. The best teams, like Arsenal at this point in time, are exceptionally well-organized and consistently make the right decisions as a group when defending. Ecco Outlet España . JOHNS, N. Ecco Baratas .1 million contract. The club said that Boll will earn $950,000 in 2012-13 and $1.15 million in 2013-14. The 26-year-old Boll had two goals and one assist with 126 penalty minutes in 54 games with the Blue Jackets in 2011-12. CALGARY -- Mark Giordano returned from a broken ankle Wednesday night and, just like they had been doing before he got injured, the Calgary Flames got right back to winning. In the captains first game back after missing 18 games, Giordano scored a goal and added an assist in the Flames 4-1 victory over the Phoenix Coyotes. "For me, personally, to get back in, it was a great feeling," said Giordano, who proudly wore the Flames fire hat after the game, emblematic of being the teams choice of player of the game. "I felt pretty good. Your adrenaline gets going pretty quick and I really didnt feel my ankle at all tonight so thats a great sign." Giordanos goal was a big one, extending the Flames lead to 3-1 at 11:46 of the second period. On the power play, Giordanos shot from the blue-line changed direction off the stick of Antoine Vermette and eluded goaltender Thomas Greiss. "Scoring always feels great. Obviously, that one was a bit lucky, going off the stick, but it was a great feeling and I felt after that for the rest of the game, we played pretty solid," said Giordano, who has 11 points in nine games, just four back of his point total in 47 games last year. Giordano sustained the injury Oct. 21 in a win in Los Angeles. At the time, the Flames were 4-2-2. While he was absent, the club struggled going just 5-11-2. "Obviously its a big deal to get your captain back. Hes our leader on and off the ice," said Flames goaltender Karri Ramo. "Hes been around us the whole time hes been hurt and trying to help the team any way he can, so it was really good to see him out there." TJ Brodie, Mikael Backlund and Lee Stempniak also scored for Calgary (10-13-4). The Flames have won consecutive games for the first time since Oct. 9 and 11 and won on home ice for just the second time in their last nine tries (2-5-2). Keith Yandle scored the lone goal for Phoenix (16-8-4), who had won 6-2 in Edmonton on Tuesday night. The Coyotes have split the opening two games of their four-game road trip, which continues Friday night in Vancouver. "Got unlucky with a goal at the end of the first period that probably gave them some momentum and we couldnt get it back," said Phoenix coach Dave Tippett. "We had lots of pucks around the net, lots of opportunities, thats the way it goes sometimes." Trailing 1-0, the Flames got an important goal with eight seconds left in the first period whhen Brodies shot deflected in off Phoenix defenceman David Schlemko for his career-high third goal. Tienda De Zapatos Ecco. . "That one hit me twice, once in my foot, once in my rear-end and then it goes top shelf," Schlemko said. "Kind of an unlucky way to end the first period." The goal sent Calgary to the dressing room even despite being outshot 11-3. Building off that momentum, the Flames played a much better second period, taking the lead at 5:48 when Backlund scored to end an 18-game scoreless drought. "We came in here, we know we didnt have our best first, they sort of took it to us for the first half. But those late goals, they usually are momentum swings and we did a great job of carrying it over into the second," Giordano said. Up 3-1 heading to the third period, Calgary got insurance at 2:44 in the form of their league-leading sixth short-handed goal. Matt Stajan neatly set up Stempniak on a two-on-one. "I think we dominated that first period so kind of unlucky to come out tied 1-1 but at the same time, you have to come out in the second with a little more jump, we knew they were going to push back and weve got to do a better job there," said Yandle. The benefactor of all the offence was Ramo. Making his second consecutive start after stopping 21-of-22 shots to beat Los Angeles on the weekend, the 27-year-old Finn was excellent again with 29 saves to improve to 4-4-1. "It was a while that I didnt see a game but you just have to take it game by game and dont think about the situation too much and whats going to happen," Ramo said. "You just have to play the game and enjoy it." In the pivotal second period when Calgary bolted into the lead, Ramo had a pair of solid glove saves -- first denying Vermette, and in the final minute robbing Mikael Boedker. With Mike Smith getting the night off, Greiss made his fourth start. He had 14 saves to fall to 3-2-0. Notes: Giordano logged 20:28 in ice time and was credited with three blocked shots... Phoenix fell to 12-2-1 when they score first ... The Flames won by more than one goal for just the second time. They entered the night 1-9-0 in goals decided by two or more goals ... Calgary was coming off its fifth break of three or more days. Excluding the Olympic break, they have just two more breaks of that length the rest of the season ... Phoenixs Radim Vrbata saw his five-game points streak come to an end." ' ' '