Jack promised to stay at the Emirates until the end of his career.
According to all of Tuesday’s tabloids, Real Madrid are targeting Jack Wilshere. “Operation Madrid 2014″ is a plan by the Spanish club to sign a number of Europe’s top young players by 2014. A list of these players was leaked (perhaps purposely) to Marca (Spanish newspaper) and Wilshere is on the five-man list.
Wilshere told a reporter last week that he will stay at Arsenal “forever.” It will be up to Arsene Wenger and Ivan Gazidis to deal with the bombardment of large offers that will certainly come rolling in for the promising 19-year old. This could be the first test because Real Madrid are looking to spend £20 to £30 million on each of the young stars.
With all that has gone on with our club in recent years, it is only expected to hear about the wealthiest clubs trying to kick us while we’re down. Manchester City have picked off several of our players, but, thankfully, many of those players never lived up to their Arsenal days. Oh, and Samir Na$ri is enjoying his seat on the bench.
Anyway, back on topic, Wilshere has pledged his allegiance to Arsenal. Maybe it is foolish to think that a 19-year old will keep his promises, but it would be very surprising if he left in the next year or two. He was brought through the Arsenal academy from age nine, so, unlike most footballers, he has some loyalty.
Cesc Fabregas had a message for Robin van Persie after Spain’s loss to England. The Spanish midfielder and former Arsenal captain said the Gunners need the Dutchman, and he also hopes that Robin stays at the Emirates. Fabregas also made it clear that this would be van Persie’s last chance to leave Arsenal.
The former Arsenal skipper had this to say about the current captain (from The Guardian):
“I don’t know if they will keep him. It is his decision. At his age, if he wants to move, it will be his last chance and it he wants to stay he will stay and retire at Arsenal. We will see what he decides but he’s been very loyal to Arsenal for a few years. He is a key player, the fans love him. For me, he is the role model of Arsenal, the star player and they cannot afford to lose him.
“He is having an amazing season and hopefully he will be fit for the whole season. Unfortunately, when I was there, he never enjoyed a whole season and it was one of the things I regret a little bit. I hope he can keep going like that. Could he come to Barcelona? He would fit in anywhere but I’m an Arsenal fan and I want him to stay at Arsenal.”
An Arsenal fan? No, Cesc, you are a Barca boy and always have been. It is not possible to support two top European clubs, and Barcelona is the [...]
Robin van Persie scored a hat-trick to lead Arsenal to victory at Stamford Bridge. Chelsea were wide open at the back, and the Gunners quickly filled those holes. John Terry’s slip, which led to the winning goal, will live in the memory of Gooners for years to come.
Let’s start with Terry’s hilarious miscue. Florent Malouda sent a poor pass back to JT, but Terry still should have gathered it easily. Instead, he fell flat on his face while van Persie raced away towards Cech. The Dutchman eased past the Chelsea keeper before showing Fernando Torres how to score in an empty net. The goal was Robin’s second of the day and gave us a 4-3 lead.
Who knows if the comical fall is even a slip? It looked as if Terry just tumbled over for no reason. Maybe he was looking for a phantom call, or maybe he didn’t want to reveal his true pace, or lack thereof. Van Persie still had to finish the chance, which is easier said than done when you have that much time and space. A player of less quality and class (Torres) would have let nerves settle in during that time.
Arsene Wenger must have done something at halftime. We were trailing 2-1 at the break and then scored four goals in the second half to bury the Blues. Andre Santos was a completely different player after the interval. In the first half, the Brazilian left back was exposed time and time again. In the [...]
Alisher Usmanov is looking to make a strong push to become a factor in the Arsenal boardroom. This could create a feud with majority shareholder Stan Kroenke. So we must ask this question: Who would you rather see as the majority shareholder and decision maker at Arsenal?
Earlier this week, news broke that Uzbek billionaire Alisher Usmanov will try to increase his stake in Arsenal from 29% to 30%. According to a number of sources, Usmanov will offer £14,500 a share to the smaller shareholders. Usmanov has repeatedly attempted to become a decision maker at the Emirates, but has failed so far.
American Stan Kroenke currently owns 66% of the shares. Kroenke and the shareholders that sold to him during the take over last season effectively shut Usmanov out of the boardroom. They did not want Arsenal falling into the hands of a sugar daddy with a checkered past.
Usmanov, like many Arsenal supporters, believes that more money needs to be spent on transfers and player wages. He has been critical of Kroenke’s self-sustaining model. The self-sustaining model, which was in place before the Kroenke takeover, has seen our club drop out of title contention this season.
It is clear that Usmanov desperately wants control over the Gunners. He is the 35th wealthiest person in the world, so he will be able to test the resolve of the minor shareholders, and maybe even Kroenke. If our club continues to skid, Gooners everywhere will be holding Kroenke partly [...]
The Starting Line-up: Ivan Gazidis said on Thursday that Arsenal can “cope” and “compete” without participation in the UEFA Champions League. Aaron Ramsey finds relief in playing for Wales after the poor start to his Arsenal season. Robin van Persie said that he is unsure of his future (again).
Let’s start with the chief executive of our football club. Ivan Gazidis spoke at a football conference, and he said that Arsenal will be fine without the money generated from the Champions League (from ESPN):
Arsenal chief executive Ivan Gazidis
“We would rather qualify for it but we have a really sustainable model that can cope without it. Not just cope, but we can do well and compete. It would be very foolish to build a business model that relied on being in the Champions League for perpetuity and I don’t think any clubs do that and, if they do, then they probably aren’t being run as responsibly as they should be.”
You have to be an extremely positive Gooner to believe that we will finish in the top four this season. Obviously, Arsenal’s budget does not need that £26 million (amount Arsenal made from the UCL last season) to run the club. But the Champions League is symbolic to players and supporters. Top players want to play in the competition, and supporters know their club is at an elite level when they watch them on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
Gazidis went on: “Every club has the temptation to think that money is the [...]
Nicklas Bendtner said on Thursday that he never wants to return to the Emirates. Mikel Arteta told Everton fans that he had to make the move to Arsenal. Per Mertesacker told reporters that he got his dream move to the Gunners this week. Meanwhile, the papers are still bashing Wenger.
The new striker at Sunderland, Nicklas Bendtner, never wants to return to Arsenal. He told The Sun: “I will never go back to Arsenal. If I can have it my way, I will never play for them again.
“I will find a new club — but I will not go back to Arsenal, that’s for sure.”
Bendtner signed with Sunderland on a season-long loan on transfer deadline day. He thinks he is one of the best strikers in the world, but yet he was not able to break into Arsene Wenger’s starting eleven. Now, Bendtner seems very bitter and disappointed.
Bendtner wants out of Arsenal.
With any luck, Nicklas will never put on the red-and-white again. He does not deserve his £50,000 per week, and Arsenal should never pay him that again. The Gunners will likely help pay his wage at Sunderland, because the Black Cats would be silly to pay the inconsistent Danish forward that amount of cash.
To put Bendtner’s wages in perspective, Mikel Arteta will reportedly make £55,000 a week after signing a four-year contract at Arsenal. Arteta is a more experienced Premiership player, and he does not have a massive ego.
Arsenal will give each of the away fans who attended the 8-2 defeat at Old Trafford a free Premier League away ticket. Stan Kroenke and the Arsenal board are fully behind Wenger as the Gunners suffer through tough times.
The Arsenal supporters who made the trip to Manchester showed tremendous love for the Gunners as they continued to sing, even when the team was losing by six goals. Arsenal released a statement regarding the free away ticket:
“Sunday’s result was obviously disappointing for everyone connected with the Club. Our travelling fans were magnificent throughout and we want to recognise their fantastic support. We will be writing to them shortly with the details.”
This is why Arsenal are a class club. The Gooners continued to sing until the very last whistle, and they deserve to get the free ticket. Arsene Wenger’s weakened squad was terrible and embarrassing. People criticise our home support, but I believe we have some of the best away fans in the Premiership.
The Arsenal board, including majority shareholder Stan Kroenke, are not thinking of sacking Arsene Wenger. An Arsenal source was quoted in The Guardian:
“The club is very much behind Arsène Wenger from Stan Kroenke to the board, downwards and sideways. There is absolutely no suggestion of any conversations about his future. We are right behind the manager who has led us to such great success for 15 years.”
Presumably the same Arsenal source told The Telegraph: “Arsene has the absolute backing and solidarity of the [...]
We are in the second week of August, and Arsenal still have not bought a centre-half. Arsene Wenger must have learned something from last season.
The Gunners back four was very disappointing last season. They seemed to collapse when faced with any serious pressure. Whether that pressure was a cup final or a four-goal lead did not matter. Going into the summer months, many Gooners expected big changes to the back line.
Arsenal supporters have been crying out for a centre-half for years now with no avail. After last season’s frustration, many believed that Wenger would break from his strict philosophy of youth and fear of transfer fees.
Thomas Vermaelen has already picked up a pre-season ailment. Johan Djourou is an injury waiting to happen. The Gunners may at some point have to play a partnership of Laurent Koscielny and Sebasiten Squaillaci, which will send strikers around the Premier League celebrating.
If Arsene Wenger does not act now, his squad could suffer another tortuous season. He still has time, but the season is a week away.
Arsene has been busy of late dealing with Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri. But if Wenger does not improve his back four, it will not matter whether the two stars stay or leave. Arsenal can survive without Nasri and Fabregas, but, as we witnessed last campaign, the Gunners cannot win a trophy with the current crop of injury-riddled centre-backs.
Arsenal’s centre-half problem is so evident that even the moronic pundit can point [...]
Arsenal were held to a 1-1 draw by Chinese club Hangzhou Greentown earlier today. The match marked the end of the brief Asia tour, where the club received a ton of support. Carlos Vela again found the goal for the Gunners. Unfortunately, several problems arose at the back.
It was a fairly dull match in truth. Greentown got off to a great start, putting pressure on the young keeper Vito Mannone. Mannone succumbed to that pressure in the 15th minute. He mishandled an easy free kick, and Vazquez put home the rebound.
It was terrible mistake from the 23-year old keeper. The ball just hit him in the chest-to-neck area and bounced to Vazquez. Why Vito decided against catching the ball is anyone’s guess. Hopefully, we will not see this Italian in goal anytime soon.
Greentown continued to find space behind our defenders. The same problem was evident in the game against Malaysia XI. It could be a structural deficiency in the back. Maybe Wenger told them to hold too high of a line, and the centre-halves do not have the speed to press up that high.
Arsenal equalised right before the end of the first half. Andrey Arshavin lofted a brilliant pass to RVP. The Dutchman tried the shot but was denied by the keeper. The deflection was ushered into the net by Carlos Vela.
We dominated the second half but were unable to find the winning goal. Theo Walcott created chance after chance but his finishing was nowhere to be found. Theo still needs [...]
Arsenal are the front-runners to sign Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku. Arsene Wenger wants Jose Enrique of Newcastle to replace Gael Clichy at left back. Real Madrid are interested in Robin van Persie.
Let’s start off with Lukaku. According to The Sun, Arsenal has offered Anderlecht £14million for the 18-year old striker. Chelsea are also firmly in the hunt for Lukaku. Arsenal executives met with a Lukaku representative yesterday in London. The Belgian striker is one of the most exciting young players in Europe.
For literally months now, Chelsea has always been the front-runner for Lukaku. A deal sending Lukaku to Stamford Bridge seemed imminent. Could our the Gunners hijack the deal and steal Lukaku away from those rich Blues?
Lukaku has been dubbed the “next Drogba” because of his size (1.91 m or 6 ft 3 in) and strength. If Wenger can pull this off, then maybe the current crop of players can see the weight our club carries throughout the world.
Newcastle manager Alan Pardew has admitted that Jose Enrique wants to leave the Magpies for Champions League football. According to Daily Mail, Arsenal is willing to offer £8million for the 25-year old left back.
If Wenger brings in Enrique, it will be a sign that Kieran Gibbs is not yet ready. Enrique has been a consistently good footballer for Newcastle over the last couple years. He would be a solid player every week at left back. Liverpool are also interested in the Newcastle man.
According to rumours, Real Madrid has placed a bid for Robin van Persie. The bid is said to [...]
