Category: Arsenal

Fenerbahce 2 – 5 Arsenal highlights – A European night to remember

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Champions League4 Comments

Last night Arsenal beat Fenerbahce in style and with class. The game was exciting and had plenty of goals. Wenger had wanted to silence the notorious Turkish fans, and I think we did – 3-1 up after 22 minutes!

There were some notable highlights for us, Diaby came back and looked very, very impressive – he got a good goal. Nasri continued to look good, Ramsey scored after coming on very late in the game, and Adebayor got a goal. Also Song, playing at CB, scored a lovely goal in the second half. Oh, and Walcott got a great goal.

To view the highlights click here.

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Wenger told the press:

“We had a young team and I’m proud we came in and tried to dictate the game in a heated atmosphere,”

He was particuarly impressed by Ramsey – who looked so relaxed in such a big game.

Almunia led the team well and denied the Fenerbahce strikers all night – one of his best games for us I think. Only problem was the defence looked a little weak. Maybe a SIlvestre – Djourou partnership would be a little more stable.

Silvestre spoke after the game:

“It was not easy to come here with a good atmosphere against us and I think we coped not too bad with the experienced players we played against.

“It was a good game to improve and learn from. Hopefully we can get some consistency.”

Silvestre among other things against Fenerbahce

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Champions League

So, Arsenal have travelled to Istanbul to play Fenerbahce in tonights CL game. It’s always tough in Turkey, and we have a couple of new faces in the team.

Silvestre will start alongside Djourou in the centre and we may see Song or Eboue at right back again. I’m happy with the centre back pairing – Silvestre got better as the game went on against Everton, and Djourou is decent. I would prefer to see Eboue at RB, as Song doesn’t look comfortable there.

Nasri and Walcott should take the wings, as they are our best choices, both were fantastic against Everton, and hopefully it will be Diaby and Cesc in the centre. Nasri picked up a knock on Saturday but should be back.

Ade and RVP upfront sounds good to me too.

Almunia is taking the captain’s armband – Gallas, and deputy Toure both being injured.

“I am very proud, it is a great thing to wear the armband. I am a bit surprised because I am the oldest player on the pitch.

You can say that again Manuel – of course you are the oldest tonight – this is Arsenal remember?!

So we go into a game with a few key players out, and it is a hard game – playing away in Europe is very hard – I think Wenger knows that the home results put you through, but we have quality in the team, and I hope we can put a few goals past Fenerbahce tonight!

Come back after the game for the highlights – subscribe to our news feed here to make sure you don’t miss out!

Arsenal 3 – 1 Everton watch the highlights here!

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal

Just a quick one:

A great result yesterday, poor at the start, but we came back welll in the second half. Song played much better at CB than at RB, also Silvestre did well. Walcott and Nasri add pace and flair on the wings. Ade looked a bit lazy, but we got the goals from Nasri, RVP and Walcott, we just need to lose the complacency!

Hibbert was an idiot – dirty tackle on Denilson, and then he tried to strangle Clichy and got a yellow – the refereeing yesterday was pretty atrocious at times.

Here’s the highlights

Cheers!

Fabregas thinks the squad is a little thin

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal

Hello Gooners. Fabregas has been talking to the press about our threadbare squad and our style of play compared to Spain.

He raises some quite worrying points about our potential for this season, but he is positive:

“We have a short squad and we are very young, behind me Denilson and Song play, and they are 20. Walcott is 19 and Nasri is 21. Can you imagine I’m the oldest midfielder? Winning will be tough for us because we are not experienced.

“Last season I scored a lot because I had Rosicky, and Flamini who used to run all over the pitch. Hleb as well, who is like my brother. They have gone now and I feel weird. We are more conservative and strong, but with less touches.”

It seems like Fabregas is all too aware of our problems in the squad, and I think he might feel a little more comfortable with some more experienced players challenging for places. Certainly we are lacking cover in midfield right now. He explained Wenger’s policy to the press:

“Arsene Wenger has crystal clear ideas, there aren’t two like him. He doesn’t want to spend money as he prefers to trust youngsters. His idea is that Walcott can’t develop if you sign Cristiano [Ronaldo].”

He was questioned about his differing roles for club and country – the fact that he isn’t an automatic starter for Spain was mentioned:

“To me it is not an issue because I’m aware I’m young, I play differently and must adapt. I’m not an attacker that plays with his back to goal because I haven’t got the body neither the agility to do it. I need to watch what’s happening because I’m not quick neither agile. I rely on my passes and my vision.

“Nowadays we play in 5-4-1 with Spain and at Arsenal it’s always 4-4-2. At Arsenal I can move, do what I think I must do. The gaffer doesn’t make me to do anything. I feel free. With Spain it is different, you touch the ball, make lots of controls. There (in England) it’s more about counter attacks and going as quickly as possible in front of the goal.

“I know who I am. I notice a change when I’m with Spain but it’s normal – I don’t play (in La Liga) and people don’t see me. I am 21 and have so much to learn. I feel so important in England, but you should remain humble when you play football.”

When he plays for Spain he obviously feels like a young boy with a lot to learn, and at Arsenal I think he has some responsibility resting on his shoulders. Maybe it isn’t so good for him to have to be the main player in the squad at such a young age.

On scoring the last gasp header against Sunderland:

“It’s rare because I’m used to scoring set pieces including corners, and I’m not good at headers. But I’d like to improve because a midfielder that can head the ball is more efficient.

“Most of all I must improve defensively. I always want to attack, to score, to deliver, it’s my dream.”

I think Cesc is possibly the best player at Arsenal, without him we don’t tick, but he needs to feel that the club is matching his ambitions, and losing players like Hleb and Flamini has obviously affected him.

He doesn’t know if we can win the league this year with our current squad and that worries me.

Clichy’s inspiration + Rosicky & Van Persie are taking it slow

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Injuries

Morning all, first up, Clichy has been talking about an inspirational talk he had with Dennis Bergkamp, back when he was struggling with injuries and Cole was our first choice:

“I will never forget what Dennis Bergkamp told me. It was in 2005 when I was injured. I had doubts and I didn’t feel fine.

“Bergkamp is a great man that doesn’t talk a lot. One day he came to see me and asked how long it would take for me to recover. I told him I didn’t know.

“He watched Ashley Cole, who was also having a treatment, and finally said: ‘Come back soon, and if you succeed, you will get his position.’

“Dennis and Ashley are friends, but that simple sentence was so good to me. I held on, and then I recovered quickly.”

I rememeber seeing Clichy getting apperances in those days and thinking that he had a lot of promise, he was very unlucky with injuries, but it shows you how wise Bergkamp was. He could see that Clichy had the quality to play first team and his time would come. Had Cole not been a c**t and stayed in North London then it might have taken longer, but Clichy always had the talent to play for us.

In any case, he is much better than Cashley, I would say that he is now one of the most important players in the team – many attacks are based on his runs down the left. His defensive work is amazing, he has pace, and at corners he has made more goal line clearances than I can count!

Meanwhile Tomas Rosicky’s agent has rubbished the claims that he has been in hospital recently:

“What appeared in the press about Tomas being hospitalised in London is complete nonsense. Tomas, as part of his recovery scheme, visits the hospital for various therapies and the same happened last time.

“A sudden setback in his health or some headaches, as I have read about somewhere, have not happened to Tomas.

“Everything is going according to the plan. Tomas’ first comeback was rash, now we are treating the situation more carefully.

This makes sense – I don’t see why people are making such a big deal. The player has very long term problems which have been present almost his whole career. With slow and careful recovery this excellent player may be able to play again. The papers need to portray his hospital visit as an emergency to sell papers.

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Robin Van Persie is another injury ridden player taking it slow:

“After my previous injury, I made the mistake at Arsenal of kicking the ball with all my force in my first training session, I will not make that mistake again. But I do feel very good. I trained hard the last couple of days and all the tests were positive.

“I have been injured a lot lately but whatever the outside world says is not important to me.

“I just want to be fit and play as many games as I can. The entire pre-season went well at Arsenal and in the league too.

“Picking up a hamstring injury can happen to any player at the moment.”

This is positive talk from RVP – a talented player who needs more games desparately. It never seems to go quite right for him – he comes back but then gets injured within a few games. Luckily his latest hamstring problem in training doesn’t seem so seriuos, and he is taking it easier so he can build up his strength first.

Good stuff about three excellent players, hopefully we can see the return of RVP and Rosicky a.s.a.p!

Robin Van Persie, Djourou and Gallas injury update

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Injuries

Robin Van Persie is hopefully now off our injury list. He injured himself during training for Holland ahead of Saturday’s 2-0 win over Iceland, apparently it was his hamstring again.

Now RVP has declared himself fit for the game on Wednesday against Norway. This is good news, it was the same international break last year where he got injured and was out for most of the season.

He has been on form this season, I hope he doesn’t play against Norway though, it will only tire him out and give him more chance of another injury, ideally as a Gooner I’d like to see him only play for Arsenal!

Anyway that’s some good news. Gallas is probably out for Saturday’s game against Everton, as is Djourou, so SIlvestre is highly likely to play, which is great. The press are trying to cast doom and gloom over the matter, but the defence, especially Gallas, haven’t been performing brilliantly so a change could work wonders. It would be nice to see how Silvestre does.

What do you think? Should Silvestre start?

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Why has Thierry Henry not delivered the goods in Spain?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Transfers7 Comments

With the international break in full swing, it can be a time to discuss alternative issues to that involving the Premier League. So, I wanted to take a look at Thierry Henry’s career since leaving Arsenal for Spanish giants Barcelona. The 31-year-old has just started his second season at the club, but according to their sporting director, Txiki Beguiristain, he has ‘not looked convincing’ in a Barcelona shirt as yet.

Considering how influential and successful he was in Arsenal colours, this seems rather hard to believe. However, Beguiristain goes on. He says that Henry doesn’t look like he fits in the team at times and that his time in Spain has been dogged by ‘personal problems’.

Any fans in England will be wondering if Beguiristain is talking about the same player that scored 226 goals for Arsenal? Henry could do no wrong in England and was so often the match winner for Arsene Wenger’s side. In July 2008, the Frenchman was even voted the greatest Arsenal player of all time. So what has happened to him in Spain?

Well, it has to be down to a number of factors. First up, everyone connected with Barcelona possibly expected too much. When he arrived for just over £16m, there were thousands of fans ready to welcome him at the Nou Camp. They had pursued the striker for quite some time and now they eventually had their man – they wanted instant results. However, he didn’t grab his first goal until September and unlike Arsenal fans – who would rarely criticise Henry – the Barcelona fans were straight on his back.

In all honesty though, Henry’s first season in Spain was a poor one for everyone involved at Barcelona. There were no trophies won and finishing a rather staggering 18 points behind arch-rivals Real Madrid didn’t help proceedings. Perhaps as the club’s major new signing, Henry was made a scapegoat for their problems. In all fairness though, he still managed to score 19 goals to be the club’s leading scorer.

So, in terms of goals scored, Henry wasn’t too far off the pace. However, he simply hadn’t won the fans over. At Arsenal, everytime he touched the ball there was a buzz about the place and more often than not Henry delivered the goods. Quite simply, this hasn’t happened at Barcelona. Some sections of the media have even said that the Frenchman ‘lacks commitment’, something he had in abundance during his time in England.

I suppose part of the problem could be that he was played out of position a lot of the time. Barcelona’s boss last season, Frank Rijkaard, often played him on the left wing leaving him with numerous defensive duties. This isn’t the way to go with Henry. Yes, he hugs the left wing a lot when playing up front, but it is done without the need to track back.

The new season though has brought renewed hope for Barcelona and Henry. New boss Pep Guardiola even stated at the beginning of the new campaign that Henry would be his ‘main man’ as he looked to guide the club towards various honours.

So, has this been the case? Well, judging by the comments previously mentioned by the club’s sporting director – it would appear not. However, it has been said by the same man that Henry is ‘improving’. He is becoming a central part of the team and having much more of an impact on how Barcelona are playing. They have won their last four games and although Henry has only found the net twice – he is starting to stamp his authority on the team like many expected him to last season.

Barcelona fans will want trophies though and if they fail to deliver them, it is the likes of Henry that will unfairly get blamed again – no matter how well they may be playing.

By Thomas Rooney

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Van Persie injured yet again + Keane is jealous of Arsenal’s youth system

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal, Injuries, Transfers

The news breaking last night was that RVP has yet again picked up a hamstring injury in training ahead of Holland’s game against Iceland. People are saying it might be 4-6 weeks before he is fit or it might be next Wednesday.

I have no idea, it was this time last year he picked up the injury that put him out all season. I have a feeling that this might happen again. RVP is plagued by injuries and like Rosicky, there seems to be no end to his problems. He has scored 5 in 6 games for us so it’s a bit of a blow, just when I thought he was getting a good run under his belt.

Apart from that, Roy Keane has been slating the Arsenal youth system, obviously with a bit of envy.

“The word on the street is they have a group of kids coming through that will be absolutely outstanding. But you go on about the kids coming through but a lot of them have been bought from other clubs, not through the academy at Arsenal. It’s the same with Chelsea.”

Keane has a motive – his main problem seems to be that because we are in the South East and have a large population within our radius we have a much larger resource base.

“We have tough battles up here in terms of signing young players and are restricted in terms of our location. You can only bring in kids from a certain radius and a lot of our radius is in the water. Any good fish out there?

Sorry Roy – it’s not our fault Sunderland is on the coast! We just stick to the rules and try to find the best quality young players we can get. How many top quality players will come through having played for one academy their whole youth?? I think this is just a case of jealousy from Roy, he wouldn’t be complaining if he was in our position!

Gallas’ self-criticism – will he ever be the same?

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal

WIlly Gallas has been talking recently about his inconsistencies this season. He has been under-par this year and his mistakes against teams like Fulham (click to watch highlights) have cost us points in the first 7 games of the season.

Gallas told L’Equipe:

“I can say we have not seen the Gallas from 2006 this term so far. In a few matches, I have not been so good. With the French team in Sweden and Austria, I was not very good at some moments.

“I would close my eyes if I would say I am strong. That would mean I don’t recognise I did have a few bad performances, as recently with my club against Hull City. Maybe I feel a little tired.”

“Do I experience the most difficult period since I joined Arsenal? We could say yes. Above all I miss consistency. One match is good, the other one is not so good. However, I am doing everything to get to my best again because I can’t accept not being in good form. I’m still young and have plenty of things to achieve.

He is a defender with good qualities, but Arsenal fans have been divided over him since he came to the club. He can play the ball fantastically and he has attacking qualities, but maybe he is best paired with a strong centre back.

There are quetions over whether Toure is the right man to partner him, and also over whether he is the right choice for captaincy.

ArsenalAddict suggests moving Djourou to CB and putting Toure as DM, this might work – Djourou is a tall, strong centre back, and Toure has the pace and style to play in midfield, but Wenger has already said he will not use Toure there.

I think Gallas will come good when he finds consistency, but we should be looking to replace him, not Toure, in the future.

I have a feeling Wenger will stick with them, he backed Gallas to be captain this season, but don’t be suprised if Silvestre gets a chance in defence as well as Djourou.

Related post: Vieira Backs Gallas

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How times have changed – Arsenal top of the Fair Play League

On By jamesgillespIn Arsenal2 Comments

It’s interesting to see how Wenger has changed the style of the club in the past ten years. During Wenger’s early years we were known as quite an agressive team with some quite volatile players. Now we are top of the fair play league.

Less passion?
Less passion?

The question I want to ask is are we fighting enough? Having seen Arsenal clean up their act over the last few years, we have also seen the trophies dry up.

Is our less agressive style costing us? Did anyone ever win trophies by being nice? I’m not sure, but although we play great football, maybe sometimes we lack a bit of passion for those smaller games which we have lost this season.

I’m not advocating dirty or foul play, I am just asking whether this represents a lessening of passion and desire to win in our team?

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