Arsenal's fans eagerly wait to see what purchases will the Gunners do this summer after bosses have promised Wenger a budget that would allow him to bring some big players , but the French does what he knows best: brings young, future players. Ashley Young talks with Manchester, Liverpool took Jordan Henderson, Chelsea is closer and closer to bring Wesley Sneijder and Arsenal's fans have learned yesterday that the first transfer of their favorite team is the one of Carl Jenkinson, from Charlton, the team from League Two.
1.2 million euros will Arsenal play for the 19 years old player, and red-white fans have already begun to express displeasure, especially as it's possible that the star Cesc Fabregas will leave this summer.
The return of the Argentinian Gonzalo Higuain of Real Madrid's first 11 meant also the reinstatement of the Frenchman Karim Benzema in the reserves, the author of 11 goals in 28 presences this season and the man who took the brunt of Madrid's attack in the return much of the current season.
Unsatisfied with this status, the player seems more tempted to take into consideration in the summer the offers that will come to him. The first concerned of the striker's servicesr appears to be Arsenal's coach Arsene Wenger, who is unhappy with the rate of success of the three peaks that he has in the squad, Chamakh, Bendtner and Vela.
According to English media, Londoners would be willing to pay for about 25 million for Benzema , with 10 less than Real Madrid paid to Lyon in the summer of 2009.
The term "dramatic" seems too weak to describe what happened Sunday evening on Emirates, in a match in which Arsenal needed those three points to still hope for the title, and Liverpool wanted to win to get closer to the Euro Cups area . If it had not been for the serious injury of Jamie Carragher, who lost consciousness after a head in the head clach with John Flanagan, probably the Londoners had recorded the third consecutive white draw. Carragher needed an oxygen mask, being put on a stretcher after several minutes in which the doctors resuscitated him, the quarterback recovering then in the locker room.
Eight minutes of extension shown from the edge the reserve referee, and in the seventh Arsenal fans saw their team's first goal at home since February 23rd, at the penalty obtained by Fabregas and made by Robin van Persie. Stupor, however: just when t referee Andre Marriner was preparing to whistle the end, Eboue embarrassed Lucas Leiva in the box and Dirk Kuyt drew on the cormorants joy and especially of Sir Alex Ferguson's, Manchester United's manager enjoying in the stands the wrong step of the " gunners".
At ground level, Arsene Wenger has first spilled his frustration on his counterpart Kenny Dalglish, on who he swore powerfully , without the Scot being outdone. "I can not repeat the change of lines we had, I don't think it is relevant to the game," said Dalglish at the press conference. Arsenal's technician took as target the central, reprimanding him that he extended too much the match and gave too easy a penalty for the guests. "From the edge were shown 8 minutes, but the match was extended to about 12. Lucas easily tricked the referee, stopped the run and mimed a foul. It's frustrating because we dominated the match, Liverpool hasn't done anything but defend itself." , lamented Wenger.
The offensive plans of "the gunners" remained only on paper in the Champions League second leg, match definitely controlled by Pep Guardiola's team. FC Barcelona has constantly created a suffocating pressure on Arsenal, and after a lot of failures, the redemptive goals came . Lionel Messi has canceled the tour guests advantage through a brilliant execution - a fine take over after a pass from Iniesta and left shot to Almunia, who had replaced Szczesny, injured to a finger.
The Catalans have shown such an offensive appetite that it seemed they will score again with the band Arsene Wenger, as in the duel of the same stage last year, only the situation for the hosts had complicated in the first minutes of the second half, paradoxical at first action of the attack of the Londoners. Nasri struck one corner and the ball Busquets turned the ball into an own goal.That was the only shot on Barca's gate space in the whole match . Just three minutes after this draw, took place the phase that put crisis throughout all the breath of Arsenal: Robin van Persie kicked after the referee's whistle, which gave him the second yellow and thus the guests remained ten at a critical moment of the game. The Dutch striker explained in vain to Massimo Busacca that he has not heard the whistle in the noise of the stadium and also in vain has Wenger questioned the Swiss referee after the match.
Barcelona's coach Pep Guardiola does not believe that Arsenal lost qualification because of the elimination of Van Persie, but because his team played phenomenal. "I understand the sadness of Arsene Wenger, because I like the way his team plays. I do not know how people from Arsenal will look at the match, maybe they will consider they've lost due to the 11-10 play. Or maybe they will be objective and will find that they haven't succeeded three consecutive passes in the whole match. " According to the Catalan technician, the only solution for Londoners to improve the game is to see the bad things they have done at the Nou Camp. "I would love one day to hang out with Wenger and analyse both legs. Maybe I'm subjective, but I think we were a class over the English team. " Guardiola admitted that his heart stopped in the last stage of the match, when Bendtnerhad escaped to the gate, but was blocked in extremis by Mascherano. "If my player wouldn't run fast enough to block the 20 m shooting, we could be eliminated. We had plenty of occasions, we shouldn't have been in that situation."
Wanted by Barcelona, the club where he trained as a junior, Cesc Fabregas had a lackluster performance at the Nou Camp and considerated himself the main culprit for the failure of qualification."I take full responsibility for the failure of this evening. It is one of the worst moments of my career and I apologize, "said Arsenal's captain, who added:" It is a pity that we left the competition. We scared Barcelona a little bit, in particular at the equalizer goal .This is football. I played with pain in the leg and tried to resist as much. I want Barcelona to go very far in the League. "
After the nervous breakdown which he had at the end, when he yelled at referee Busacca, Arsene Wenger said after the game that even the UEFA delegate was outraged by the removal of Van Persie."How can you kill a game like this? I think there are two types of fans upset by such an error - those who love Arsenal and those who love football. It was a decision that ruined a promising match. And for what? If it was for a hard foul, I could understand,"lamented the Frenchman. Wenger has not forgotten though the fair play towards the opponent:: "We lost against a great Barcelone. I wish them a further success. "
The North London team will travel to Spain for the match on Tuesday night that they will play in Champions League against the champions of the Primera Division, FC Barcelona. Arsenal comes after a painful semi-failure at home in front of Sunderland, 0-0, after which it lost two precious points in the battle for the title with ManchesterUnited.
The Gunners don't aim to play at 0-0 the crucial eighth meeting of the League because they aren't used to practice a purely defensive game. "We need better players physically ready because we have a lot of running. We don't have the necessary safety for our defensive to barricade ourselves against the Catalans. We will attack and try to score." said Arsene Wenger. Good news for Arsenal fans, whose captain, Cesc Fabregas will be holder in the game in Spain. Big chances to return to the lawn have also Jack Wilshere and Alex Song. All three have missed a period, from injuries suffered in the season.
Arsenal will go to Catalonia in the shelter of a 2-1 result in the tour, match that Barcelona controlled most of the time and led until the end of the game after the goal scored by Villa. Two sensational successes , Arshavin and Van Persie have given to the Londoners a victory which will bring hope for the return match that will be played on March 8.
Arsene Wenger's students have played on Saturday a very important match on Emirates against the eight-placed, Sunderland. The stake of the game was represented by a closer position to Manchester United in the rankings.Hosts manager used the best seal possible, despite the fact that Arsenal will play in the middle of next week the final game against Barcelona at the Nou Camp. But the hosts could not count on the captain Cesc Fabregas , on the top scorer Robin van Persie and the wing Theo Walcott , all three being injured and their absences have said their word.
Arsenal dominated the game from one end to another, but failed to break the lock of the defense side leaded by a goalkeeper in a day of grace, Mignolet stopping many times the hosts efforts to open the score. In turn, Samir Nasri,two times and Nicklas Bendtner were blocked by the French in the first half. Second half brought nothing new, hosts continued to miss, the largest miss being Chamakh 's bar. The guests could finally kick, but England's youth team striker, Danny Welbeck has got a great volley , but Szczesny rejected it in corner, making it up for the League Cup final blunder from Birmingham's winning goal. It ended 0-0 and Arsenal lost two huge points in the battle for the title.
The manager of the hosts said he was satisfied by his team's game : "I am happy with the way my students have played. The defense was very good, but they had a certain lack of creativity in the offensive phase. We had also two big mistakes of arbitration, especially at the stage when Arshavin was stopped for a non-existent off-side. A 1-0 win would have been very important for us. "
The hopes of " the gunners" are heading for the English championship derby which will be held Sunday at Anfield Road between Liverpool and Manchester United. Wenger hopes the rivalry between the two combatants would materialize in a new failure for Sir Alex Ferguson's team, after the Tuesday one , a 1-2, suffered in Chelsea's ground.
Cesc Fabregas simply begs Arsene Wenger to let him play in England's League Cup final, which the "Gunners" will play Sunday against Birmingham. The footballer was injured Wednesday with Stoke, but he thinks can be fit for this match. But the French coach has another opinion. After an X-ray done yesterday, it appeared that Fabregas has suffered a muscle injury, that's why Wenger would want to spare him and not risk a rupture.
"He's the captain and wants to lead his team. He respects the decision of the technicians, but he is crazy to play" said a source from the London club for The Sun.
Fabregas wrote yesterday on his Twitter account he wishes with all his heart to be on the field Sunday in his first final as captain of Arsenal: "I've waited for too long this moment and I'll do everything possible not missing it now."
Arsenal's coach Arsene Wenger, one of the promoters of the movement for promotion of youth at the expense of costly transfers, believes that his rival Chelsea exaggerated paying 60 million euros for the Spanish striker Fernando Torres. "The transfer of Torres was last minute, so Chelsea had to pay the sum demanded by Liverpool. I think the Londoners have paid at least 15 percent more than the real value of the player. Emotions and lack of time have increased the market value.", said the French engineer, who admitted, however, that through the transfer of Fernando Torres and David Luiz,the rival from London acquired an additional hazard.
Arsenal's coach, Arsene Wenger, said on Sunday that the London group can afford not to sell Cesc Fabregas.
The French technician said that money is not a problem for Arsenal.
"We need Fabregas. It is a great player and we want to keep him here. We fight all the competitions because we have players capable of doing it. We can afford to turn down offers from financial reasons. We do not need money. Those who accused of before that I don't spend money now reproach me that I do not sell players. That is a sign that we do things in a good way." , said Wenger.
Arsene Wenger says the world will see another London team, more valuable and more determined than the one that lost by 1-4 at the New Camp last spring, after the draw on the Emirates Stadium. "At the moment, Barcelona is clearly the best team in the world and if we can eliminate it, then we have a real chance to win the trophy. We have an opportunity to demonstrate that we are stronger,united and eager to win than last year. I am convinced that we will make a show, because both teams are practicing an attractive football. I think we have a good chance to beat the Spaniards. We proved that we can be competitive and at the start of the season in England, nobody thought we would be so high."said Arsenal's coach.
Pep Guardiola is also expecting a show built on the offensive game philosophy for both teams. "Arsenal attacks more than defends itself , and we do the same. Both teams are trying to create as many opportunities. I admire Wenger very much, I admire his style and strategy. The fact that we played against Arsenal last year is helping us up to a point , because meanwhile other players came and now Van Persie is a very influential player in the English team," said Barca's coach.
Wenger has confirmed that Samir Nasri is part of the batch for the round match, while Abou Diaby is unavailable after the injury suffered in the friendly match France- Brazil. Will miss also players such as goalkeeper Fabianski and Vermaelen, unavailable, and Bacary Sagna, injured. From the Catalan will miss captain Carles Puyol and Jeffren , both injured."We will miss Puyol, he is our leader, but we'll have to play without him. From time to time such situations rise and we have no right to complain " said Guardiola, who stopped in the group Thiago Alcantara.
ARSENAL - BARCELONA will be transmitted LIVE -TEXT Wednesday on SportRadar at 21:45. Barcelona has received some bad news just two days before the match at Emirates Stadium against Arsenal in the Champions League. The Catalans will play without their captain in optimal, Carles Puyol, the midfielder having problems at his left knee. Cesc Fabregas has warned his friends from Barcelona that he wants to become the first captain of Arsenal's history which has raised the European Cup.
See Wenger's tactics against Barcelona:
1. Players are not allowed to lose the ball in the "hot"areas .
2. Barcelona will be harassed on the left lane!
3. No obsessions and tightly marking for Messi and other key people from Barcelona!
4. Quickly change of passes to dominate the opponent at speed chapter speed!
The defender 25 years old, wanted to go three years ago at CS Otopeni , the team was then in the 2nd league. The team's leaders rejected him and the player returned to France. He signed with Tours, and was declared the best player in the French Second Division in 2008-2009. He signed with Lorient and after only one year left at Arsenal.
The officials from the English club paid an amount of 10 million pounds to obtain the signature of the Frenchman of Polish origin, and is now a precious man in the "gunners" team. He played 19 Premier League matches and scored two goals, being used by Arsene Wenger also in the Champions League matches. Laurent Blanc has summoned for the first time Laurent Koscielny for the friendly match with Brazil on February 9.
