Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was a key figure for the England Under-21s as they crushed Iceland 5-0 on Thursday night. While The Ox failed to score, he did prove why Arsene Wenger spent so much cash to bring him to Arsenal. Fabio Capello may bring Chamberlain to Euro 2012, but the media pressure could affect the 18-year old.
Chamberlain was one of the youngest players on the pitch, but you wouldn’t know it from watching the match. He seemed to beat at least one defender every time he touched the ball. The Ox has great pace, but what is more astonishing is how quickly he can reach his top sprint. One moment, he will be standing still with the ball, and the next moment he blows past the poor soul trying to mark him.
The Arsenal winger created a brilliant opportunity for himself to score in the first half. Chamberlain took advantage of a lackadaisical defender to narrowly keep the ball from crossing the end-line. He approached the goal from an extremely tight angle and his chip almost hit the back of the net.
England scored a flurry of goals near the end of the game. Tihe fifth and final goal was set up by The Ox. Chamberlain played a give-and-go off a short corner. He then used his speed to reach the upper corner of the penalty area before sending in a low pass across to Gary Gardner, who stuffed it in the far corner.
Despite all of the positives from Chamberlain, he does seem [...]
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Andre Santos scored for Arsenal as the Gunners defeated Olympiacos 2-1. The Greek champions did threaten Arsenal, but the Gunners were able to pull through in the end.
“The Ox” scored eight minutes into his Champions League debut. The 18-year old midfielder gathered a wonderful pass from Alex Song and finished in the bottom corner. Chamberlain did well to work his way into space before firing the expert shot.
Andre Santos scored his first Arsenal goal in the 20th minute. The Brazilian left back drove down the flank and his cross was blocked. The ball bounced right back to Santos, and he maneuvered around the defender before sticking it inside the near post. The Olympiacos keeper really should have made the stop, but Santos did a good job of threading the ball into the net.
Arsenal did not waste time in giving away the momentum. A David Fuster header put Olympiacos right back into the match in the 27th minute. Fuster was completely unmarked when he scored. It was yet another example of Arsenal’s terrible marking on set pieces.
Pat Rice was the manager on Wednesday night as Wenger served out his touchline ban. After the match, Rice reacted to the goal the Gunners conceded (from Arsenal.com): “It was soft, yes. From a defender’s point of view it was really poor.”
Many were questioning the Arsenal team selection before the game even started. Robin van Persie, Aaron Ramsey, and Kieran Gibbs all began the match on the bench. Alex [...]
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 officially announced today the signing of 17-year old winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain from Southampton. The Gunners will have to pay a fee of £12 million for Oxlade-Chamberlain.
Last week, we learned that Arsene Wenger was close to signing the Southampton star, but we now have confirmation from Arsenal.com. Oxlade-Chamberlain is a very promising player, but the Gnners will have to pay big money for him.
According to several sources, the transfer fee for Alex is £12m plus an possible additional £3m in add-ons. Oxlade-Chamberlain is the second Southampton youngster that Arsenal have under Wenger signed, after signing Theo Walcott for £9.1m in 2006.
Oxlade-Chamberlain made his debut with the Saints at the age of 16. He made 41 appearences for Southampton last season and scored 11 goals. Oxlade Chamberlain has made 5 appearances for the England youth teams, including one appearance for the Under-21 side.
Arsene Wenger provided some insight on Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, telling Arsenal.com: “We are delighted that Alex has decided to join us.
“He is an exciting young player who will provide us with creativity and offensive quality. Alex is a versatile player who can play in a number of positions. He can play as an attacking centre midfielder, or wide left and right.
“Alex is a perceptive passer of the ball and has a great understanding of the game and looks to be a very good team player.
“Alex has done extremely well during his development with Southampton and we are looking forward to him progressing even further and fulfilling his huge potential with Arsenal [...]
Cesc Fabregas will sacrifice his Arsenal bonus for a move to Barcelona. Manchester City have their sights set on Samir Nasri. Reports say that Arsenal are close to signing Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain.
According to Daily Mail, Cesc will let Arsenal keep £4 million in bonuses as long as he gets he transfer to the Nou Camp. Fabregas will forget about the payments in order to increase Arsenal’s chances of selling him to Barcelona. This news comes after we heard that Fabregas will take a pay-cut at Barca help pay for his own transfer fee.
Barca made a £32m bid last week with an addition £5m available through mysterious payments. If Fabregas can convince Arsenal to keep his bounus money, Barcelona will basically meet Arsene Wenger’s asking price. Then it will be up to the Arsenal boss to make the final decision.
Cesc is going to great lengths to get a deal done, but Arsene Wenger may not buy into Fabregas’ scheme. Wenger may continue to ask for £4om from Barcelona, without the “additional” payments and pay cuts.
According to Daily Mirror, Manchester City will push to sign Samir Nasri this week. Ajax star Christian Eriksen snubbed a move to City, and now Mancini will turn his attention to Nasri. Arsenal have already turned down a £21m Nasri offer from City. Mancini is expected to step-up City’s chase of the French midfielder.
Wenger must avoid losing both of his stars in a single week. If either Fabregas or Nasri leaves, Arsenal must sign Valencia’s Juan Mata or someone else [...]
The first day of the transfer window came and past without learning anything substantial. Nasri could be on the move, or could stay. Clichy is likely to go but no announcement on that yet. Gervinho is already talking about the Arsenal despite no official confirmation. Different sources say different things about Cesc. Just one tangled mess so far.
Let’s start with Samir. We learned that Chelsea may join the bidding war for the Frenchman. Abrahmovich will likely go hard after Nasri if his club fails to sign Luka Modric. Chelsea, United, City, Milan, Inter… now all we need is Real Madrid to get into the mix.
According to The Telegraph, Nasri will meet with Wenger on Monday when training is set to begin. The two are likely to discuss salary. The club wants Nasri to settle for £90,000 a week. Samir wants £110,000 a week and Wenger to promise to strengthen the squad in the transfer market.
Where is the logic in these negotiations? Paying Samir £110,000 a week would only limit Wenger’s spending power. The modern footballer expects to be paid handsomely and assured that the manager will spend millions on transfers. This is what makes Manchester City and Chelsea so appealing to these money-grabbers.
Southampton manager Nigel Adkins stated yesterday that Arsenal have not submitted a big for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain: “I think it will be interesting when it does materialise, whether it’s Arsenal or whoever starts talking to the football club.
“I think probably there’s conversations going on in the boardroom at Arsenal about [...]
