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I feel I should start this post by making it clear the current crop of players gracing the Emirates every other week possess a high level of talent and we should be thankful for such fortune. After all, it could be much, much worse – by some twisted turn of fate we could all be Spurs fans (and that doesn’t even bear thinking about).
Arsenal managed to keep their hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stages alive after a 2-1 comeback victory over Belgian club Anderlecht. The Premier League outfit were trailing 1-0 going into the final 10 minutes of the match.
Anderlecht were not given much hope of beating Arsenal prior to the match, but a goal from Najar in the 71st minute change the whole complexion of the match. Suddenly, the underdogs were given something to hold on and it looked like they would get a highly unlikely victory, which would also boost their chances of reaching the next stage.
Arsene Wenger’s team had suffered defeats in the away match against Borussia Dortmund. The 4-1 win over Galatasaray in the previous round gave them hope of maintaining their distance away from the third placed team. Arsenal were indeed coming into the match on a poor run of form that had seen them drop four points in the league from the last two matches. Despite this, they showed incredible resilience in the final 10 minutes to get all three points. Defender Kieran Gibbs provided the unlikely equaliser just a minute before injury time, while forgotten man Lukas Podolski came up with the winner a few minutes later.
After the match, Wenger admitted that using six attacking players in the closing stages was a gamble that one that paid off. “I know by experience that the nerves play a part in the last five minutes in the Champions League. And that we had to get into those five minutes without conceding the second goal. If they had scored the second goal, it was game over. I had hope. It didn’t look likely but it happened. We took all the risks and, in the end, it paid off. It’s a little bit of a gambling situation that happens in this kind of game and it worked tonight,” said Wenger.
Arsene Wenger has once again expressed his confidence that the title still remains within the reach of Arsenal even after dropping four points in the last two matches. A thumping 6-0 defeat against Chelsea was followed by a 2-2 draw with Swansea.
As Arsenal prepare to face title rivals Manchester city this weekend, Arsene Wenger has been talking about being in the title race. A defeat will surely end any hopes of a title, but Wenger has recalled that there are still several matches left in the campaign and that Arsenal have enough opportunities to close the gap.
Astonishingly, bookmakers have made Arsenal last 100/1 to win the title this campaign after the latest round of matches. Wenger has won several titles with Arsenal in the past, but there have been several doubts raised about him in recent years. He has not led the club to the major title since 2005. His contract expires at the end of the campaign, with rumours suggesting that he may not actually renew it if Arsenal do not win a trophy this campaign. Despite their failings in the Premier league over the last few weeks, the club still remain in the hunt for the FA Cup.
They will take on Wigan in the semifinals of the competition.
“There is no other priority other than coming first. That is still our target. Champions keep going when everybody else would give up. We have an opportunity to show that we have that mentality. If people say Everton can catch us then we can catch the teams above us. We have not given up, believe me. It’s our attitude tomorrow which will show that. We play at the Emirates where we show big strengths and we want to show that again,” said Wenger ahead of the match.
Arsenal fell 4 points behind table leaders Chelsea after a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Stoke City, which is a result that meant they have only one win against Stoke in the last eight meetings at the Britannia stadium.
This defeat has also allowed Liverpool to overtake the gunners in the table, while Arsenal could potentially fall to fourth place with Manchester City win the two matches in hand. Despite this disastrous result, which has been termed as a major setback for the club by Arsene Wenger, midfielder Jack Wilshere says that he remains confident of winning the first league title since 2004.
Arsenal would have been extremely worried not just about the result, but also about the performance. They were extremely poor against Stoke for the entire 90 minutes. Even more disappointing for the gunners was their inability to create at least one shot on target in the second half. They were able to keep the ball as usual, but without creating any chances. This match was viewed as the precursor to the upcoming tough run of fixtures, which will see Arsenal take on the likes of Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Manchester City, and Chelsea.
Wilshere said after the match that the players knew that this would be a tough match, but they simply did not create enough to claim a win.
“We have to be prepared for it. We know what to expect when we come here, it’s going to be a tough game, we have to fight and win second balls and then we have to take the opportunities when they come. We didn’t do that today. We had a few chances in the first half and we didn’t take them, and you’re going to get punished here. We weren’t at our best. Sometimes in these type of games you don’t have to be,” said Wilshere.
This is turning out into one of the intriguing title races in the Premier league after several years, as there are three different teams fighting for the title. Manchester City, Chelsea and Arsenal all head into the final 14 matches with a chance of the title, while teams as low as fifth can also think about the title.
Even though Liverpool are fourth in the table, they are just eight points behind the leaders. Considering the amount of points that the top teams have dropped this campaign, it is still feasible that Brendan Rodgers might find himself in the midst of a title fight.
Reports this week have emerged stating Robin van Persie has become disillusioned with life at Old Trafford and wants to return to Le Grove. The ‘reliable sources’ claim the striker’s agent has met with manager Arsene Wenger to discuss a move back to Arsenal in the summer, with the Gunners boss indicating he would be open to his return.
The Premier League title race looks like it could between three teams this season, as Arsenal, Manchester City, and Chelsea all appear to be the main challengers for the English crown.
Of course, Liverpool dropping points against Aston Villa at Anfield over the weekend does not put them out of the race but you can see the Reds slipping up further along the way.
Arsenal are once more at the top of the Premier League but if they want to continue their fantastic season going on in the same fashion as it is, then new players might need to arrive in order for Wenger to rotate his key players and them breaks avoiding any kind of serious injuries.
It’s not a secret that Arsene Wenger wants to sign a forward that can play alongside Olivier Giroud and give the Frenchman resting time when needed. In the past few days rumors have been emerging claiming that Arsenal wants to make a move for Dimitar Berbatov who is not going through the best of times in Fulham.
The Bulgarian has even stated his desire on making a move away from Fulham which is something for the club as they need all the help they can get if want to steer clear away from the bottom spots of the Premier League but this also opens up the chance for Arsenal to possibly get a player that can solve some of their problems.
Real Madrid’s Alvaro Morata is another option that Wenger is considering as he desires to sign him up on a loan deal and considering that Morata is having more time on the sidelines of Real Madrid than on the actual playing field, it may be a wise choice not only for Morata but for everyone involved in the transaction.
A move to the Premier League will give Morata experience in another league different than La Liga as well as joining a club where he is ensured to have more playing time than what he currently has in Real Madrid and Wenger will give Giroud a new partner who will not only be playing alongside him in the pitch but also a reference man in case Giroud is out injured.
Arsenal are facing yet another disappointing transfer window because they have been unable to bring in any noteworthy players yet. They had been linked with the likes of Gonzalo Higuain for several weeks before the player decided to move to Napoli.
Arsenal have also been linked with the likes of Wayne Rooney and Luis Suarez, as Wenger prefers to flex his muscles for the first time in more than a decade. Even before the new arrivals, Arsenal could be set for departures according to the Frenchman.
Players like Marouane Chamakh and Gervinho have been linked with moves away from the Emirates stadium. Wenger has done little to quash the speculation by confirming that he does not expect the two players to stay at the club. Moroccan international Chamakh has been a major disappointment since arriving from a free transfer from Bordeaux a few years ago. He has featured very rarely in the last few years and the arrival of Lukas Podolski last season only limited his chances even more. Gervinho has also been on the fringes of first-team. The Ivory Coast international has been at Arsenal for the last two years, but he has failed to fulfil his potential.
Gervinho cost the club in excess of £ 10 million in 2011.
“Gervinho is on a good way to Roma and Chamakh is on a good way to Crystal Palace,” said Wenger. “If the club can target players that are going to improve the team, they are going to be very welcome because that’s what we want – to get a better team, better players and compete to win trophies. But the club is working on that, it is in their hands and I’m sure they are going to do it,” said midfielder Mikel Arteta about the lack of signings so far.
Arsenal have been showing a recent interest in big and established players in order to bring an end to the trophy drought. They are extremely close to bringing in Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain on a deal that will break the current transfer record of the club by a significant margin. Former winger Andrei Arshavin currently holds the record for being the most expensive transfer at Arsenal. He was brought to the club for £ 15 million, but it is expected that the club will be spending close to £ 22 million on Higuain.
There have also been suggestions that Arsenal will not complete their summer purchase with the signing of Higuain alone and they are expected to go after a number of other players. Pepe Reina and Ashley Williams are some of the names continuously linked with Arsenal. Chief executive Ivan Gazidis has said that there is definitely money to spend on the plates of Arsene Wenger, but he is sure that the Frenchman will not be spending money just for the sake of creating a point.
Arsenal have seen the likes of Manchester city and Tottenham go ahead of them in the table as a result of spending huge money. Even though Tottenham have not finished above Arsenal yet, there is a real danger of it happening in the near future.
“The parameters in which he has to operate is to spend what the club can afford and my job is to make that as big as possible and Arsene’s job is to think about which talent he wants to spend that on in the best way possible. If we only find one player that we like, we won’t spend twice as much on him just so we can say we spent all of the money,” said Gazidis.