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Saturday, 5 November 2011

Wenger: Only way is up for Gunners

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger says his side can continue to climb the table after a string of good results.

The Gunners seem to have turned around their poor start to the season with a run of five wins and a draw in the past month.

That has seen them rise from the bottom of the Premier League table to seventh, claim a place in the League Cup quarter-finals, and put them top of their Champions League group.

Arsenal beat Chelsea 5-3 last Saturday in a thrilling game at Stamford Bridge, with Robin van Persie scoring a hat-trick, and Wenger believes his side can still challenge for the title if they maintain their momentum.

“If we are capable of maintaining our run we will come back up quickly,” he told Arsenal’s official website.

“I think we have made a big improvement in recent weeks by bridging the gap and I am personally convinced that the teams ahead of us will drop points.”

“If we are capable of maintaining the pace in the league that we have shown recently then we will come back.”

Arsenal host West Bromwich Albion in Saturday’s Premier League match, and they will be hoping to avoid a repeat of last year when the newly promoted Midlands team won 3-2.

“It was a big setback on the day,” Wenger said.

“We didn’t turn up. That was a good lesson for us. Overall I feel we are in a completely different state of mind now. We have a desire to do well and I am convinced we will.”

View the original article here

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

Young Gunners to be loaned

Arsenal are planning to send five of their young fringe players out on loan after Tuesday’s League Cup tie against Bolton Wanderers.

Ignasi Miquel, Sanchez Watt, Oguzhan Ozyakup, Daniel Boateng and Chuks Aneke are all in line to be loaned out to lower league clubs.

Manager Arsene Wenger wants the teenagers, who have played only five competitive Arsenal games between them, to gain some first-team experience.

Wenger has delayed sanctioning loan moves for the youngsters until after the League Cup fourth round match, for which he intends to field a mixture of established and fringe players.

Should Arsenal knock Bolton out, the Frenchman is planning to field a stronger team in the later rounds as he attempts to end his club’s six-year trophy drought and there will be no further opportunities for the fringe players.

Miquel played the full 90 minutes in the 3-1 win over Shrewsbury Town last month, while the other four were all substitutes, with Ozyakup and Aneke both coming off the bench to make their first-team debuts.

View the original article here

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

Wenger pledges to stay with Gunners

Arsene Wenger has reaffirmed his commitment to Arsenal by pledging not to leave the Gunners while he has a contract at the club.

Wenger has three years left on his current deal and has said in the past that a role with Paris Saint-Germain could tempt him to one day leave the Emirates.

But with talk surrounding the club about players not signing extensions to their contracts, the Frenchman has dismissed the suggestion that he could leave the Gunners and move back to his homeland.

“I have three years to go with Arsenal and I always respect my contract. It looks like PSG are coming in at a time when Marseille are a little less strong,” he told reporters.

“Lyon have dominated French football for the last 10 years. Marseille won two years ago and Lille last year but before that it was all Lyon. It looks like PSG are coming in at the right time.”

Wenger takes his side to Marseille on Wednesday for an important Champions League match, but the club hold painful memories for the Frenchman who was manager of Monaco when the Champions League winners were found guilty of bribery.

Previously, Wenger has intimated the corrupt regime may have denied him significant success in France, though he has now chosen to move on.

“That is over now, because the owners are not the same. Now it is completely different. Football has changed in France,” Wenger said.

“I’m happy to go to back to Marseille, because it has memories of passionate games. Of course, since I was there, times have changed.”

“It’s good. I love Marseille as a city. It is a real football city. I’m happy to go back there.”

“I don’t think there is any need any more to speak about this period because it was not the happiest period of French football.”

“It was an interesting experience in my life.”

“At the end of the day, it is that. It makes you stronger or you get out of the job. It is as simple as that.”

Wenger, who admitted to nearly signing Marseille midfielder Lucho Gonzalez on loan last year, also denied that central defender Thomas Vermaelen, who has just signed a new four-year contract with the club, is injury-prone.

Vermaelen has only completed four matches for the Gunners in the past year having struggled with Achilles injuries, but his manager believes it is merely a coincidence and that the Belgian could go on a long run of matches without getting injured again.

There’s no medical reason why he should not play 50 games on the trot now. I always was a bit suspicious – why should that happen only on one side? I thought at some stage the other side will come as well, and it did,” Wenger said.

“This (contract) shows how much we trust him. We think it’s a genetic accident what he had, because he had it on both sides, exactly the same injury.”

View the original article here

Monday, 11 April 2011

Kroenke linked with Gunners takeover

US businessman Stan Kroenke is reportedly set to launch a takeover bid for English Premier League club Arsenal.

Kroenke, 63, controls NBA franchise the Denver Nuggets, NHL outfit Colorado Avalanche, the NFL’s St Louis Rams, Major League Soccer team Colorado Rapids and 29.9 percent of north London club Arsenal.

He is believed to have agreed to purchase the 16.1 percent of shares owned by Danny Fiszman and the 15.9 percent owned by Lady Nina Bracewell-Smith for 11,000 pounds per share – a total of 225 million pounds.

The deal would put Kroenke in control of 62 percent of the club and oblige him to offer a buy-out of all remaining shareholders.

The price of Bracewell-Smith and Fiszman’s shares values the club at 750 million pounds, but debts of 147 million pounds take the proposed deal to a total of 900 million pounds.

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov holds the second largest percentage of shares, just over 27 percent.

Arsenal are second on the Premier League table, but have not won a trophy for six years.

Sun 10 April, 2011

Kroenke linked with Gunners takeover

US businessman Stan Kroenke is reportedly set to launch a takeover bid for English Premier League club Arsenal.

The deal would put Kroenke in control of 62 percent of the club and oblige him to offer a buy-out of all remaining shareholders.

The price of Bracewell-Smith and Fiszman’s shares values the club at 750 million pounds, but debts of 147 million pounds take the proposed deal to a total of 900 million pounds.

Russian billionaire Alisher Usmanov holds the second largest percentage of shares, just over 27 percent.

Arsenal are second on the Premier League table, but have not won a trophy for six years.

Sun 10 April, 2011

Thursday, 31 March 2011

Arsenal To Welcome Big Gunners Back From Injury

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger will welcome back four key players and is hopeful a further three will be available for Saturday’s visit of Blackburn Rovers.

Cesc Fabregas (hamstring), Alex Song (knee),Theo Walcott (ankle) and Abou Diaby(groin) all return after missing the 2-2 draw at West Brom.

Wenger is also confident Robin van Persie (knee), Nicklas Bendtner (ankle) and Aaron Ramsey (groin) will shake off minor niggles to play.

All three picked up the injuries on international duty and any decision will be left until after training tomorrow.

The only bad news for Wenger is the definite absence of Denilson with a toe injury

Wednesday, 30 March 2011

Gunners International Round Up

By: Sairax | March 30th, 2011
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If you don’t like international games, you will probably not enjoy this post. Just giving you a heads up.

Netherlands 5 Hungary 3: Euro 2012 Qualifier The Oranje came out on top of this fixture again after having hammered Hungary 4-0 just last week. They made harder work of it particularly in the second half which saw seven goals between the two teams. Robin van Persie claimed the only goal in the first half and picked up an injury which saw him substituted at halftime. The Dutch have assessed him and Bert van Marwijk says that he just had a “knee to his thigh” and will be able to play this weekend. RvP still needs to be checked out by Arsenal’s medical team, so really, we know nothing. There doesn’t seem to be any real concern about it yet, but we should know more tomorrow. Of course, we’ll tell you as soon as we hear anything.

Czech Republic 2 Liechtenstein 0: Euro 2012 Qualifier Tomas Rosicky captained the Czech side who earned a full 3 points against Liechtenstein yesterday. He got the assist on the first goal of the night scored by Milan Baros. Came off unharmed in the 84th minute. Interesting stat from OptaJoe: Andres Iniesta and Tomas Rosicky have created the most scoring chances in Euro 2012 Qualifying so far. I have to say, he impresses whenever I see him with his national team. Let’s hope he still has something to contribute to the rest of the Arsenal season.

France 0 Croatia 0: Friendly Sagna and Kos warmed the bench while Clichy and Nasri took to the pitch in yesterday’s stalemate. Clichy played the full 90 minutes and Nasri was subbed off somewhere after the 80th minute. Both seemed to have a decent performance from the bits I managed to watch. No injuries as far as I know. Oh, and did I mention that Laurent Blanc wants to take Arsenal players on a mini tour where they could play three games in six days. I’ve never seen literal steam coming out from a person’s ears, but I’m sure Wenger is making it happen right now.

Slovakia 1 Denmark 2: Friendly Bendtner played 75 minutes and was not injured. That is all I know.

Qatar 1 Russia 1: Friendly Arshavin provided an assist for Russia’s equalizer, which hopefully will calm down some of his critics. He is not injured, but he did play 45 minutes yesterday on top of the 90 minutes he played just a couple of days earlier. Hopefully he will have enough gas in the tank to play this weekend.

Venezuela Mexico Soccer

Mexico 1 Venezuela 1: Friendly Carlos Vela came on as a halftime sub for Mexico and looked lively throughout the half. Didn’t pick up any knocks.

England 1 Ghana 1: Friendly Jack Wilshere played 70 minutes for England in a very entertaining friendly against Ghana. I assume that was due to the absence of the “Golden Generation” twats, but maybe that’s just me.

Hope I didn’t miss anyone. The only game left from what I can see is Morocco v Botswana today at 4:00pm ET and I assume Chamakh will play in that. Otherwise, we seem to have fared well overall on the international injury watch. Let’s hope some good news is confirmed soon regarding RvP’s injury status.

If you’ve already forgotten everything you’ve just read and are already looking forward to seeing the Arsenal again this weekend, then here is a video to remind you that we’re still in the race, and we can’t give up:

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Don’t forget to follow the Arsenal Offside on Twitter for the latest news, links, and updates!

Some Related Stories:Bits and Bobs and Jens Back In GoalRamsey and Wilshere Set For Clash of Home NationsArsenal Down To Bare Bones in Defense; Blanc Calls Up Gunners for FranceMidseason Review, Part III: AwardsArsenal Do Well in Internationals (No Injuries!)

Category: Andrey Arshavin, Arsenal News, Bacary Sagna, Carlos Vela, Gael Clichy, Injury Report, Internationals, Jack Wilshere, Laurent Koscielny, Marouane Chamakh, Nicklas Bendtner, Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Video

Tags: Andrey Arshavin, Arsenal News, bacary sagna, Carlos Vela, Gael Clichy, Injury Report, Internationals, Jack Wilshere, Laurent Koscielny, Marouane Chamakh, Nicklas Bendtner, Robin van Persie, Samir Nasri, Tomas Rosicky, Video
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Monday, 28 March 2011

Arsenal Likely to Complete Signing of Dutch International Who Confirms He Wants Gunners Move

Arsenal face competition from Juventus for Ajax goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg.

Tuttosport says Juve are ready to cash in on Gigi Buffon to fund their own transfer plans this summer.

A host of keepers are now under consideration as Buffon’s replacement, including Salvatore Sirigu (Palermo), Federico Marchetti (Cagliari) and Stekelenburg.

But the Dutchman revealed to Tuttosport: “If an offer from Arsenal arrives, I will leave.”

SOURCE: Yahoo Eurosport

Well if indeed that quote is accurate, and it is all over the web, then surely that is a pretty damn good indication that the Ajax man wants to move to the Emirates, a move that will surely go some way to helping the North London club from resolving their keeper crisis.

Manuel Almunia was of course the first choice keeper at the Emirates when the season began but a succession of clangers led to the Spaniard being dropped and replaced by the improved, but still inconsistent, Polish international Lukasz Fabianski until he fell foul to injury. Then in came youngster Wojciech Szczesny who looked decent but then made huge errors before also getting injured. Fourth choice keeper Vito Mannone is out on loan and also sidelined.

Arsene Wenger has therefore set his sights on bringing in a keeper and the likes of Mark Schwarzer and Pepe Reina have been mentioned heavily over the past year but news that Dutch international Maarten Stekelenburg is interested in a move to the Gunners will surely lead to 28 year old becoming the favourite to become the next number one keeper at the Emirates Stadium.

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Saturday, 26 March 2011

Gunners Play Today in Euro Qualifiers; RvP Has Some Things To Say

By: Sairax | March 25th, 2011
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It’s getting a bit boring and quiet around here during international break. That must be why I started a giant argument on twitter yesterday. Checking the twitter timeline from last night, I also see that Martin has safely landed in Las Vegas for a few days of debauchery completely unrelated to the Arsenal. All I have to say is, we better have a drunken, ranting post from him within the next few days that he doesn’t remember writing. Just for my own amusement.

I’ll start with news on Internationals, since that’s what you all really want to hear about. The England U21 team beat the Danish U21s 4-0, but neither Lansbury nor Gibbs were included in the squad. I knew Lansbury had pulled out with a minor injury, but I didn’t hear anything about why Gibbs pulled out and I still haven’t heard anything. I hope it’s nothing serious, but when are we ever that lucky?

If you want to catch some of our Gunners in action, RvP will be playing for the Netherlands against Hungary at 3:30pm ET. Clichy, Kos, Sagna, and Na-na-na-na-Nasri are part of the France squad that will face Luxembourg at 4:00pm ET. Cesc is mercifully not in the Spain team that will be playing today. He also seems to be on track to return to first team action for us very soon, possibly right after the break is over. In the meantime, he’s been busy on twitter giving away awesome prizes like tickets to watch the Arsenal in his private box! If you missed his twitcam action, then check it out here. Cesc will be watching his team face Czech Republic today who will be captained by his friend and teammate, Tomas Rosicky. Rosicky has actually looked pretty good in the games I’ve seen him play for Czech Republic this past year, so hopefully a run out for him today can help him find some form and confidence. We need all of our players to be doing well until the end of the season. If you want to see him in action, find yourself a dodgy stream on the internet around 5:00pm ET.

Looking to tomorrow’s games, it seems Bendtner’s injury is not as bad as it seemed. He could even be fit for the game against Norway tomorrow and will be undergoing a late fitness test. I have to say, I really do not want to see him play. During the World Cup he was nursing an injury and Olsson still decided to play him in all three of Denmark’s games. He then missed the start of our season because of that injury. To risk him again when he is not fully fit would be irresponsible, but I suspect we’ll see him on the pitch anyway. I really hope he doesn’t get re-injured because we will need him for the rest of our campaign.

rambo

Young Jack Wilshere will feature in England’s clash v Wales tomorrow. Wales will take to the pitch with our very own Aaron Ramsey, who will be making his first appearance back for the Welsh since his injury. He has also been named captain of the Wales National Team, so congratulations Rambo and good luck. Finally, Arshavin will be captaining Russia tomorrow in their qualifier against Armenia. We have a lot of national team captains from Arsenal don’t we? Yet, apparently we have no leaders. Make of that what you will.

Obviously when there are no league games being played that’s when people usually start talking and creating all sorts of stories in the media. Legendary Arsenal goalkeeper, Bob Wilson, has come out and revealed that Wenger aggressively went after Pepe Reina in the summer and offered a lot of money. Wait, what’s that? Wenger tried to sign one of the best keepers in the country? Sacre bleu! But I thought he was a penny-pinching miser who is too stubborn to make changes to his team! You see why I got in an argument on twitter yesterday. Anyway, Bob goes on to say that Szczesny might have left if the Reina deal had gone through, and he is fully backing Szczesny to become a great Arsenal goalkeeper. Very kind words, and I think we all see that Szczesny really could be great for us.

Speaking of Szczesny, he speaks a bit here about his twitter exploits. I think he’s awesome on twitter, especially when he makes digs about Cashley and such. He probably needs to watch his words sometimes to make sure he doesn’t get in trouble, which he acknowledges in the interview, but I likes it! Jack also talks a bit about being on twitter and how he enjoys interacting with the fans. I appreciate his effort and he always posts little pics of himself and the team, which are fun. He says that he and RvP are trying to outdo each other with the number of followers they have. If Robin keeps posting pics of our lads sleeping on the bus, then he’ll probably see his numbers overtake Jack’s soon.

Theo-sleeping

Jack-caught-sleeping-by-RvP

In other RvP news, he’s been having a bit of a dig at some other teams, namely Chelsea and Man City:

“A club like Manchester City change their philosophy every year and Chelsea spent about €80m this season, two clubs who had a big mouth before the season, thinking that Arsenal wouldn’t play a role in the title race but we are still ahead of them. And just by playing our own game, through our own philosophy.”

Sure, if we don’t win anything, he’ll look a bit silly with his proclamations, but that’s his problem. I enjoy the banter. It’s refreshing. And hilarious. Oh, did I mention he had a go at Barcelona as well?

“Barcelona’s players have the habit of whingeing about everything, and that is disappointing. In England, Chelsea’s players behave in the same way. Barca are a great team, but they shouldn’t overdo the moaning as they become b****y annoying. They dispute every decision, with five players confronting the referee. I like their style of play, but find them unsporting as well. They behaved like this in their two games against Arsenal. It was not so clever and rather unsportsmanlike.”

Oh, Robin, never change. Except for being crocked all the time. That you can change. He does do some introspection as well. Basically, he admits that we have not done well enough to get results at times this season, which was disappointing for everyone. He still believes we can win the title, but it is up to us and we cannot blame anyone but ourselves if we come away empty-handed. Very candid and honest. I really hope he keeps scoring goals for us for the rest of the season.

Hope that’s enough for you to chew on for a while. I’ll try and come up with some more random nonsense for you to consume this weekend. Until then!

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Don’t forget to follow the Arsenal Offside on Twitter for the latest news, links, and updates!

Some Related Stories:Let Man City Play Defense, Gooners Should Focus On The ArsenalArsenal Need To Find A Way To Get Past DefeatInternationals (Who’s Injured Now?)News Round Up: Who’s In for Chelsea; International Call UpsCesc’s Comments Unhelpful Following Abject Display By Gunners

Category: Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal News, Arsene Wenger, Bacary Sagna, Cesc Fabregas, Injury Report, Internationals, Nicklas Bendtner, Robin van Persie, Wojciech Szczesny

Tags: Aaron Ramsey, Arsenal News, Arsene Wenger, bacary sagna, Bob Wilson, Cesc Fabregas, Euro 2012 qualifiers, Injury Report, Internationals, Nicklas Bendtner, Robin van Persie, Wojciech Szczesny
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Saturday, 5 November 2011

Tuesday, 25 October 2011

Wednesday, 19 October 2011

Monday, 11 April 2011

Thursday, 31 March 2011

Wednesday, 30 March 2011

Monday, 28 March 2011

Saturday, 26 March 2011