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Arsenal look set for a tour of Japan

By 2011/02/23 3 Comments

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by CARL ELDRIDGE Alex Song sleeps well when Tottenham lose – and the Arsenal are set for a pre-season tour of Japan. Those are my findings this morning as we prepare to face Stoke City at the Ems in the Premier League tonight.

Well, I say findings – the stories weren’t that hard to find. The first was posted by Song on his Twitter page here – and the proposed tour of the Land of the Rising Sun is in today’s Mirror. The paper says we can earn £15m from the trip and that to date AW has always refused long-haul overseas pre-season trips, preferring friendlies in Austria.

The Mirror adds that AW has come under “increasing pressure” to go further afield to promote Arsenal and the club are now exploring an offer to make the week-long trip to Japan at the end of July. It adds: “Arsenal have also had big-money offers to go to the United States but the Far East is the preferred option, having watched Chelsea try and fail to crack America in the past few summers.

“Japan is the favoured destination and they are far down the line in negotiations as they believe it would provide great marketing opportunities – there is huge interest in Arsenal and they recently signed Japanese teenager Ryo Miyachi.” We shall see…

To team news for tonight and we will be without Robin van Persie and Laurent Koscielny and we must hope they are missing as a precaution with the Carling Cup final coming up on Sunday.  AW said: “Van Persie has a hamstring problem and Koscielny has a back problem but they both have a chance to be involved on Sunday.”

Meanwhile, reports say we could be facing a fixture nightmare as we try to chase the quadruple. If we beat Orient in their FA Cup fifth round replay, then draw at United in the quarter-finals, the replay at the Ems has been penciled in for the weekend of March 19-20.

That would mean postponing our Premier League trip to West Brom and creating another possible backlog. Still, rather be busy than sitting twiddling our thumbs awaiting next season, eh?

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Eldo71

Arsenal fan for 40 years. Schoolboys, North Bank, Clock End then East Upper. Then Emirates. AFC dream team: Wilson, Dixon, Sansom, Adams, Pates, Brady, Williams, Pires, Bergkamp, Henry, Wright. Subs: Seaman, Eldridge, Wilshere, RVP, Ball. Manager: Arsene Chapman.

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  • Wan

    I read on a Malaysian Newspaper Website that Arsenal will be in South East Asia along with Liverpool and Chelsea.

    19 Feb 2011 … Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool are scheduled to attend a 10-day EPL … said that Malaysia, who won the Suzuki Cup Asean Football Federation …
    http://football.thestar.com.my/story.asp?file=/2011/2/19/football_latest/8099950&sec=football_latest

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  • Fabregas_The_King

    @Wan

    Thank you so much for this link, and I would urge other Insiders to keep an eye out for any other Arsenal related news circulating outside of these shores, that have not currently emerged in our newspapers or blogs. The article reads…

    PETALING JAYA: Malaysia have more to gain from playing top-notch matches.

    That’s why national coach K. Rajagopal is relishing the prospect of his team taking on three English Premier League giants – Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool – in July.

    “It’s not always that the national team get to play against strong teams. If we are to play the top sides from the English Premier League (EPL) – it would be a great source of motivation for the young national players. These international matches will also help mould them into better players,” said Rajagopal yesterday.

    Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool are scheduled to attend a 10-day EPL Festival here in July. However, the exact dates have yet to be confirmed.

    Rajagopal said that Malaysia, who won the Suzuki Cup Asean Football Federation (AFF) Championships last December – should not rest on their laurels.

    “The players have to play against strong oppositions to gain experience – there is no substitute to playing against top class teams. The three EPL teams have a good mix of world-class players and it should serve as a good lesson, especially for the younger players in the national team,” said Rajagopal.

    The coach certainly has a point. His boys will surely benefit from playing against the likes of Frank Lampard, Fernando Torres and David Luiz (Chelsea); Cesc Fabregas, Samir Nasri and Robin van Persie (Arsenal); and Steven Gerrard, Raul Meireles and Luis Suarez (Liverpool).

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  • Wan

    Sure no problems. But ive been searching for official sources but nothing. Only chelsea released a statement that they are planning on touring asia.

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