My Arsenal Blog

The young French centre-back Laurent Loscielny seems to have replaced Thomas Vermaelen as first choice in the Arsenal starting XI after his performance against Bayern Munich in midweek, and his pairing with Per Mertesacker was confirmed in yesterdays game against Sweansea where we yet again kept a clean sheet.

Wenger explained why he had to stick to Vermaelen for most of the season up til now. He said: “Koscielny was outstanding on Wednesday night,”

“He has shown a bit more authority than usual and when he gets into that frame of mind, you can see he has outstanding qualities. It’s something I know he has but he needs that authority in his game to get his qualities completely out.

“He says that he was disturbed in his preparation in pre-season. In our final game in Cologne, he had a calf injury. It took him a long, long time to come back and after that he had many setbacks through the season.

“And every time he was close to coming back, he had another injury or sickness. He was sick a lot this year.”

Arsenal have now won the last games with 2-0 scorelines, and if you want to bet that they can do this yet again in the next game against Reading, then you should first check this link for betting bonus information before parting with your cash. I would certainly lay some money on Arsenal keeping a clean sheet again now that Koscielny is back in the defence!

Arsene Wenger is usually bullish about the strength and spirit of the Arsenal players, and he has been proven right on numerous occasions. The Gunners have responded well to pressure and adversity already this season and, of course, they dragged themselves out of a bigger hole last season. They must now do it all again, though, and Wenger cannot be sure just how much the recent disappointments will affect the players.

“I am not worried about us potentially coming back against Bayern,” revealed Wenger. “I am more worried about consequences that could manifest in the heads of our players.

“You will never know how they can absorb those blows and how the team respond to disappointment. This is the most worrying aspect for me.”

The manager knows that the game against Bayern could be vital, not for progression in the Champions League, although that would be fantastic. A heavy defeat in Munich could have consequences for the rest of this season and on into the next, if we fail to finish in the top four.

There is a crucial Premier League game away to Swansea just three days after the Bayern match, and Arsenal cannot afford to lose it. Somehow Wenger needs to restore some of the lost confidence to his players before we take on Swansea. That is, after all, part of his job.

The Arsenal striker Lukas Podolski has been involved in plenty of high profile and high pressure games in his football career. He has played in two World cup semi-finals and the final of Euro 2008 when Germany lost out to Spain. With over 100 international caps and lots of experience, the striker is a great man to have in the dressing room for a fierce local derby, and he has issued a word of calm in the build up to the game against Tottenham today.

Spurs are hot favourites to finsh above Arsenal according to The Sports Geek, but Podolski doesn’t think it will be decisive: “It is a big game, but it will not decide who will play in next season’s Champions League. We have 11 matches to go and every match is like a final, and we must fight to get into the Champions League next season. This is important to us.”

Of course the players will be desperate to perform well and get a good result, but they also need to stay as calm as possible and play our game. They should be confident going into the match because of the previous two games both finishing 5-2. Podolski scored in his first North London derby, and will hopefully start today. His talent and his cool head could be crucial in the cauldron of White Hart Lane, and he is really looking forward to getting the chance to prove it.

“I like derbies. It will be a tough match but we want the three points and we have the quality to win there.

“It is something special when it is a derby, for the fans and for the club. When you play away at your rivals you must fight for the three points.”

Podolski knows that Arsenal have played with nerves at the start of some big games this season, and is trying to get his team mates to play with more freedom, because we are brilliant when we do, and more than a match for Tottenham.

The returning Arsenal midfielder Tomas Rosicky was highly instrumental last season when the Gunners clawed back a 12 point deficit on Tottenham in the closing weeks of the season to snatch third place from our bitter rivals, and although Arsenal have suddenly dropped to tenth place in the Premiership, Rosicky believes that they can turn things around again this time around despite being are currently priced at 80/1 in the betathome football betting to win the League.

Rosicky was at the Emirates to hear the fans voicing their displeasure after the game against Swansea and responded: “I can understand it, I’m an Arsenal fan as well,”

“On the other side, we have some young guys and they can feel the frustration as well. It’s definitely not helping them.

“We all have to stick together – that’s the only thing we can do. It’s what we did last season when everybody was writing us off and we came back stronger.

“After the comeback we produced, we could feel the great atmosphere we had at the Emirates, particularly the games against Tottenham and Milan. I’ve been a professional footballer for a very long time, and it was the best atmosphere I’ve ever played in.

“We have to win the people over again. That’s the challenge. We did it last year, so why not do it again? Of course it will be difficult. There’s no doubt about that, but we are capable of doing it again.

“If we are all on board, this is a great place to be and a great place to play football. But we have to stick together and fight.”

“I am a creative player – that’s the part I can contribute,” he said. “But it will not be easy for me. I was out for a long time so I need to regain match fitness again. Of course I would like to play. Let’s see how it goes.”

Little Mozart was finally given his comeback game (and first goal!) in the first 45 minutes against Olympiakos and is desperate to play his part in saving Arsenal’s season.

“I’m very happy to come back because it was a long time for me,” he said. “The boss told me before the game that he would let me play just until half time. I hope I can build everything up again.

“It’s just part of the game. You have to take it. It’s difficult for me. I can admit it because I had a good season behind me. I want to do the same as I did last year. I want to contribute.

“If you start to feel sorry for yourself, it’s the worst thing you can do. You have to fight and that’s what I’m able to do. As a team now, we’re not in a good position and we have to stick together now and fight. That’s the only thing we can do now.

“I will do my best to help this great Club to be much better again.”

Hear! Hear! Tomas! now get some of that postivity and give it to the rest of the team!

Wenger Speaks Out

Arsenal Manager Arséne Wenger made some key points in his recent press conference saying;

On his future: “I will assess my own performances and then make a decision. At the moment we are not there. Two years is a long time in my job. I just want to do well for the club as long as I can and accept all the rest. At the moment I am not in the mood to think about the long-term future. We want to do well this season, that’s all.”

So he does give the indication that he would like to stay at Arsenal for longer but at this moment that is not what he is thinking about and so the recent indications that he was going to be offered a new contract seem to be untrue. But I wouldn’t be surprised to see the Frenchman in charge for another few years.

On Diaby’s fitness, Wenger said: “At the moment he is 50:50.”

On the long term absentees: “Wilshere is not far away. Sagna is not far away. At the moment the injured players look like they are recovering well. The main injuries are Frimpong who is recovering well, Wilshere is short-term, Sagna around two weeks and Rosicky around two to three weeks.”

Wenger also spoke out about Bacary Sagna’s situation and he believes the fullback will stay;

“It [a new contract for Sagna] will be discussed. I expect him to stay and I want him to stay.”

This is good news at the moment however let’s all remember he also ‘expected’ Fabregas, Nasri and Van Persie to stay.
Let’s hope we can get the mood up, for when we play Southampton tomorrow at The Emirates.

The young Arsenal midfielder Francis Coquelin has been promoted to the Arsenal first-team this season, but with the resurgence of Abou Diaby he has not been given a look in during the first three League games.

He has already stated that he will give it six months to see if he can make the breakthough. He said: “In July, I met the coach and he told me I am a full member of the team and he relies on me. Looking at who we have signed, they have trust in me.

“Alex Song left for Barcelona and they didn’t sign another defensive midfielder.

“When I didn’t play in the first three matches it made me think about it. But I know I will get an opportunity and I will seize it.

“Arteta, Diaby and Cazorla are great players, who have more experience than me. But during training sessions every morning I am not behind them.

“I am 21-years-old, I know I cannot be patient any more. This year is the right season to make a name for myself at Arsenal.

“I have given myself six months and then I will take stock. If I see it is blocked, I will go somewhere else. But for now I know I have the qualities to make a name for myself at Arsenal.”

With Diaby currently playing with France in the World Cup Qualifiers it is to be expected that Wenger will finally give the 26 year-old a rest in the next Arsenal game against Southampton, especially as the following two games are tough ones against Man City and Chelsea.

This should leave the way open for Coquelin to show what he can do in next weekend’s game against Southampton, and if Wenger doesn’t give the youngster a run-out against one of the relegation favourites then Coquelin may be forced to “take stock” a little earlier than he thought…..

If you’re considering having a punt on the Gunners against Southampton next weekend I recommend giving Luxbet Betting a try for a change.

Yes, yes, I know, the season is over and you are sad because there’s no more football to watch now for a while and because your most favorite team is out of action until pre-season starts, but there’s still a few bucks you can make till then through betting, and I’m not talking about betting on EURO 2012 games.

Arsenal might bring you a few bucks in the summer as well if you have your predictions right, because there are loads of bets out there for those who think they know who is going to join the club and who is going to leave.

Robin Van Persie
The hottest topic of the moment is Van Persie’s contract talk, as the Dutch striker just snubbed the first set of negotiations. The betting houses give him a 1.62 odd of staying and a 1.88 odd of leaving this summer, so they still think Arsenal’s captain will still be with us next season!

Niklas Bendtner
It’s still about transfers, as Niklas Bendtner’s future with the club is about to come to an abrupt end, and Borussia Dortmund seem to be the favorites to landing him, with a 2/1 odds. Stoke and Celtic follow with 9 and 11 odds of landing the Danish international striker.

Shinji Kagawa
Dortmund’s deal with Arsenal may extend to Kagawa as well, as the Japanese midfielder’s chances of joining the Gunners are rated with a 4/1 odd, while Man United seem to be the most favorites to land him.

These are just a few bets you can make which are sure to bring you quite a nice income. Arsenal is looking to reconstruct, but they’ll surely want to keep Robin as long as possible. What do you think will happen?

Arsenal are set to have a pre-season tour of Africa incuding a game at the Nigerian National Stadium in Abuja, but after an inspection of the pitch it has been decided to completely renovate the playing area so as not to risk injury to the visiting Arsenal players.

It seems that prior to the inspection, the pitch at Abuja hadn’t been watered for four years, and it has been officially declared dead. A spokesman for the organizers said: “After reviewing the recommendations of our grounds men, we have resolved to change the pitch of the Abuja National Stadium,”

“We need to do this because we don’t want any kind of injuries by the Arsenal players. We are committed to having the Wenger boys here. That is why the grounds men at the Emirates came here. So, the pitch you would see on 2 August would be the same you watch week in week out at the Emirates.”

“We have two months before the game and that is enough time for our grounds men to finish the job.”

Let’s hope that the pitch will then be looked ater so it can benefit the local players after the Arsenal team have all gone home.

The way the next season and the transfer window campaign will go for the Gunners is all up to the last game of the season. A loss could potentially mean losing the third spot, and even the fourth, given the fact that Newcastle and Tottenham are breathing down their necks.

If Arsenal do fall off the third place their transfer season would have been ruined, and if it wasn’t enough that Wenger isn’t a big fan of big money transfers, the fans will now have to accept the idea that the club can’t invest having lost the Champions League participation (and funds).

In the game against West Bromwich the Gunners have a 1.7 odd of winning, which is not a small one by any means especially considering the fact that they are likely to give their all for the three points, so this seems like a sure bet at first sight.

WBA has a 5.5 odd of winning the game, and having drifted a long way away the relegation zone it’s safe to say that they won’t be fighting tooth and nail in the last game of the season, as everybody’s eager to see it over and leave for a nice long vacation.

Betting on Arsenal is probably the best thing you can do this weekend, so good luck and let’s hope the Gunners will be smart enough to secure third place.

Arsenal could be in huge problems ahead of the final game of the season against WBA, as Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny is struggling with a knee injury and is still in doubt for the weekend game.

The Pole was one of the most impressive players of the season for Arsenal, whereas simply putting it, Fabianski was NOT! He had a bad performance for the Gunners in the few chances he got, and seemed to be very eager for the season to get over and leave for a club where he could actually have some decent playing time.

If Fabianski won’t be up for the job either, Arsenal could consider themselves Europa League title contenders, because we can all remember what happened last time third option Mannone was on the pitch, and Spanish goalkeeper Almunia is an even worse option (if one worse than Mannone even exists).

The fact is that Wenger has one of two things to do. Either he prays for Szczesny to get fit in due time, or he starts planning how to score a bucket load of goals so that the opponents’ goals won’t matter anymore. This is a very tricky situation the Frenchman is in, but after the last summer’s transfer season it’s fair to say that he had this coming.