My Arsenal Blog

Arsenal suffered an embarrassing 1-0 defeat at BATE Borisov on Thursday night in the Europa League last 32. The first leg defeat in Belarus was compounded by Alexandre Lacazette’s late dismissal. Overall, it was a miserable night for the Gunners, who had headed into the game as massive favourites to win the game and the tie.

Should have been a comfortable win

It would not have been harsh to think that Arsenal should be beating a team from Belarus in a comfortable manner. BATE are a solid team, but they have very little pedigree in European football and the Gunners are until recently a team accustomed to playing in the Champions League.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal’s young French midfielder Matteo Guendouzi arrived in North London from French club Lorient in the summer. The youngster arrived for a modest fee of around £7million plus add-ons, which by modern standards is chicken feed.

Although apparently highly-rated in football circles, Guendouzi was not exactly a household name prior to arrival in north London. Most Arsenal fans would have been forgiven for not knowing anything about the midfielder.

Made a promising start Arsenal career

Guendouzi has certainly proven to be one of the more impressive summer recruits this season. At times, he has shown tremendous maturity on the ball, far beyond his tender 19 years.  .......Read more here.....

Mesut Ozil and Aaron Ramsey are set to miss the first leg of the Europa League round of 32 clash with BATE Borisov, according to multiple reports.

The two attacking midfielders did not take the trip to Belarus as Ozil apparently still doesn’t feel too good following a bout of illness and Ramsey made a complaint about his knee.

The Gunners certainly boast enough quality to put in a good performance against BATE, with Alex Iwobi and Henrikh Mkhitaryan looking likely to start the game, but new signing Denis Suarez might be in with a shout as well. The good news is that central midfielder Granit Xhaka and forward Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang are available, having recovered in time from a groin issue and illness, respectively.  .......Read more here.....

Intermediaries are working hard to find a new club for Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil, according to Matt Law of The Telegraph.

The German arrived to the Emirates for around €50 million (the club record at the time) in 2013, and though he had been doing very well for a long time, things have unraveled in the other direction recently. With Alexis Sanchez and Ozil both looking towards the exit door about a year ago, the club decided to do a swap deal with Manchester United in which they gave Sanchez up and signed Henrikh Mkhitaryan in return. Given what has been going with those two players since then, in cannot be disputed that the Gunners made the right call in that aspect.  .......Read more here.....

On Thursday evening, Arsenal make a trip to Belarus to face BATE Borisov in the last 32 of the Europa League. The Gunners will be confident of emerging with a victory to take into the second leg of the tie.

BATE Borisov have not played competitive football since December having won the Belarus Premier League at the end of last season. Despite their achievements in domestic football, the home sides record in the Europa League is patchy, as they have won just three of their last nine matches in Europe’s secondary competition.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal continue to battle away for a top-four spot in the Premier League and the Champions League spot for next season which comes with it. However, the Europa League offers a viable route to the Champions League for next season.

Last season the competition offered hope to the Gunners of making Europe’s elite competition. Arsene Wenger’s side fell at the semi-final stage against Atletico Madrid, who went on to lift the trophy.  .......Read more here.....

One of my colleagues earlier reported that Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey has signed a pre-contract agreement to join Juventus for a reported staggering £400,000 per-week. If the reports are truthful, then the Italian giants are welcome to have at that wage packet.

Another mess from the Arsenal hierarchy

I have to say that I have mixed feelings about Aaron Ramsey leaving Arsenal this summer. The fact that he is leaving the north London side for no fee is a really poor piece of business from the club.  .......Read more here.....

Aaron Ramsey has today signed a pre-contract agreement with Juventus which will see him join the Italian giants once his contract with Arsenal expires in the summer, multiple sources have reported.

Even before this piece of information broke out, a move away from the Emirates looked almost certain, ever since Arsenal pulled out of the negotiations over a new deal and withdrew the offer that was on the table. As of yet, no club official (or anyone from Ramsey’s camp for that matter) has come out with a statement as to why the talks fell through. Of course, with the public bereft of anything substantial, a large number of media outlets came forth with conclusions of their own, mostly spinning around the assumption that the Welshman demanded wages in the region of that of Mesut Ozil, by far the highest paid player in the squad.  .......Read more here.....

Arsenal manager Unai Emery was full of praise for Alex Iwobi following the 1-2 win away at Huddersfield Town on Saturday, especially his work-ethic and attitude.

Iwobi broke the deadlock in the 16th minute, doing well to control a difficult volley to capitalize on a cross from the left by Sead Kolašinac but also with a dose of luck as the shot caught Huddersfield defender Terence Kongolo, changed direction and caught goalkeeper Ben Hamer on the wrong foot as it hit the back of the net. Alexandre Lacazette finished off a great team effort and doubled the lead just before half-time, meaning that the late clumsy goal by Kolašinac was of little consequence.  .......Read more here.....

The January transfer window may have just come to an end, but that doesn’t mean we can’t start looking ahead to the future. A lot of Gunners fans wanted to see a bit more activity during the winter window than we got, and that’s understandable. The club needs some more bodies, especially with such a gruelling period ahead of them and with the race for the top four really hotting up.  .......Read more here.....