I may have overreacted last night when I posted that Arsene Wenger should be sacked before the next match. Now that I’ve had time to cool down, I can say that sacking a manager because of a Carling Cup loss may be a bit harsh. I will say that if Wenger cannot win any of the other three competitions (FA Cup, Champions League, Premier League), then the board should really consider whether to bring him back or not.
Arsene is still optimistic for this season.
Let’s get to some reactions and other news coming out of the Arsenal today. Here is Wenger on what lies ahead for the Gunners: “The Carling Cup is four or five games, but a championship season is 38. We will not throw 38 games away because of one game.
“I am confident we have the character and this is a good opportunity to show it. We have to be proud of our attitude, continue with our belief, pick ourselves up and face the other challenges we have.
“We will face a lot of questions after that mistake, but we have to be strong enough to stand up. It is a good opportunity to show that we have the mental strength to respond to the situation.”
The second happiest team yesterday after the final was Leyton Orient. Maybe the crushing loss at the weekend will carry over until Wednesday. Let’s hope that we won’t suffer two surprising losses in one week. It could be a huge [...]
Birmingham City have won the Carling Cup final after beating the sorry Gunners 2-1 at the new Wembley Stadium. Our trophy-drought will continue as our best chance to end it has just gone by. Birmingham took the lead on a header from Nikola Zigic in the 28th minute. Robin van Persie equalised ten minutes later on a beautiful volley. Wengerstupidly took out both Arshavin and RVP in the 2nd half. Birmingham’s winner was handed to them. Mistakes by Laurent Koscielny and the keeper lead to an easy goal from Obafemi Martins.
Martins (pictured here when he played with Inter) scored the late winner for Birmingham City
This loss is devatating for Arsenal and I think the manager needs to be held accountable. Arsene Wengershould be sacked. He has stuck along too long with this club and not won anything in six years. The Gunners have lost in three cup finals in that time and failed to win the league. Arsenal have let Manchester United and Chelsea breeze by them andcapture trophies while were stuck with a lame-duck manager trying to win his way.
Some may think firing Wenger after a league cup loss is extreme. I don’t. If you cannot beat Birmingham City in a final, who can you beat. They certainly won’t win any competition this season. In fact, they will not win another competition until the Frenchman leaves the club. Mark my words.
We did miss Fabregas but we still had quality players out on the pitch. [...]
Arsenal will battle Birmingham City for right to hoist the League Cup at Wembley Stadium. Can the Gunners end their six years of misery or will Birmingham provide a stunning upset? We will be without skipper Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott, who could miss more than just the final. Arsene will field his top side against Birmingham and the pressure will be on the Gunners to secure the silverware. Sunday is cup final day.
Will RVP be able to captain Arsenal to glory?
It is really a shame that Cesc will have to sit out Sunday. He was so eager to captain this Arsenal side to their first trophy. No one wants to risk damaging that hamstring further though. As for Walcott, he will be missed. His pace on the outside adds a lot of width to the side. RVP will be playing up top, which is great news.
Birmingham City will not be an easy opponent. They are sitting 15th in the table and looking to avoid the drop. Will coming off a 3-0 win over Sheffield Wednesday in the FA Cu will inspire the confidence they need to get a big victory over a top club?. Just ask striker Cameron Jerome: “Will the lack of trophies put pressure on them? I think it is going to.
“They are overwhelming favourites and everyone is writing us off outside of our camp. That is going to add the pressure on them, and also them not winning a trophy for a while.
Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas desperately wants to play in the Carling Cup Final on Sunday. Cesc suffered a hamstring sprain last night against Stoke City. Medical staff will evaluate the injury over the next couple of days and make a decision on whether the Spaniard is fit enough to play. Fabregas may not take no for an answer.
Fabregas is eager to play in a cup final.
Here is what Cesc said on Twitter: “I dont know if I’ll make Sunday or not, but all I know is that from this moment to Sunday I won’t sleep if it’s necessary. I’ve waited too long to captain a final for Arsenal and I won’t give up till the last second.”
We’ve all waited far too long to see Arsenal win a cup final. The Gunners have lost their last two cup final (The 2006 Champions League Final and the 2007 League Cup final). It’s time for a trophy, even if it is the League Cup. It can provide confidence for the players and hopefully lead to more silverware this season.
Still, Cesc, please get some rest. We don’t want sleepy captain on Sunday. But seriously, Cesc is key for Sunday, escpecially if RVP misses the match. Fabregas is one of the best midfield players in the Premier League, if not the best. He makes everyone around him so much better.
Laurent Koscielny and Robin van Persie may not be able to play Sunday. Both were ruled out for last night’s [...]
Arsenal were able to get three points at home tonight against Stoke City. Sebastian Squillaci scored the winner in the eighth minute, his first goal for the Gunners. The points came at a price though, as both Cesc Fabregas and Theo Walcott were forced to come out of the match nursing injuries. It looks like the more serious injury is the one to Walcott. We are now just a point back of Manchester United now and Wenger’s boys look to be closing in.
Squillaci scored the winner with a brilliant header.
The only goal of the match came very early on. Off a free kick (yes a set piece!) no less. Jack Wilshere put a ball into the box off a free kick that found Bendtner on the opposite wing. The tall Dane then volleyed a cross that was headed home from Sebastian Squillaci. This goal doesn’t yet make up for all of Squillaci’s mistakes, but it was certainly his best moment in NorthLondon. A brilliant finish with his head.
Very shortly after the goal, Cesc was hobbled. Not sure exactly when the injury occurred, but it looked like he may have pulled a muscle. Wenger was ready to take every precaution to keep the Spaniard healthy, immediately getting Andre Arshavin up and loose. Cesc made an exit in the 14th minute, in favor of Arshavin. Scary moment for us. Let’s hope that it was just a precaution and not something worse.
The Gunners will host Stoke City tomorrow night in a Premier League clash. Stoke are a physical team that may give us a good fight, even at the Emirates. Robin van Persie and Laurent Koscielny will not play due to injury. Without RVP, who will provide the goals? Let’s hope Nasri and Walcott are on top form. With the team playing every three of four days, we will find out just how fit Wenger has his side.
RVP will miss the match against Stoke City.
Stoke are 10th in the table with 33 points. We need to earn the three points. Every league match at the Emirates against a smaller club needs to be a win. That’s only way we will be able to catch United. Don’t forget that we take on Birmingham in the Carling Cup Final on Sunday.
Will the Gunners be able to bounce back from the disappointing showing against Leyton Orient. Let’s see what Arsene has to say: ”We know we are in a strong position. The players know that at home our results will have a vital importance to have a chance to win the title.
“The focus will be natural, this team wants to win every single game and the players are disappointed after the Leyton Orient result.”
Wenger has been rightly critical of some of Stoke’s more “rugby”-like players. Ryan Shawcross snapped Aaron Ramsey’s leg last season, causing the Welsh midfielder to miss the rest of the year. It certainly slowed the promising young [...]
Disappointing evening as the Gunners are forced into a replay against Leyton Orient. We took the lead early in the second half off a header from Tomas Rosicky. All looked to be be in order, as the Gunners passed around the ball without a care in the world. Orient were not done though. Our defense collapsed under the pressure of Jonathan Tehoue and he was able to beat keeper Manual Almunia, who should never play again for us, in my opinion.
Rosicky scored for the first time in over a year.
Arsene Wenger didn’t care enough to put a few quality footballers on the pitch today. Only decent players were Arshavin, Song, and Sagna, and they weren’t enough. The back four consisted of Kieran Gibbs, Sebastien Squillaci, Ignasi Miguel (who?), and Bacary. The midfield was made up of Denilson, Song, and Rosicky. Arshavin, Chamakh, and Bendtner played up front. Basically a reserve side, besides the three players I mentioned earlier.
The first half was somewhat boring. We had chances to take the lead, but Orient put up a good fight in their home ground. Nickolas Bendtner and Marouane showed us why they don’t play all that often. Bendtner can’t control the ball because of his horrendous touch. He tries to shoot even when he shouldn’t and ends up blasting it wide. Chamakh has just disappeared since RVP returned. He can’t score and doesn’t really come close.
So we go into the break scoreless. Still optimistic because Arsenal usually wear out [...]
So I hoped today would pass without more Barcelona players trying to recruit Arsenal skipper Cesc Fabregas. Today, it was Lionel Messi, arguably the best player in the world, talking about Cesc. Here’s what Messi had to say: “Cesc Fabregas is a key player for Arsenal and I really want to play with him at Barcelona but that doesn’t depend on me.
“In the end he will do what he wants and what the people at Barca want. But I think his inclination is to be at Barcelona because there is nowhere he will be better off than here.”
Just end the love affair already. Cesc is a gunner for the time being. The press must ask these Barca players every day what they think of Cesc Fabregas, future reserve player for Barca. How is Cesc better off when he will be sitting on the bench during every match? Cesc better be careful what he wishes for.
Messi also had more to say regarding Barca’s loss on Wednesday: ”It hurt to lose (on Wednesday) because we didn’t deserve to. In the first half we played really well for a lot of the time, moving the ball around quickly – it’s a shame we didn’t win. But we are relaxed because we know we can turn this around – we only have to overcome a one-goal deficit.
“It doesn’t matter how we do it. Whether it’s with my goals or not, the most important thing is to go through.”
With everyone still basking in glory of the Barcelona win, Arsenal will make the short trip to East London to face Leyton Orient in the FA Cup. The 5th round matchup looks like it should be a easy win for the Gunners. Orient are sitting at 10th in League One. Orient has been in the news recently because of West Ham winning the Olympic Stadium, which is situated right near Orient. Many think this will spell trouble for the club and its future.
After all the buildup for the Barcelona match, will it be hard for the players to get motivated against a League One side. Orient’s home ground is Brisbane Road, which has a capacity of just over 9,000. Could Orient pull off the stunner and advance to quarterfinals? Or will Arsene Wenger and the Gunners stay alive in all four of their competitions?
No one will be surprised if Wenger starts some of the reserves on Sunday. Coming off the Barcelona match, and with a Premier League showdown with Stoke on Wednesday night, it might be the wise thing to do. We don’t want to be knocked out of the FA Cup though. Wenger wants to win more silverware than he can hold at one time:
“We want to go for every single competition. How far will we go? I personally believe we can go in every competition to the end. But we can as well stop very quickly.
“It’s just down to how much we believe and how [...]
A certain striker is a little ornery about his team losing to Arsenal last night. Here is the whining Villa: ”They are a very good team. They’ve caught us on two counter-attacks and caused us a lot of damage. We were better, but they hurt us on the counter.” You were certainly no where near better. Quite the opposite in the second half, yes the half you didn’t show up for.
“We didn’t deserve this result. The scoreline, when we were 1-0 up, should have been bigger looking at the chances we had. But Arsenal are a great team and took advantage of their opportunity. [But] we have a team to get through. We will be ready for the day.” You did deserve the result. The Gunners governed the second half and took it right to your team, supposedly the best (Ha!) team in the world.
Xavi also was surprised that the “superior” side lost: ”It was a shame because we felt we were superior to Arsenal. The result is worse than last season’s (2-2), as we had a draw in that match, and now we have a loss.
“The team made significant errors, but played good football. All we lacked was the finishing touch.
“We didn’t convert our endless opportunities. The match was up for the taking, but we failed to win. The result was somewhat unfair.
“We may be disappointed, and know what we need to do in the return leg. We believe we can do well at the Nou Camp, and we [...]
