Fox calls for character

Last Updated: September 17, 2012 4:56pm

Danny Fox: Believes Southampton need to show more steel after being thrashed by Arsenal

Southampton full-back Danny Fox has admitted the manner of Saturday's defeat against Arsenal was tough to take and he has urged his team-mates to bounce back.

Nigel Adkins' Saints were thrashed 6-1 at Emirates Stadium as the Gunners ran riot, scoring four times in the first half and piling on more misery after the interval.

The result left Southampton without a point from their opening four games of the season, and Fox has called for an improvement in a bid to start climbing the table.

"Everyone's down," said Fox in the Southern Daily Echo.

"It's just disappointing the manner we got beat. We just need to show a bit more steel and a bit more character, especially when you go two or three-nil down.

"But we have to look at the positives. Obviously, the gaffer will say that as well. But we need to start getting results - we're four games in now and we've still got no points on the board."

Fox admitted Southampton had been taught a harsh lesson by one of the finest attacking sides in the division, adding: "We're playing against top players and you get punished against these top teams. All they need is one chance."

Fox believes Southampton can compete at this level, having already performed well against both Manchester clubs, and he says a positive mindset is key.

"You look at the goals that we had against us, two of them were own goals, one's deflected off the post and gone back to one of their players," said Fox.

"It just didn't seem to fall for us. But I think you make your own luck in this league as well.

"You can go on about getting punished and whatever as long as we want, but we should have seen the game out against Man United (two weeks ago), no matter who was on the pitch or what had happened.

"We need to show a bit more character and believe that we can play at this level. We are good enough to be here I think."

We've got £100K in prizes up for grabs in our free-to-enter game. Pick your team now.

Nick Miller feels Andre Villas-Boas may have a problem deciding between Adebayor and Defoe.

Matt Stanger wonders whether Chelsea's squad is actually any stronger than last season.

View the original article here

Downing calls for Liverpool improvement

Stewart Downing says Liverpool should be winning home fixtures against newly promoted sides after their disappointing 0-0 draw with Swansea.

Brendan Rodgers’ men are the fourth visiting team to grab a point at Anfield this season in just six games, damaging Kenny Dalglish’s side’s push for a Champions League spot, and Downing said Liverpool needed to lift their game.

“Swansea are a good footballing team and they’ve played well this season, but with no disrespect to them we need to be winning games like that at home if we want to get to where we want to be,” Downing told Liverpool’s website.

“It was a bit disappointing for us not to get the three points.”

“It was disappointing to draw, but although Swansea played quite well, if we had put our chances away and scored early it might have been different.”

“Probably the pleasing thing for the manager and the team is that we are creating chances. But we’re not putting them away.”

“We’ll just have to keep working on it and keep getting ourselves in the right positions and hopefully they’ll turn into goals soon.”

The winger pointed to several key chances the Reds failed to finish and hailed the form of Swans goalkeeper Michel Vorm after he made two crucial late stops to keep the scores level.

“If Andy (Carroll) had scored with that early chance, it may have been a different game – Swansea might have had to change the way they played,” he said.

“It was a brilliant save from Glen’s (Johnson) shot. I think the goalkeeper has probably been their best player this season, which shows how well he’s done.”

“But we had chances through Daniel (Agger), Glen as well as Andy’s right at the start, and I’m not sure if Dirk’s (Kuyt) goal was offside or not.”

View the original article here

Higuain calls for Real calm

Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain has called on his team-mates to remain calm in their goal of taking the La Liga title from Barcelona.

Los Blancos sit a point clear of Barca in the table after 10 games and the 23-year-old has urged his colleagues to stay grounded, despite their early form setting the pace to wrench the league trophy away from the Catalans for the first time since 2009.

“This is when we have to be more relaxed than ever. We are first as a result of our hard work, but there’s a long way to go. We have to continue with humility, perseverance and a cool head,” he said, according to Marca.

The Argentine, who has scored 10 La Liga goals this season, added that his return from a career-threatening back injury put his work into perspective.

“I am very grateful that I can continue with football, which is what I like. It was a very difficult injury, but now I feel great and am enjoying being part of the group again,” he said.

View the original article here

Hughes calls for strong finish

Fulham manager Mark Hughes is determined to finish the Premier League season strongly, as his team prepare to face Liverpool on Monday.

Despite being ninth in the Premier League table and securing their safety, Hughes has called upon his players to try to win their three remaining league games in order to bring in the club’s biggest ever points haul in the top flight.

“If we get maximum points out of every game we have left then I think that’s the highest total ever that a Fulham team has reached in the Premier League,” Hughes said.

“So that’s a challenge for us and that’s something that we’ll use as a motivation going into these last three games.”

The West London club had been on the brink of relegation until a string of better results against Wolves, Bolton, and Sunderland moved them into the top half of the table.

“It was difficult at the beginning of the season but, as we come to the climax of it, we’ve been really pleased with what we’ve been able to produce,” Hughes said.

Fulham will be boosted by the return of top goal scorer Clint Dempsey, as the USA midfielder looks to have overcome a hamstring injury in time to face Liverpool.

“He (Dempsey) was a bit stiff in his hamstrings on the Friday prior to the Sunderland game, so there was no point in risking him,” Hughes said.

“I took the view to leave him behind and he’s benefited from that and he should be okay.”

Meanwhile winger Damien Duff is set to miss out the rest of the season, as he has undergone an operation on his Achilles. Zoltan Gera (ankle) is also set to miss Monday’s game at Craven Cottage.

Hughes added: “Damien Duff has had an operation on his Achilles; the view is that there will probably be a six-week recovery, and then he’ll be fit and well for next season.”

“Zoltan Gera went over on his ankle on Thursday, so he’s still on the treatment table.”

Hughes remains wary of the threat of the newly acquired Liverpool strike force of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez leading the line for the Merseyside club.

“Right through the history of football there have been great partnerships and there are always examples of where one player triggers off the good, positive parts of another player,” he said.

“And there are signs that there’s the possibility Carroll and Suarez will continue in the same vein and be a very strong partnership for Liverpool for years to come.”

Thu 5 May, 2011

Hughes calls for strong finish

Fulham manager Mark Hughes is determined to finish the Premier League season strongly, as his team prepare to face Liverpool on Monday.

Despite being ninth in the Premier League table and securing their safety, Hughes has called upon his players to try to win their three remaining league games in order to bring in the club’s biggest ever points haul in the top flight.

“If we get maximum points out of every game we have left then I think that’s the highest total ever that a Fulham team has reached in the Premier League,” Hughes said.

“So that’s a challenge for us and that’s something that we’ll use as a motivation going into these last three games.”

The West London club had been on the brink of relegation until a string of better results against Wolves, Bolton, and Sunderland moved them into the top half of the table.

“It was difficult at the beginning of the season but, as we come to the climax of it, we’ve been really pleased with what we’ve been able to produce,” Hughes said.

Fulham will be boosted by the return of top goal scorer Clint Dempsey, as the USA midfielder looks to have overcome a hamstring injury in time to face Liverpool.

“He (Dempsey) was a bit stiff in his hamstrings on the Friday prior to the Sunderland game, so there was no point in risking him,” Hughes said.

“I took the view to leave him behind and he’s benefited from that and he should be okay.”

Meanwhile winger Damien Duff is set to miss out the rest of the season, as he has undergone an operation on his Achilles. Zoltan Gera (ankle) is also set to miss Monday’s game at Craven Cottage.

Hughes added: “Damien Duff has had an operation on his Achilles; the view is that there will probably be a six-week recovery, and then he’ll be fit and well for next season.”

“Zoltan Gera went over on his ankle on Thursday, so he’s still on the treatment table.”

Hughes remains wary of the threat of the newly acquired Liverpool strike force of Andy Carroll and Luis Suarez leading the line for the Merseyside club.

“Right through the history of football there have been great partnerships and there are always examples of where one player triggers off the good, positive parts of another player,” he said.

“And there are signs that there’s the possibility Carroll and Suarez will continue in the same vein and be a very strong partnership for Liverpool for years to come.”

Thu 5 May, 2011

Bierhoff calls for investment in youth

Germany general manager Oliver Bierhoff thinks greater emphasis should be placed on developing youth players at national level.

Bierhoff, who netted 37 goals in 70 appearances for his country during a distinguished career, also thinks football federations and leagues should work together to develop the national team.

“I think it’s important to have a philosophy and long term strategy,” Bierhoff said.

“Obviously there is short term interests – you have to win the next game, you have to stay in the league.”

“But you have to see in the long run and I think if you invest in the youth section and you give them a good education technically and physically then you have a wider choice for the coaches for the first team to put some young players in.”

The 42-year-old also believes that leagues and federations should be closely linked in the process of helping young players develop.

“A good national team is also good for the clubs and good performances for the clubs is also good for the national team,” he said.

“I think you have to oblige the clubs to invest a certain amount of money every year into this education. Then you have to have the courage to let these players play in the league.”

Thu 31 March, 2011

England Captain John Terry Tells CaughtOffside He Understands Calls for Redknapp

Umbro sat down with England captain John Terry earlier this week and CaughtOffside, and others, were given the opportunity to ask the Chelsea man a question, so we did!

CaughtOffside

With Fabio Capello set to leave the England post after the Euro 2012 competition, who would you like to see take his place, and should the new boss be English or does that not matter?

Arsenal Down To Bare Bones in Defense; Blanc Calls Up Gunners for France

By: Sairax | March 17th, 2011
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Wenger held his pre-match press conference today. Most of the information is not new, but rather just confirmed what most of us have been speculating. Vermaelen is out for the season and Djourou is out for at least six weeks. That means we really only have Kos and Squillaci for the run-in, plus Iggy, who I assume will be promoted to the first team bench, and Song, who really should only be used as a centreback in an emergency as his presence is sorely needed in the midfield. This is most certainly not good for us. We know that with Djourou we can at least hope to keep a clean sheet, whereas with Squillaci and Kos, we just hope they can keep the calamities to a minimum. I don’t even want to think about what will happen if Squizz or Kos gets injured, but for now, we are left with, what Martin calls, the “Unholy Trio” of Almunia, Squizz, and Dave to get us through the rest of the season. It’s ok though. It’s not like one is our third choice goalkeeper and the CBs are both in their first PL season and can’t speak English. Inhale. Exhale.

Wenger also confirmed that Lehmann is more or less signed and is expected to be on the bench against West Brom. Let’s hope he threatens the entire team with bodily violence if they lose on Saturday. Perhaps being frightened for their lives will wake them all up and push them on to that “winning mentality” they need. Or, maybe he can just show up with all of those winners medals for club and country around his neck as he struts around naked in the dressing room. Just a few ideas.

We will also be without Cesc and Theo against West Brom, which we pretty much knew already. I suspect Arshavin will take Theo’s spot, unless Wenger opts to play Bendtner out wide. That is, if Bendtner is over whatever illness kept him out of the Manchester United game. With Cesc out, we are left again wondering who will play in his position this weekend. We use the 4-2-3-1 system to get the best out of Fabregas, so when he’s out, I don’t see why we can’t change it up. Perhaps we could try more of a 4-4-2. I say this because no one has effectively been able to fill in that “Cesc role”, so we may as well shake things up a bit. It’s not going to happen though. I’ll leave Martin to speculate as to who will deputize in his match preview tomorrow, but I suspect Wenger might opt for Jack again. I still think it’s a bit early for him to play that role with any authority, but Wenger seems ok with fasttracking him right now. Many of you would like to see Nasri play there, but I would opt for Arshavin. Granted, with Diaby and Denilson behind him, that leaves us pretty exposed in the midfield, but at least Arshavin tries those penetrating passes whenever he can, not to mention he’ll have a pop at goal from outside the box every now and again. When Nasri has played there this season, he tends to distribute more out wide and not find as many of those key passes. On top of that, he has had his best performances out on the wing and has become very effective at using his dribbling skills to get past defenders or win corners. At the end of the day, Arshavin has 11 assists in the league and 18 in all competitions while Nasri has 1 assist in the league and 4 in all competitions. Even if we don’t look defensively solid through the middle, at least we would have a better chance at scoring if Arshavin was playing there. Just my take on it.

Honestly, this West Brom game has ended up being our biggest game of the season. Win it, and we still have a realistic shot at the title. Lose it, and people are going to be up in arms. There has already been plenty of talk as to who should be in and out of this squad come summertime and whether Wenger has taken this team as far as he can. Drop any points this weekend and expect a bit of hell to break loose amongst fans. I can’t believe I’m so nervous about an away game against a relegation team, but the fact is, we lost to them at home this season, and our team is brittle on confidence and lacking some of its best players. Listening to “The Tuesday Club” podcast, Alan Davies (who goes on a pretty big rant, most of which you’d be hard-pressed to disagree with), said that these players need to realize that their time is now. You have to win it now. The league is not going to get easier next season, it will just get more difficult. The title is up for grabs and you have to take it. Stop dallying and carpe diem a little bit!

Apologies if I’m not sounding as optimistic as I usually do. At the beginning of the season I had a nice big bottle of optimism from which I drank. With every loss and failed attempt to close the gap I drank from that bottle once again. After losing the Carling Cup, there was but a few drops lingering at the bottom. Now, we’ve dropped out of all competitions but one, have injuries piling up, and I’ve got my lips curled around the mouth and I’m sucking it dry. I’m desperately trying to keep hope alive. We’ll see where we are at come Sunday morning.

In other news that you don’t care about, Henri Lansbury has been nominated for the Football League Young Player of the Year award. He’s been doing really well at Norwich City on loan and even scored another clutch goal last weekend:

It’s great to see from the young man, and I would love to see how he fares in the first team next season. Good luck to him for the award. The winner will be announced this Sunday, March 20.

Finally, Laurent Blanc has selected his squad for France’s upcoming friendlies against Luxembourg and Croatia. No less than 5 of our players have been called up: Koscielny, Clichy, Sagna, Nasri, and Diaby. Kos is not likely to start, I would think, and with Evra back in the fray, it’s possible that Clichy could stay on the bench as well. With Ribery also being called back into the squad, you would think that one of our midfielders would be pushed out, but this is just me speculating. In any case, what is for certain is that someone is coming back injured. I’ve got my money on Diaby, what say you?

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Some Related Stories:Let Man City Play Defense, Gooners Should Focus On The ArsenalNews Round Up: Who’s In for Chelsea; International Call UpsEngland v France: Gunners face off at WembleyCesc’s Comments Unhelpful Following Abject Display By GunnersArsenal 5 Shaktar Donetsk 1 – Player Ratings and Highlights
Category: Abou Diaby, Alex Song, Andrey Arshavin, Arsenal News, Bacary Sagna, Cesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy, Injury Report, Johan Djourou, Laurent Koscielny, Manuel Almunia, Samir Nasri, Thomas Vermaelen, Video Tags: Abou Diaby, Alex Song, Andrey Arshavin, Arsenal News, bacary sagna, Cesc Fabregas, Gael Clichy, Injury Report, Jens Lehmann, Johan Djourou, Laurent Koscielny, Manuel Almunia, Samir Nasri, Thomas Vermaelen, Video
    Tweet « Verma Talks About His Injury Woes; Martin Makes His Podcast Debut | Home | CasimirWell if Diaby comes back injured from France, who gives a crap? He's about as useless on the pitch as a drunkard with a dead leg.brentonWould anyone be upset if Diaby returned injured? In theory it would be a bad thing, and just another example of our players getting hurt in internationals, but if it meant he didn't start another Arsenal game this season I would be just fine.tinomuvonga mDiaby is already injured. To answer your question, yes I would be disappointed. I can't understand how you could think it would be just fine. You realize it's better to have a squad with healthy players? Maybe you would clarify...brentonPerhaps I should have been more explicit: I think Diaby is shit, and I don't want to see him play in an Arsenal shirt again this year.CasimirHe adds nothing to the team but lost possession. Unlike Arshavin, its not lost possession because of an aggressive pass. It's dribble, dribble, oopps dribbled into traffic again and got the ball taken off my feet out of position and now the midfield is wide open like Moses and the red sea.MartinLehmann deal is official -- announced on the club site. Also, Wenger & Nasri both suspended for one UEFA match for conduct towards referee after the Barcelona match, so they will miss our first Champions League match (provided we finish in the top 4) next season.sofreshnsocleanI'm excited about the Lehmann signing, but what worries me is that Lehmann played with his intensity (read: psychotic behaviour) with a bunch of very confident and strong guys...guys like Henry, Vieira, Pires, and Ljungberg had a lot of swag on and off the field, and possessed a great amount of heart that could take a 'beating' here and there to fire them up. Call me a pessimist, but I don't know who on this team can really take something like that in stride. Our entire team has dealt with strings of underconfidence and/or injury, so it's a rather fragile team both physically and mentally. I, more than anyone, want Lehmann to come and knock some sense into the guys, but I just hope it does not backfire and have guys scared into messing up.

Also, Sairax's comment on how our CBs can't speak really made me laugh...lucky for them, half the current starting XI is french so it's as good as knowing English!

As for formation, I've voiced the idea of going 4-4-2 before...as Bendner is way more effective up front. Maybe even going 4-4-1-1 with RvP behind bendtner...given Robin's hold up play, and tendency to pick up the ball farther from the net than most strikers, it wouldn't be a bad look. With Arshavin and Nasri playing a little higher up, it could work well. However, knowing our faithful coach, he'll stick to the same system he employed all season. Maybe it's practice for if Cesc leaves?tinomuvonga mWhile agree with you that in Cesc's absence 4-2-3-1 is not as effective, I think we can be certain Wenger will not change the formation this season. Let's call him stubborn...

I am going to predict a midfield of Ramsey, Wilshire and Diaby. Ramsey will play in Cesc's role.Junichi Ezechiel BennettI just don't think it's the right moment to gamble on a new formation...tinomuvonga mApparently Diaby is out with a groin injury, so I'll revise my prediction to include Denilson.

I'd also add that, while I a big fan of the "Tuesday Club" podcast, I was disappointed with Alan Davies' rant on our defense. I think we can all agree that our defensive record since the turn of the year, has been excellent. The back 5 have done extremely well with the exception of the Carling Cup final. The Manure game seemed like an issue with the whole of the team not being actively involved in defending.Perry S.The only problem is, call it coincidence or what you want, each and every time we have a defensive lapse, its never minor, it always turns into a nightmare. The 2 cups you mentioned are prime examples. This comes down to the having the ability to step up when it matters most or not, and we simply have not done that all season. Outside of the cups, think about every opportunity we've had to seize the top spot or come par with it, and yet it seems that those are the very matches where we drop points due to being clumsy in our own end.Junichi Ezechiel BennettFor the French national team, Sagna and Diaby are starters, maybe Nasri with the armband. Clichy's situation is tricky as it will be difficult for Blanc to start Evra straight away after his return. He's far better than Clychy, but after the 2010 WC, to start him straight away could be sensitive... Kos will be on the bench for the qualification, but may have some minutes against Croatia. Diaby is sidelined for saturday, so you should bet on another player, he is to easy to predict ! :)Hhowhat me say is that if Diaby is injured......its not a bad thing, he is useless when he has played this whole season. The other 4 are too important 4 us to lose to injury. hope ribery takes nasri's place and hope someone takes sagna's place too so he does not play as wellJunichi Ezechiel BennettUnfortunately, Nasri will play, Ribéry or not, he is a certain starter for Blanc and guess where, behind the striker. Sagna too.Perry S.He has officially agreed to a deal...the mad man is back.blog comments powered by Disqus
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Houllier calls for fan support

Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier has refused to apologise for fielding an under-strength team against Manchester City and has urged the fans to back him.

Villa fans were angered to see their side exit the FA Cup this week as they lost 3-0 to Manchester City, with the likes of Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor not making the starting line-up.

It has led to renewed speculation over Houllier’s future but the Villa manager said: “I was surprised by the criticism. We did not go out with youth, in midfield we had three international players.”

“Manchester City are above us. My view is to keep everyone fresh and hungry. I don’t believe we played badly. Their squad is better than ours.”

“I’m sorry. Perhaps, I should have warned the fans before but it is not as if I was playing the youth team. There was risk, yes I took a risk but these are good players.”

“I am not doing PR. I am working for the club and the future and the first priority is the league. I know what I am doing.”

Carlos Cuellar will not be selected for Villa’s trip to Bolton due to a hamstring injury but Nathan Baker will return. Richard Dunne’s shoulder injury is expected to keep him out for three or four weeks.

James Collins has a slight chance of recovering from a calf strain and Jean Makoun completes a three-match ban.

Fri 4 March, 2011

Houllier calls for fan support

Aston Villa manager Gerard Houllier has refused to apologise for fielding an under-strength team against Manchester City and has urged the fans to back him.

Villa fans were angered to see their side exit the FA Cup this week as they lost 3-0 to Manchester City, with the likes of Ashley Young and Gabriel Agbonlahor not making the starting line-up.

It has led to renewed speculation over Houllier’s future but the Villa manager said: “I was surprised by the criticism. We did not go out with youth, in midfield we had three international players.”

“Manchester City are above us. My view is to keep everyone fresh and hungry. I don’t believe we played badly. Their squad is better than ours.”

“I’m sorry. Perhaps, I should have warned the fans before but it is not as if I was playing the youth team. There was risk, yes I took a risk but these are good players.”

“I am not doing PR. I am working for the club and the future and the first priority is the league. I know what I am doing.”

Carlos Cuellar will not be selected for Villa’s trip to Bolton due to a hamstring injury but Nathan Baker will return. Richard Dunne’s shoulder injury is expected to keep him out for three or four weeks.

James Collins has a slight chance of recovering from a calf strain and Jean Makoun completes a three-match ban.

Fri 4 March, 2011

Comment on Ref calls draw Fergie ire by Roberto Carlos Alvarez-Galloso

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Ref calls draw Fergie ire

Sir Alex Ferguson blamed referee Martin Atkinson for Manchester United’s 2-0 loss away to Chelsea on Tuesday.

English Premier League leaders United took a 1-0 lead through Wayne Rooney in the 29th minute at Stamford Bridge.

But David Luiz equalised for Chelsea on 54th minutes.

The defender was lucky to not receive a second yellow card from Atkinson after tripping Rooney midway through the second half.

Chelsea then benefited from a contentious penalty decision to win the match through Frank Lampard’s spot-kick with 11 minutes to go.

“The penalty kick was so soft,” Ferguson said.

“Deary me. But we played very well. It was a great performance by us. We didn’t deserve that.”

“That’s three years in a row (at Stamford Bridge) referees’ decisions have changed the game.”

Ferguson struggled to comprehend how Atkinson failed to spot Luiz’s foul on Rooney.

“It was incredible,” he said.

“Even before that he’d done Chicharito (Javier Hernandez) off the ball. He’d done him late. Nothing done, the referee’s in front of it.”

“He does Rooney clear as day, (the referee is) six yards from it, he doesn’t do anything. That changed the game.”

“These are decisions that change the game. And he’s going to be refereeing every week.”

“But I’m proud of the players. They’ve endured a lot of decisions against them but they’ve come through it, they’ve done their best. They’ve created good chances.”

“They didn’t deserve that.”

Even Chelsea boss Carlo Ancelotti admitted that Luiz may have been lucky to escape without punishment.

“There was a lot of intensity and it was not easy for the referee to decide every time,” Ancelotti said.

“David Luiz could be lucky but there was a lot going on on the pitch so the referee decided he didn’t see this.”

“We kept going with strength, intensity and power in our performance.”

“It was really good but if you don’t play well, you cannot beat Man United.”

“It was a good performance and we are still alive.”

Wed 2 March, 2011

Good Injury News on Djourou; Bendtner Calls Future in Doubt; Barcelona Give Up Pursuit of Cesc, Skeptical Question Mark?

By: Martin | February 9th, 2011
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A couple of stories today:

First, the good news. As I mentioned in the comments section yesterday, the injury news on Johan Djourou is better than initially feared. He suffered some bruising on the knee, but it’s not though to be serious. According to the physio from the Swiss FA:

The player suffered very painful bruising on the knee but, if the healing process runs as it should, he could probably begin training in less than one week.

And that is good news. He may even be available for the Wolves match, but I suspect he’ll miss that one and hopefully be ready for the Barcelona match midweek.

Elsewhere, Nicklas Bendtner has opened his mouth yet again in the run-up to today’s friendly match against England. This time he has said that he might consider leaving Arsenal this summer if playing opportunities don’t improve:

I have a lot of feelings for Arsenal and it means something great to me. I would be sad to leave it, but you have to think about yourself and, with the career goals I have, I cannot be sitting on the bench. That’s the way it is. I will do my best for Arsenal throughout the season. Hopefully I will be there next season as well but we have to wait and see. But, if my situation at Arsenal doesn’t change, I will have to look at it because I want to play football. I am at a stage of my career now where I think I should play every game and I should develop and score goals.

And for me, I think that’s fair enough. You can certainly understand where he’s coming from. I know he has his detractors, but the bottom line is he is a 23 year-old who has scored 54 goals in English professional football (13 of those in the Championship during his loan spell at Birmingham City, 41 for Arsenal over the past 3.5 seasons). He scored some important match-winning goals which kept our title hopes alive last spring, and has scored a Champions League hat trick, something many great players were never able to do. He’s in his prime, he has proven that he can be an effective player at this level, and you can’t blame him for wanting to play.

But I’m not sure I see it happening at Arsenal, to be honest. I guess a lot of it depends on formation — as it currently stands, we only use one true center-forward, and that’s really Bendtner’s most effective role (by far). But as effective as he is, he’s not anywhere close to as good as van Persie, so Bendtner’s just not going to start in that role if van Persie’s healthy. And if Chamakh could rediscover his form of earlier in the season, I have to say that I think he’s probably a better bet than Bendtner, as well. The formation has been working pretty well, and I don’t see Wenger changing it just to accommodate Bendtner, which could very well mean Bendtner could leave the club this summer. I guess in the end it comes down to how much playing time he needs — because he does play virtually every game, he’s just not in the first XI and generally won’t start important matches unless we’ve picked up a couple of injuries. But you have to think that he would continue to get at least 15 starts and around 20 substitute appearances if he sticks around, so he’s clearly a player who Arsene Wenger has a lot of time for. The decision will be up to him.

But I don’t think he’ll have any shortage of suitors. Rumor was that Newcastle made a last-minute 15 million bid for him after finalizing the Andy Carroll deal. Elsewhere this 15 million number has been floated about as well. Not sure where it comes from, but if Andy Carroll is worth 35 million (he’s not really, of course), then I would think Bendtner would be worth at least 20-25 million. I guess we’ll find out if he decides to head elsewhere.

Finally, Barcelona director of football Raul Sanllehi was quite the talkative one yesterday. First he came out and said that the Torres deal was excessive, and that Barcelona would never do a deal like that. He’s probably right, but there is a certain irony in anyone from the club which paid 40 million + Samuel Eto’o for Zlatan Ibrahimovic, and the club that paid 25 million for Dmitro Chygrinsky only to sell him for 15 million the next summer lecturing anyone on fiscal responsibility.

More pertinent to us, though, he also apparently refused to tap up Cesc, which is a novel approach from them, and said that any possible deal for Cesc was “dead.” He then went on to say some actually kind of classy and gracious things about how Cesc would be welcomed back to the Camp Nou for the second leg, and how Arsenal are one of the main contenders for the Champions League and would be a difficult task for Barcelona. Here’s hoping he’s right about any pursuit of Cesc being dead — it sure would be nice to be able to go through a summer without all the nonsense we went through last summer. Count me skeptical, though.

(UPDATE: Goal.com (so take it with a grain of salt) is reporting Barcelona’s VP of finance stating that their summer transfer budget likely will not exceed 34 million pounds this summer. If true, I can’t imagine that amount would be enough to get Arsenal to part ways with Cesc, given that he has so long left on his contract with the club and could fetch so much more elsewhere — honestly, if Cesc is worth less than Andy Carroll . . . well, I just don’t know what. Of course, their war chest could be expanded by player sales (Dani Alves has been linked with an exit), but in that case, they may need to focus on buying direct replacements for the guys who leave, not buying Cesc to add to an area of great strength for the side. We shouldn’t take this on absolute certainty or anything, but the bottom line is that at the moment, things look pretty good for Cesc to come back to Arsenal for 2011-2012.)

That’s it — all those internationals are today, so hopefully our players will get through those without getting hurt.

************

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Some Related Stories:Wenger Gives Injury Update; Cesc Says Team Lacks “Winning Mentality”News Round Up: Who’s In for Chelsea; International Call UpsJET in Talks to Go to QPR on Loan; Vermaelen Injury Now “Long Term;” Cesc, Rosicky Talk Ahead of Man City ClashInternational Round-Up + Injury UpdateJack Gets Benched; Theo’s Footballing Brain Comes Back Into Question
Category: Arsenal News, Injury Report, Internationals, Johan Djourou, Nicklas Bendtner Tags: Arsenal News, Injury Report, Internationals, Johan Djourou, Nicklas Bendtner
    Tweet « International Round-Up + Injury Update | Home | Homey_MillsIn the Croatia/Czech Republic game, Eduardo and Rosicky have both scored one. Maybe that will get Rosicky going a bit.MartinYeah. I know it makes no sense because he's thousands of miles away, but in my mind's eye I picture Eboue jumping out of the stands to celebrate both goals.sonneveldYou guys have to remember they bought Afellay who has been playing well for them. He provides cover for Xavi and Iniesta so chasing Fabregas is probably over.Gigi_manMan just when I started having a weak for Nick he comes out and says things.
I dont blame him for his feelings, and I do recobgnize his form last season earned us some crucial points, but, I think you are as good as your last perf.
Speaking of which, his last perf on the wing made me think, maybe hes worth in that position, and I think AW is considering it too, but I also think Nick wants to be, no matter what, the center fwd, and as you say, he is behind RvP and (maybe, I am not so sure he is a better bet) Chamakh (I might lean over Nicj because he got better arrogance and thats something you need to be a striker).

If that is true about Cesc it would be the best news. But I am not buying it, it sounds like a "lets fool them and go back with a surprise" kind of statement.Homey_MillsI know this is getting ahead to things that might not happen, but I guess that's what we do best here anyway. I wouldn't mind seeing Bendtner sold for a nice sum of money, but only if we actually re-invested it. But I've seen that story play out many times, and we never re-invest the money. Wenger will just say he really likes JET and Vela and whoever else, and doesn't see a need to replace Bendtner. And so we'll sit on a bigger pile of cash.Fred Jacobwhat about Theo playing striker, Nasri on the Right and Arshavin on the Left when Van persie not startingPatoux21Thanks Martin great article. I mostly agree with you about Bendtner. He's not the quality of a starter but he's a very good bench alternative so I don't think he'll stay. My concern is that Van Persie often gets injured and Arsenal would need another striker who is effective in scoring goals and I believe Chamack is nowhere near this type of player. We actually have Carlos Vela on loan but for me he's not as good as I would expect.
On the other hand because of Arsenal style many midfielders are going forward and score goals so the biggest concern for next season would be to look and invest in defense especially at right back and centre. Hopefully the goalkeeping position seems quite good at the moment as Wojo is showing the quality we need.
Patoux21Thanks Martin great article. I mostly agree with you about Bendtner. He's not the quality of a starter but he's a very good bench alternative so I don't think he'll stay. My concern is that Van Persie often gets injured and Arsenal would need another striker who is effective in scoring goals and I believe Chamack is nowhere near this type of player. We actually have Carlos Vela on loan but for me he's not as good as I would expect.
On the other hand because of Arsenal style many midfielders are going forward and score goals so the biggest concern for next season would be to look and invest in defense especially at right back and centre. Hopefully the goalkeeping position seems quite good at the moment as Wojo is showing the quality we need.
Patoux21Thanks Martin great article. I mostly agree with you about Bendtner. He's not the quality of a starter but he's a very good bench alternative so I don't think he'll stay. My concern is that Van Persie often gets injured and Arsenal would need another striker who is effective in scoring goals and I believe Chamack is nowhere near this type of player. We actually have Carlos Vela on loan but for me he's not as good as I would expect.
On the other hand because of Arsenal style many midfielders are going forward and score goals so the biggest concern for next season would be to look and invest in defense especially at right back and centre. Hopefully the goalkeeping position seems quite good at the moment as Wojo is showing the quality we need.
JturphyI can understand maybe buying some cover at CB over the summer, but with TV5 coming back and Djourou looking so good this year, I would be very happy going into next year as them as our starters. Kos as a back up is pretty solid as well. So I don't think we want to invest too much at CB. And I would assume at RB you're saying a back up as well? We have the best RB in the league already.blog comments powered by Disqus
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