Arsenal defeated Bolton at the Emirates to advance to their ninth Carling Cup quarterfinal round in nine years. Ju Young Park and Andrey Arsahvin were the goal scorers, while Thomas Vermaelen made his return from injury.
Bolton fielded a strong team, while Arsene went with a mix of young players and little-used experienced players. Arshavin and Park outshined the young talented players like Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Francis Coquelin. The little Russian did well playing behind Park, with Benayoun and Chamberlain on the wings. Park played much better than he did in the last Carling Cup game against Shrewsbury. You could see his confidence growing as the match wore on.
Park played right on the edge of the Bolton backline, similar to how Chicharito positions himself for United. Cahill and Knight caught him offside a few times, but the South Korean continued to make intelligent runs. Park made a run, but Arshavin did not make the pass. The little Russian waited for Park to get back onside before releasing the South Korean. Park curled the shot into the side netting in the far corner for the winning goal.
Wenger made a very good point about Arshavin after the match (from Arsenal.com):”Andrey is a player who of course takes a bit gamble on nearly every ball he plays. Sometimes he loses balls he shouldn’t lose but when you look at the end of the game he has always had a big impact. Tonight he scored and made an assist. He had a good performance tonight.”
The Line-up: Thomas Vermaelen is set to make his return to the Arsenal squad on Tuesday night against Bolton. Arsene Wenger revealed that the dramatic loss in the Carling Cup final last season will hurt him forever. This league cup match presents another chance for the young Gunners to shine.
Injury News: According to several reports (Daily Mail, Metro, Mirror), Thomas Vermaelen will be included in the final squad for Tuesday night at the Emirates. He will likely get a run-out as Wenger wishes to rest the overworked Laurent Koscielny and Per Mertesacker. Wenger, who always keeps his team selection secret until the last possible moment, said only this about Vermaelen (from Arsenal.com):
“He is back in full training again, he is alright now.”
Arsene also gave an update on Jack Wilshere: “Everything is going to plan. The next steps will be to have a scan but he is on track.”
Back to Vermaelen. The Belgian defender has not played in two months, and many expected that he would make his return at Stamford Bridge on Saturday. But this Carling Cup tie could provide the perfect opportunity for Vermaelen to regain his match fitness ahead of the Chelsea clash. Maybe he only plays the last twenty minutes, but it at least assures that he will not make his return in the pressure-filled contest at the weekend.
Every Gooner remembers the heartbreak that was felt after Obafemi Martin scored the late winner for Birmingham City in the league cup [...]
Robin van Persie scored two goals against Bolton, including his 100th for Arsenal. The Gunners came out firing in the second half, and dominated the match after Bolton centre-back David Wheater was shown a straight red card.
Arsenal were tentative in the first half, but the Dutchman hit the net less that a minute into the second period. Van Persie took the pass from Aaron Ramsey and blasted the shot near-post. Jaaskelanien was caught standing straight up, and the low, powerful strike was too much for the keeper.
Arsene Wenger needed his team to score another goal against the 10-man Wanderers to close the match out. Van Persie completed his century of Gunner goals in the 71st minute. Theo Walcott broke free down the wing and sent a low cross towards the Dutchman. RvP finished it off with a tap from the outside of his foot.
Surprisingly, it was Alex Song who scored Arsenal’s third. He curled the ball into the upper corner in the 89th minute. Song’s strike was the best goal of the day, but it will be Robin who takes the praise for the win.
David Wheater was sent off with a straight red in the 55th minute. Aaron Ramsey played a perfect through ball to Theo Walcott. Theo had too much pace for Wheater, and the Bolton center-half pulled him to the ground. It was a clear break, so Wheater had to go.
Walcott was terrific. He burned the Wanderers’ back four throughout the match, but especially after Bolton [...]
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 [...]
Bolton manager Owen Coyle said that he expects Arsenal to attempt to sign centre-back Gary Cahill in January. Reports are now suggesting that Inter Milan could make a move for the England international.
More Gary Cahill rumours are spreading in the lead up to the Arsenal v Bolton match on Saturday. Bolton boss Owen Coyle is responsible for creating the vast majority of these rumours. Coyle was quoted as saying (from the Daily Mail): “I don’t know how Arsenal’s finances work, but they know he’s an outstanding player.
“The valuations in August were between the two chairmen, and, of course, it never came to fruition.
“Now there’s the problem of the January window, and I think there will be more than just Arsenal coming back in for him then. We will deal with at the time.”
According to the Daily Mail, Inter Milan will try to pry Cahill away from Bolton. New manager Claudio Ranieri is eager to add quality to his back four.
Even after the addition of Per Mertesacker, the Gunners still need to bolster the backline. Laurent Koscielny is just not good enough to play for Arsenal on a consistent basis. Johan Djourou’s lack of positional sense, awareness, and urgency were all on display against League Two Shrewsbury Town on Tuesday night. Thomas Vermaelen is a quality centre-half, but Arsene Wenger cannot rely on him to stay healthy for a few months, let alone an entire season.
Bolton boss Owen Coyle has asked Arsenal to make another bid for Gary Cahill. Sol Campbell would like to return to the Gunners as a player. Arsenal have been linked with Ajax right back Gregory van der Wiel.
Arsenal are set to sign striker Park Chu-young.
Gary Cahill
Owen Coyle told the press that he is willing to sell Gary Cahill after Bolton’s 3-1 loss to Liverpool: “If whoever it is out there wants to buy Gary Cahill then come and make a firm, proper offer for the lad and we will find out by the close of Wednesday if that is the case.
“There has certainly been no dialogue since the initial chat that took place on Tuesday night between my chairman Phil Gartside and Dick Law, the senior representative from Arsenal.”
Coyle went on to say that Cahill was off his game because of the “endless transfer speculation.” Bolton have opened the door for another Arsenal bid. Wenger and Bolton chairman Phil Gartside got into a fued on Friday over a reported £6m offer.
According to Daily Mail, Arsene Wenger will offer Bolton £12m for Cahill. The Gunners expect to sign the 25-year old centre-half before the end of the month.
£12m sounds like a fair bid for Cahill. Hopefully, we do not have to see more X-rated rants from the Bolton chairman and frustrated interviews with Owen Coyle.
Sol Campbell told The Guardian that he would welcome a move back to Arsenal: “It would be nice to go [...]
Bolton chairman Phil Gartside attacked Arsene Wenger on Twitter for the Gunners’ reportedly low bid for Gary Cahill. Arsene Wenger denied that the £6 million bid had taken place, and then said that he is “ready to confront” Gartside.
On Friday, we learned that the Gunners offered Bolton £6m for centre-back Gary Cahill. Bolton rejected the bid without a second thought, but chairman Phil Gartside was still furious. He re-tweeted this message on his Twitter account:
“Arsenal are you taking the p— 6million for Garry Cahill f— right off!!! £wengerisabell.”
This message was not writted by Gartside, but he put it up on his Twitter page. He later took down the comment, probably because he saw how much of a stir it created.
Arsene Wenger responded to the comments by saying: “If that is his problem, he can endorse what he wants. I can tell you it [the £6 million figure] is not true. You can believe Gartside or you can believe me but you are free to do what you want. It’s not the truth and if Gartside can say that I am lying I am ready to confront him.”
Wenger has a right to be outraged by Gartside’s behavior. Here is the Bolton chairman and a FA board member openly promoting a hideous attack on Arsene Wenger. Gartside should act professional, and he should be punished for his comments on Twitter.
Owen Coyle also felt that the Cahill bid came up short, but he did not air his feelings in [...]
6 July 2011: Barcelona are not pleased over the progress of a deal for Cesc Fabregas. Manchester City are reportedly close to landing Samir Nasri for £20 million. Owen Coyle wants Arsenal to make an offer for Gary Cahill or back off. All deals could be completed before Wenger and his squad head for their Asian tour this weekend.
Let’s start with Cesc. According the The Telegraph, Barcelona are “concerned” over slow Cesc negotiations. Fabregas has not trained with the rest of the squad yet this week due to a faulty hamstring. Barca want a deal done before Arsenal head to Asia, which will supposedly bring about a halt to the wheeling-and-dealing for the time being.
Of course, Cesc could miss the trip due to this hamstring. Possibly, Cesc’s hamstring could be fine by the weekend after recent treatment. But would Cesc be willing to make the trip if he thinks a transfer to Barca will come soon. Surely, he will not want to return to pre-season action if he will be playing for a different club come the start of the season.
Bolton manager Owen Coyle is not happy with how the Gary Cahill negotiations are panning out: “There have been various clubs interested in Gary. That’s what it’s been it’s been – clubs coming in and talking about him. But there has been no concrete bid as such. I’ve said that to Gary as well.”
All this talk over Cahill and Wenger has not even put a bid on the [...]
Bolton effectively ended our title chances with a late winner. Arsenal battled back to equalise after Szczesny saved a penalty and looked to have the momentum. We needed all three points to have a realistic shot at the league title. Now, Wenger must rally his players to make sure we qualify for next season’s Champions League by finishing in the top four.
Arsenal target Gary Cahill was excellent today.
We started the match well. Cesc was actually taking some shots from distance and Wilshere was superb driving through the midfield. Bolton countered this by aggressively tackling any Arsenal player in sight. The referee did a good job of controlling it by issuing a couple yellow cards in the first twenty minutes.
Bolton striker Daniel Sturridge, on loan from Chelsea, really started to bother our backline. Sturridge has great touch on the ball and has great vision. He started splitting our defence right open.
Bolton broke through in the 38th minute to take the lead. Daniel Sturridge got the goal and he certainly deserved one with his level of play. A Bolton corner was swung in and was met by Gary Cahill. The header was saved by Samir Nasri, who was standing inside the goaline when he did so. It was hard to see whether the ball crossed the line but it did not make a difference because Sturridge was there to head home Nasri’s clearance.
We went into halftime down a goal to a team we hadn’t lost [...]
The Gunners will travel to the Reebok to take on Bolton Wanderers tomorrow afternoon in a key contest if they want the opportunity to catch Manchester United. The Red Devils are now 9 points ahead after their win over Everton in the early match today. Bolton are looking to rebound after getting embarrassed by Stoke City in the FA Cup semifinal. It will not be an easy match, unless Bolton play like they did against Stoke, of course.
Bolton, despite the poor performance in the semifinal, have had a successful season so far. They are sitting comfortably in 8th place. Owen Coyle’s side were soundly beaten at the Emirates, 4-1, earlier in the season. But that was in September and we have been having a lot of trouble grabbing the three points.
Here is some of Wenger’spress conference: “The Arsenal supporters can be very proud of their team and the experience I have is that they have turned up with a fantastic mentality since the start of the season,. We created a huge hope because we were fighting on all fronts, and the first quality a club wants to have is a fighting spirit.
“We did fight beyond the expectation of everybody. If I listen to the expectation at the start of the season, nobody expected us to be where we are. Sometimes I would like you [the media] to acknowledge that.”
What a bit of rubbish! Why can’t he just take the blame, or [...]
