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.
Andrey Arshavin has taken a bold stand against Arsene Wenger. The little Russian said that his manager will not listen to anyone regarding tactics. The comments could jeopardise Arshavin’s future at the club, though he did say that he does not want a move at the moment.
Arsene Wenger has primarily used Arshavin on the wing, even though some believe that the little Russian is more effective playing centrally. Arshavin had struggled at times and seems to want to shift inside when Wenger does play him on the wing. The frustrated Arshavin revealed that no one ever questions Wenger at Arsenal (from The Sun):
“When you have a mundane, domestic problem, he’s always very supportive. But when it comes to Arsenal, no one would dare approach him with questions about football or suggestions to change something round. Everyone knows what the answer would be.”
Many Gooners, including myself, will not find it surprising to hear that Wenger is completely in charge at the Emirates. Some have said that Wenger has possessed too much power at our club since the departure of David Dein. This issue usually relates to the transfer policy. When it comes to tactics, the manager should have the ultimate power.
Arshavin also expressed dissatisfaction over his limited time on the pitch: “It is better to play all the time like I did at Zenit rather than sit on the bench. I still want to play. If you are a footballer you want to be on the pitch — [...]
Arsenal’s annual general meeting was held on Wednesday. Arsene Wenger gave a powerful speech, while Stan Kroenke’s comments supplied supporters with little insight. Shareholders were clearly frustrated with chairman Peter Hill-Wood. Reports are saying that the Gunners have opened up contract negotiations with Robin van Persie.
Wenger’s speech at the meeting was clearly from his heart. He stood up for the values of our club and the class with which the club operates (from Daily Mirror):
“I believe that the values we defend are highly defendable because we want to do things with class. We want of course to be very ambitious. We want to be very brave. I believe that this club has always been very brave in its decisions. The courage is a quality I admire because it is a highly needed quality in the modern world.”
Arsene believes that the fans need to get behind the team, and together Arsenal can achieve success. Wenger said that he believes that his squad have the right attitude and are ready to fight. He said this near the end of his speech (from Daily Mirror):
“And if I just would like to achieve one thing today it is: trust us, this team has qualities, this team will fight.” Click to read the full transcript of Wenger’s speech at the AGM. Stan Kroenke took a few minutes to introduce himself to the shareholders and supporters. The American majority shareholder has been quiet since his takeover last season. He was interested in several [...]
Kyle Walker’s long strike sealed the victory for Tottenham in the North London Derby. Arsenal’s woes are multiplying as Bacary Sagna’s injury will see him miss three months. Spurs coach Clive Allen was angry at Arsene Wenger after a post-match confrontation.
Rafael Van der Vaart opened the scoring for Spurs in the 40th minute. He received a lofted pass from Adebayor and volleyed the ball inside the far post. It appeared that Van der Vaart handled the ball when he brought down the pass, but nothing was given. He was already on a yellow card. Wenger commented on the goal in his post-match press conference (from Arsenal.com):
“It is frustrating as well because their first goal was handball. I wonder what the linesmen do in these situations. It is a second yellow card as well because he already had one – for handball, on purpose.”
Some fuss has been made about Van der Vaart’s celebration with the supporters after the goal. Technically, that should have resulted in a second yellow. Personally, I do not think that players should be booked for celebrating with fans. Arsene Wenger agrees with me (from Arsenal.com):
“I am not a fan of that. I can understand that when a player scores there has to be some spontaneous reaction to a goal.”
Aaron Ramsey scored the equaliser for Arsenal in the 51st minute. Alex Song made a run down the wing from his centre-back position to cross the ball to Ramsey, and the Welshman blasted it home from [...]
Robin van Persie said he does not want to negotiate a new contract with Arsenal at this time. Arsene Wenger compared the Dutchman to Lionel Messi and said that he does not think that Van Persie will leave the Emirates.
The Dutchman’s contract at Arsenal runs until the end of next season, and the rumours are starting already.
Van Persie said (from The Guardian): “I still have almost two years left, so for the moment that’s fine. I’m happy with my contract. I can’t look into the future. I can’t see us talking now because we are so busy. Maybe we will leave it until the end of next season”
Manchester City are rumoured to be interested in RvP, but Arsene Wenger said he does not expect the Dutch striker to go (from The Guardian): “It’s true that we had a meeting during the summer. It is understandable that he would want that when you lose players such as Fabregas and Nasri. I don’t think we will lose him.”
Wenger also said that no one would be leaving Arsenal shortly before Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas did just that. City are clearly trying to weaken our squad while strengthening their team. Reports say that Manchester City would have to pay £ 30 million for Van Persie. That is a low value considering the price paid for flops like Fernando Torres (£50m) and Andy Carroll (£35m).
People will point to his injury-riddled past, but I would rather have Van Persie for [...]
Arsenal desperately needs a victory over Bolton at the Emirates Stadium. Arsene Wenger will be under immense pressure if the Gunners cannot beat Bolton, who sit at 19th in the table. Owen Coyle also needs a win in order to justify his philosophy.
Injury News: Jack Wilshere will miss “months” after a set-back in his recovery. He will have surgery on his ankle on Monday. Later this morning , I will post a full article regarding Wilshere’s injury. Arsene Wenger revealed that Tomas Rosicky, Aaron Ramsey, and Bacary Sagna are available for Saturday. Johan Djourou (thankfully) and Yossi Benayoun will miss the match.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, who had a great performance and goal against Shrewsbury Town mid-week, will be in the squad. Wenger said that the Ox is “two or three months” away from being a “responsible” senior player. We better hope Andrey Arshavin and Theo Walcott do not teach him how to be a first-team player.
Arsene Wenger said he must take the criticism (or bullets) for the young players (from The Telegraph): “Since I arrived in England there have been a lot of things said that are wrong, but on the positive side as well. I personally do not complain. When you have heavy criticism of a young player I am more worried about it. I am supposed to take the bullets and absorb them. Like a bear. A polar bear.”
Since Wenger’s teams of recent seasons have been mainly comprised of young players, Arsene seems to [...]
Shrewsbury scored an early goal, but the Gunners battled back to advance in the Carling Cup. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s 25-yard strike was the winning goal for Arsenal. Chamberlain and Francis Coquelin may push for spots in the first team after impressive performances. Johan Djourou, on the other hand, sealed his place on the bench with a terrible match.
The reason this post comes two days after the night of the match is because the game was not televised. I, along with many other Gooners, were forced to listen to it online. Arsenal Player posted the full match “as live” so I watched that on Wednesday and here we are on Thursday.
Things got off to a nightmarish start for Arsene Wenger’s team. Shrewsbury striker James Collins headed the ball into the top corner to give the League Two side a one-goal advantage in the 16th minute. It was a good finish from Collins but Djourou stood directly in front of Collins and never even jumped. He never felt the need to clear the cross because he was not aware of Collins, which is a result of his utter lack of positional knowledge.
Just before the goal, Shrewsbury had a great opportunity that resulted because Djourou was too far up the pitch. He sprinted forward to make an ill-advised challenge, and he ended up only knocking over a Shrewsbury player after the ball had already been pushed forward. Shrewsbury went on a break that lead to a shot off the post, and another [...]
Arsenal will take on Shrewsbury Town in a Carling Cup match on Tuesday. Arsene Wenger said that he will feature young and experienced players in his starting eleven.
The league cup starts on Tuesday night for Arsenal. Some have suggested that Wenger should field a strong side in the competition because it is not likely that we will win the league or Champions League. Wenger gave supporter’s an idea of what his team will be on Tuesday night at the Emirates (from Arsenal.com):
“I had my team in my head before the Blackburn game and it will remain exactly the same. We will have Frimpong, Coquelin, Oxlade-Chamberlain, Ryo, and maybe one or two more. There is an also opportunity to see Park for the first time. Chamakh will also feature. You will also see Jenkinson start in his position. We will try to find a mixture between youth and experience.”
I am excited to see all of the young players, but Ryo Miyaichi interests me the most. During the preseason, the Japanese forward impressed with his pace and skillful dribbling.
Many players will have a chance to prove themselves against Shrewsbury Town, who currently sit at third in the League Two table. Chu-young Park (now being called Ju Young Park by Arsenal.com) will have a chance to make his debut as a Gunner. Oxlade-Chamberlain and Coquelin will try and forget their debuts, which both came in the 8-2 thrashing at Old Trafford.
Arsene Wenger criticised his players for Arsenal’s troubles at the back. Robin van Persie is “frustrated” with at the Gunners inability to respond to poor performances. Rumours are swirling over a possible new defensive coach to sort out the problems.
Wenger said that his squad’s terrible defending this season is due to “a lack of concentration, a lack of communication, a lack of co-ordination and individual urgency.” (from The Sun)
What Wenger said was obvious to the rest of the world, but it is good to finally hear it from him. Arsene usually never criticises his players in public like this. He is famous for defending his boys at all costs, but Wenger decided now was the time to let out his growing frustrations.
He continued: “When you score an own goal, you have to look at yourself. It is never completely out of your reach where you have no chance at all. Our season depends now on how well we respond to this disappointment and how quickly we can cut out the mistakes we made on Saturday by giving away goals that we should never give away.”
Wenger is correct. If the Gunners continue on the current course, we could be looking at a mid-table finish or worse. Something needs to change, whether it is the philosophy or the confidence does not matter. The Bolton match on Saturday at the Emirates is huge for our season.
Robin van Persie said he is “frustrated” with the team this season. He [...]
Arsene Wenger said that Arsenal were “terrible” in their 4-3 defeat at Ewood Park. Wenger said he is worried about the problems at the back after conceding two own goals.
Wenger was forced to scrap his normal post-match comments after witnessing the sad performance his squad put in. Arsene said (from ESPN): “It is terrible. It is just not good enough. Of course we are very frustrated – the spirit in the team is quite willing but if you look at the number of goals we have conceded that is not good enough.
“You cannot come here and concede four goals the way we did today. On the other hand I believe that the group will take off but it’s important that we get quick results.
“You cannot say you have no worry when you see the performance we have put in today. It’s just not defensively solid enough when you are 2-1 in front against Blackburn and you know if you are solid enough defensively you will score goals.
“It’s not all negative today. That’s, in fact, the frustrating thing as well. At the moment we do not have the capability to focus defensively to win games like that. It is important you do not give cheap goals away like that.”
There were flashes of brilliance from the Arsenal attack, but all that was washed away by the incoherent defending. When a team scores three goals, they expect to win, but this squad of Gunners should not expect to [...]
