Ox Delighted With Euro Call-Up

Arsenal winger Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain has said that his selection in England’s European Championship squad is a bit surreal for him but is confident that he can help the national team without being intimidated by the stage. (The Guardian)

The former Southampton attacker impressed for Arsenal in the recently concluded Barclays Premier League season and has been rewarded with a place in the Three Lions squad by their new coach Roy Hodgson.

In an interview with Arsenal.com, Oxlade-Chamberlain said: “I’m obviously delighted. To be picked for your country at any stage is a massive honour and to be at a huge tournament likes the Euros is such a bonus. I would have probably laughed if someone had told me I would be in the Euro 2012 a year ago. Obviously you would like to think that and it is what you aim towards but sometimes you have to be realistic and realise it might take a little bit longer than that.

“So for everything to happen as quickly as it has, it has been surreal and I don’t think it has really sunk in properly yet. I know I haven’t made it and I have a long way to go but this is the first step in what I hope to be a long and successful international career.”

M’Vila to Decide On Future at Season’s End

Rennes defensive midfielder Yann M’Vila, who is being chased by Arsenal, has said that he will decide about his club future when the French Ligue 1 ends this weekend. (Goal.com)

Last week, some news agencies had claimed that the Gunners are on the verge of sealing M’Vila signing. However, so far no confirmations of any kind have been made and now the player has come forward to reveal that he will decide on his future when Rennes’ last game of the season against Dijon is completed.

In a quick word with RMC, M’Vila said: “I’ll make my decision after the game against Dijon [on Sunday].”

He then hinted of a potential summer switch by saying: “It is true that I would like to improve my game and for that, I have to look elsewhere. Why not in a foreign country?”

Juve Not Interested In RVP Anymore

Italian Series A club Juventus have decided to withdraw their interest from signing Arsenal striker Robin van Persie, according to a report published by Goal.com.

The Dutchman only has one more year to run on his existing Arsenal deal and therefore, he is attracting a lot of interest from several giants of the European game. Juve coach Antonio Conte is reportedly keen to add a world class forward to his team for next season and van Persie fits the bill.

However, Goal.com has claimed that Conte has made Napoli frontman Edinson Cavani his number one transfer target as the Arsenal captain’s wage demands would be too much to fulfil for Bianconeri.

Podolski Confident Of Delivering the Goods

New Arsenal signing Lukas Podolski has said that he will do all he can to win trophies for the Gunners and end their trophy drought that has now surpassed the seven-year mark. (The Sun)

While he admits that playing in the Barclays Premier League is no child’s play, he is confident that he can prove himself in North London by scoring lots of goals.

The German international said: “It won’t be easy as the Premier League is quite well balanced, certainly across the top six teams who are all very strong. It will be difficult. But I have joined to win titles and trophies — that is my target. I will do my very best to be successful with Arsenal.

“They play fast in England, score lots of goals and there are tough battles. I enjoy this style of football, so from that point of view I think I will adapt fairly quickly. I’m a player who plays in a similar style.”

Hi, I’m Jules…..Yaaaay! We won today 3-2 at the Hawthorns, which means that we are in the Champions League, third spot secured, C’mon Gunners!

And Happy Saint Totteringham’s Day to all the Gunners out there! What an end to the season. Absolutely fantastic!

Well the first thing I want to say is a little apology because I haven’t been able to do the last few videos. I’ve been so hectically busy and then away on holidays.

But anyway, we’re in third place, I’m so happy with that this year. After the season we’ve had with the injuries, the crisis, the nonsense protest and all the rest of it, it is an achievement, in fact, a great achievement, especially considering where we were a few months ago.

We had that fantastic run after we beat the Spurs 5-2 at the Emirates. Obviously, it is not acceptable for a club like Arsenal and in the coming season I hope that we do improve. So it will be our 15^th consecutive season in the Champions League so that’s credit to Arsene Wenger and the club.

Anyway, in the game today there were a few changes as obviously Bacary Sagna was unavailable due to his leg break last week so Carl Jenkinson replaced him. Francis Coquelin replaced Aaron Ramsey, who got benched, and Andre Santos was called in for Kieran Gibbs.

What a start it was for Arsenal, as after only four minutes Márton Fülöp made an error and Yossi Benayoun capitalised on it to give the Gunners the lead. As against Norwich last week, it was a fantastic start but we lost focus and conceded the equaliser in the 11^th minute. To be fair, it was a clearly offside goal by Shane Long.

Four minutes later, Laurent Koscielny made a mistake and this time Graham Dorrans took full advantage of that and put West Brom up 2-1. But it certainly served as a wake-up call for Arsenal, as they dominated the rest of the first half.

In the 26^th minute, Robin van Persie had a free kick on the edge of the box but unfortunately he hit it right into the wall and then four minutes later, Alex Song fed Santos, who loves to run at opposing defences. The Brazilian left-back shifted the ball from his right foot to the left one and shot it. The ball nicked the inside of the post and went in. The Gunners were back on level terms.

And then just on half-time, West Brom appealed for a ridiculous penalty. They wanted a handball against Coquelin, whose arms were firmly behind his back. When the shot was taken, he was just two metres away and so he obviously turned a bit to avoid getting hit in the face but it was totally unintentional and not a penalty by any means. A minute later in the injury time, Gervinho spurned a great chance to double Arsenal’s lead. His shot ended up hitting the side netting.

Theo Walcott came in for Thomas Rosicky in the second half. In the 53^rd minute, Jenkinson’s error allowed Fortune to shoot at Arsenal goal but Szczesny saved. Two minutes later, Arsenal had a corner. Calamity keeper Fülöp rushed out to push the ball away but ended up punching it towards the goal. Koscielny was lurking around the box and he capitalised on the error to put the Gunners in front once again. From there on, WBA put Arsenal under a fair bit of pressure and threatened to equalise on several occasions.

Andrews drew a fantastic save from Szczesny in the 71^st minute, after which Wenger replaced Santos with Ramsey. WBA then had a free kick outside the box but Szczesny claimed that too.

In the first minute of injury time, van Persie’s shot sailed over the crossbar. Then Billy Jones had the chance of spoiling it all for the Gunners, as in the 93^rd minute of the game, he broke free in the box but Gibbs’ perfectly timed tackle ended that move and saved us.

We did it! 3-2 to the Gunners! What an end to the season.

But anyway, Happy Saint Totteringham’s Day to all the Gooners out there and I have to say that our worst start for fifteen years and their best in fifty so it just shows the difference in class.

I do have a little song. It goes something like that:

Tell all the Spuds you know

Last year we had three games to go

And the year before that

We did it at the last match

You’ll never finish above the Arsenal

Anyway, quick ‘Thank Yous’ for the cap and the badge, a Big Thank You to Pat Rice for all these years of service he has given to Arsenal. Welcome to Bouldy. He has been with the club for a long time so it’s a promotion for him. I’m sure everyone will get behind him as well.

Also thank you to Arsene Wenger and the team and all the fans, especially away fans for all the hard work. And one last thanks to everyone who has been watching these videos all year. Some people liked me some people didn’t but that’s fine with me. Not everyone’s gonna like me I accept that and i don’t have a problem with that. Thank You all!

I’ve got a couple of things going on over the summer so obviously I’ll post them on my YouTube channel or Twitter but they’re not gonna be every week like these have been.

Glad the season is over to be honest with you. I don’t think my health or my heart could take another week of this. I’m saying this now, but I’ll probably be bored in a month. There will be the Euros and all, but I love my club and it comes first and foremost before anything. Anyway, i will see you next season and have a lovely summer.

And one last thing:

#Arseneknew

Jack Wilshere is bidding to bring some silverware to the Arsenal next season and have the chance to goad former Gunners star Samir Nasri in the process.

Nasri won the Premier League title with Manchester City and wasted no time in throwing his success in the faces of Gooners who had blasted him for his move to the Etihad Stadium and cited money as his motivation.

Now Wilshere has taken a swipe at the French midfielder in a radio interview with Talksport. I didn’t get the exact, verbatim quote but it was along the lines of: “I don’t know what goes on in his head, he won a trophy, when we win one we will rub it in his face.” Here’s hoping.

One thing we can be positive about concerning Wilshere is that he is back on track to win his fitness battle and seems certain to be fully fit ahead of the new campaign.He said: “My ankle is fine now, just a few niggles, I will be back training with the team on 9th July.”

For the record, Nasri had said: “People at Arsenal tried to make out that I came here for the money. I hope they are watching me now, collecting my Premier League winner’s medal. I believe they have not won a trophy for many years now.

“I made the hard choice to come and fight for my place at a big club, where they never settle for second best, and I have proved it correct. I now hope the Arsenal fans can get on with their lives and forget me, they should celebrate their third-place achievement and I will focus on winning titles.”

Nasri also suggested that some players at Arsenal are not giving their all to the cause, but are happy to take their wages and settle for third place in the table.  “If all that I was interested in was money, the easiest decision would have been to stay at Arsenal, picking up my money every week and walking into the team,” he said. “There are many people doing this right now at Arsenal.”

CARL ELDRIDGE -Twittering @eldomedia

24 hours later and it still doesn’t make any sense. This team, without Fabregas, Nasri and Wilshere, with the worst start to a season in living memory, without fullbacks for much of the winter period, with the most goals conceded from ridiculous individual errors in the league, has somehow finished in a higher position and with more points than the team that challenged for the title for much of the previous campaign.

Miracle-worker

I’m one of his biggest critics, and would still argue he is not necessarily the man to take us forward, but enormous credit must go to Arsene Wenger for producing something of a miracle this year. Okay, it’s pretty modest in comparison to some of his other work and indeed other great tales of football folklore, but a miracle nonetheless. Football is a results business and, as close as it was in the end, over the course of the season we got more points than Spurs, won more games and scored more goals. They say the table doesn’t lie, and if that’s true then we are where we deserve to be.

However, while the table may not lie, it doesn’t always tell the whole truth. For instance, while we were only one league position behind Manchester United in 2nd, we were actually closer in points to Fulham in 9th place. The fact that we were only one point ahead of Spurs meant that on the last day of the season we were depending on one game to decide whether we finished 3rd, 4th or even 5th. In the end, it was two goalkeeping howlers from Marton Fulop that helped us get the win we needed.

Now, of course, I don’t mean to say that yesterday’s game alone got us 3rd place – we will now obviously look back to big wins at Stamford Bridge, Anfield, Goodison and our mauling of Spurs at a crucial time and say that these were the games that truly made the difference. But it’s weird to think that without Fulop’s help yesterday we might have been looking back regretfully at defeats at Blackburn, Fulham, Swansea or, more recently, the shockingly poor results at home to Wigan and Norwich and pointing out how stupidly we dropped points on so many occasions this season.

What I mean to say is, while celebrating 3rd place, automatic Champions League qualification and yet another St Totteringham’s Day was a lot of fun yesterday, we have to remember how close it was to going very differently.

Chelsea and Spurs implode

For instance, could we seriously have predicted Chelsea would have such a bad season? Sixth in the league is their lowest finish since 2002, and a lot of that is down to the bizarre AVB saga that dominated more than half the season. Whether you choose to believe he simply did a bad job or was forced out by senior players at Chelsea, it was certainly a big surprise and, one would imagine, a one-off. Di Matteo has made them into a solid team again and they could still win the Champions League. If he does, they will surely be a force again next season. In fact, another thing the league table won’t show is that for many of the last few games, Chelsea did not field their best side, and so dropped even more points. If they hadn’t made the Champions League final, their push for 4th would have been more important and they might well have done it. We’ll never know.

And could we really have predicted Spurs’ downfall? If John Terry hadn’t allegedly racially abused Anton Ferdinand, Capello would probably still be England manager and the distraction of the England job wouldn’t have crept into Harry’s head and derailed Spurs’ season. It does seem strange to say that something like that can have such a big effect on a team’s on-field performances, but we’ve seen it before. And once it causes one bad result, it can cause more as the confidence goes. Just as the table last season shows Chelsea and Man City above us and not that we were United’s only real challengers that year, this season’s table does not show that for half the season or more, Spurs were looking like title challengers while we never did at any point.

As happy as I am to finish 3rd after what has been a crazy season, the overwhelming feeling is a sense of relief – that we well and truly got away with it this year. Spurs have really improved and if they finish above us next year, we can’t say we didn’t see it coming. If Chelsea lose the Champions League final, Spurs will presumably qualify for the tournament next season and that will help them keep their best players and attract more. I’m glad we’ve signed Podolski, but more work will need to be done to ensure we can hold off Spurs and a rejuvenated Chelsea next season.

Start of City domination?

Now, a word of congratulations to Manchester City for winning the title yesterday. As much as I hate to see Chel$ki 2.0 buy themselves success, it’s nice that it came at the expense of Manchester United, their horrible manager, cheating players, and their referees.

Many are now worried that after this first league title, City will go on to dominate and spend beyond anyone’s control. This, of course, was the worry when Chelsea first started buying their trophies, but it didn’t really work out for them. At the end of the day, you can only field eleven players at once, and while buying players certainly helps you win games, it also helps to have continuity and a squad that gels well. It was a close-run thing this year and there have been teams with far less in the way of resources such as Newcastle, Everton, Swansea and Norwich who have done incredibly well and produced some surprising results. I think we’d be kidding ourselves if we put Arsenal’s lack of silverware purely down to money; teams who have spent much less than us boast better defensive records than we do and that has to be the absolute priority this summer. We conceded 49 league goals this season, more than a team like Sunderland in 13th place, and the most since the 94/95 season.

Steve Bould effect

With the defenders and goalkeeper we have, we should be doing better. We could perhaps do with a bit more strength in depth as our luck with injuries is always awful, but in general they just need better coaching. Many thanks to the legendary Pat Rice for his services to the club, but I think a shake-up is needed and I’m glad it will be Steve Bould being promoted to Wenger’s assistant. Bould played under George Graham and was part of our best ever back four; he should be able to bring something a bit different to the way our players are drilled.

It’s hard to know how much influence he will be allowed to have, but football is more about coaching than it is about players. I always point to the back four that got us to the Champions League final and set a new record for clean sheets in the competition. If you look at the players in that backline you couldn’t possibly say they are better than our current first choice defence, but the influence of Martin Keown coaching them that season meant that they were, for a long time, unbreakable. Eboue never played that well again and ended up being a laughing stock, ditto Senderos, and Flamini had never played left-back before and never did since. If Bould can come in and do a similar job, then there’s no reason a back four of Sagna, Vermaelen/Mertesacker, Koscielny and Gibbs/Santos can’t go some way to replicating that.

Will 3rd place be enough to keep Robin van Persie? That is the other crucial question that will determine how our next season goes. We might not know for a while, but 3rd place won’t have done us any harm in that respect.

Follow me on Twitter @markbrus

This is it!  This is the big one!  Ninety minutes that can turn a mediocre season into an acceptable one.  Ninety minutes to make certain of third place.  Ninety minutes to confirm Champions League football for the coming season.

Back in August, few would have believed that we could be in third place with one game to play.  After the dreadful start to the season, the Gunners have fought back to a reasonable position, now that fight back must be concluded with one more win.

Today’s opponents, West Bromwich Albion, have battled their way to mid-table respectability. They are about to lose their highly popular manager, Roy Hodgson, following his appointment as England manager.  No doubt they will want to give him a great send-off as well as putting on a show for their loyal supporters.  It’s Arsenal’s job to rain on their parade.  We must have the three points.

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Injuries have again disrupted team selection. Bacary Sagna’s second leg fracture of the season means a probable recall for Carl Jenkinson at right back,  Mikel Arteta will be missing and doubts remain about Theo Walcott’s fitness after a hamstring strain and, of course, Abou Diaby is ruled out.

There is much debate about Aaron Ramsey’s form and whether he should start or not, given the importance of the game I think he should start… on the bench.

Szczesny

 Jenkinson  Koscielny  Vermaelen  Gibbs

 Rosicky   Song   Benayoun

 Walcott (if fit)   Gervinho

 Van Persie

If Walcott doesn’t make it, then Oxlade-Chamberlain should start on the right.

Final Thought

So what’s it to be?  If we lose and other results go against us, it could be fourth or even fifth, but the outcome is in our own hands, a win will earn us third place, guaranteed Champions League competition next season and maybe help convince van Persie to sign a new contract.

Just ninety minutes!  C’mon The Gunners!!

Bendtner Wants Fresh Challenge

Nicklas Bendtner has declared that he wants to leave Arsenal in the summer transfer window on a permanent transfer. The Danish striker spent the 2011/12 Barclays Premier League season on loan at Sunderland but failed to impress the Black Cats manager Martin O’Neill, who is not keen to recruit him on a permanent basis.

The 24-year-old Bendtner will now return to Emirates Stadium after Sunday’s final round and then try to find himself a new club, which could very well be in Germany.

In an interview with Danish football magazine Tipsbladet, Bendtner said: “I am ready for new challenges. I have heard about concrete interest from other clubs, who sound interesting, but I can’t say more than that right now. After all, I am still under contract with Arsenal, so I have to get back to Arsenal and talk to them first.

“On the specific matter of staying with Arsenal, I have to say I need something new to happen for me. There is no panic thinking about my future. Now, it’s all about Euro 2012 for Denmark and afterwards I can look at my club future.”

RVP’s Missus and Mom Want Arsenal Stay

Arsenal captain Robin van Persie’s wife and mother want him to remain a Gunner by signing a new contract in the summer. The Dutch striker, who has just one more season left on his existing deal with Arsenal, is on the radar of several clubs, including Manchester City and Juventus.

While van Persie himself hasn’t publicly addressed his contract issues, his wife Bouchra has. In an interview with the Daily Mirror, she said: “We have been in ­London for eight years now. As a family, we love it here. Robin is captain of Arsenal and, as many people claim, the leader of the Arsenal team.

“Arsenal believed in Robin when he was young and when he was considered as a bit of a rebel. We don’t want to upset things at home either. Our kids, Shaqueel and Dina, go to school here in London. And they are just as happy as we are.”

His mom Jose added: “Arsenal is a ­beautiful club. They have no debts and Robin is being worshipped there. I honestly feel that the fans and the people at the club really love him. That is worth so much, too. When we go to Arsenal and we walk into the stadium with him, it is electrifying.

“As a mum, that fills me with pride. It is really fantastic. When Robin’s granddad, my dad, was over at the Emirates for his (91st) birthday and we were taking pictures inside, I heard grown-up people behind me say: ‘We love Robin’. As a mum, I could not wish for a nicer thing.”

Vorm Not Interested in Backup Role at Arsenal

Swansea goalkeeper Michel Vorm has said that he won’t be moving to Arsenal this summer, as he believes that such a move would only bring him loads of bench time, something which he is not looking for at this stage of his career.

Vorm, who was signed by Swansea for just £1.5 million from Utrecht last year, has established himself as one of the best goalkeepers in the Barclays Premier League. His eye-catching performances have increased his market value to around £5 million and several clubs, including Arsenal, are interested in acquiring his services.

But he has made it clear that he is not interested in warming the bench and therefore, a move to Arsenal is currently off-limits for him. The Dutch custodian told This is South Wales: “I like it here very, very much. I know I am No. 1 here and we play the best football in the league. I train with the best manager in the league so it would be hard for me to leave the club.

“There is no point me being a No. 2. I’m 29 in October and my best years are just starting. After 37 games in the Premier League I feel I have proved my worth so why should I go and sit on the bench somewhere? That’s not for me. Maybe last season it would have been different but things are different now. If I am going to go somewhere I have to be No. 1.”

Wenger Praises ‘Special’ Van Persie

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has lauded captain Robin van Persie for scoring 30 league goals this season and said that the Dutch striker’s achievement is ‘special.’

Van Persie has become only the seventh Arsenal player ever to reach the 30-goal mark in a single season and, according to Wenger, the striker’s historical accomplishment shows just how vital he is to the Gunners.

In an interview with Arsenal Player on Friday, Wenger said: “Robin has done tremendously well. Even on Sunday [against Norwich] he got us back to 2-2 and scored again to make it 3-2.

“Of course you don’t know what more to say about Robin’s season because, as the numbers tell you, only special players can achieve that. You want some more goals around Robin and for him to keep at these numbers. Of course you can beat the records.”

Henry’s Goal Record Decreased By One

Former Arsenal striker Thierry Henry’s club record goals tally has been decreased by one. The French maestro returned to Emirates Stadium for his second spell earlier this year and scored three goals for his beloved club. (Arsenal.com)

But the Dubious Goals Panel has cancelled one of his strikes as, according to them, the last goal in Arsenal’s 7-1 win over Blackburn Rovers was an own goal by Scott Dann and it was added to Henry’s tally by mistake.

Despite the chalked off goal, he still remains Arsenal’s record goal scorer by a long margin. His revised tally of 228 strikes enables him to top the list of Arsenal’s all-time scoring chart. He is followed by Ian Wright, whose record of 185 goals was broken by Henry in October 2005.

Wenger Compares WBA Game to Highbury Finale of 2006

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger sees similarities in this Sunday’s season game against West Brom and the last one played at Highbury against Wigan Athletic in 2006.

Six years ago, Thierry Henry’s final day hat trick secured Arsenal’s Champions League qualification at the expense of fierce rivals Tottenham Hotspur. They need another similar final-day result this time around in order to maintain their Champions League status and Wenger has noticed the common points.

He told Arsenal Player: “It will be a great achievement if we manage to do it. I believe it would be reward for a group which has exceptional strength. They have come through some difficult times, always recovered and always battled. Therefore I will be extremely delighted when we do it.

“[It reminds me of the final game at Highbury] a little bit because the qualifying was the same, with the Champions League at stake. There is even more uncertainty because fourth place is not this time necessarily in the Champions League.

“Let’s make sure we finish third and win our game – that is the only answer we can give. To do that of course you need a full, committed performance from everybody. On that front I am quite sure we will get that from our players and then we will have a very good chance to do it.”

Wenger Expects Summer Transfer Window to Be Quiet

Arsene Wenger has said that he won’t be signings too many players in this summer’s transfer window. The Gunners have already added German striker Lukas Podolski to their squad for next season and are being linked with several other players.

While Wenger admits that he would sign a couple of new players in the summer, he says that the economic and other squad limitations means that their main focus will be to get the best out of their existing players.

He told Arsenal Player: “We have already bought Podolski and we have bought five players during the season when it had already started. Our job will be focused on inside [matters] now we have Podolski. That means to get Jack Wilshere and Abou Diaby back in a healthy situation and then I believe we have quite a big squad. It will be [our intention] to trim a little bit and if possible add one or two players.

“I believe that the summer will be quiet for many reasons,” he added. “First of all in England you have a 25-man limited squad number. Secondly the financial situation all over Europe is really bad and in some countries they have other worries than football. Therefore I expect it to be quiet. In our job, and this is like a football match, it is not completely predictable. But on the vibes I get even from the clubs who are big spenders, they all want to slow down.”

Wojciech Szczesny is struggling to be fit for Arsenal’s vital Premier League encounter with West Brom on Sunday. Reports suggest the Polish keeper has a back problem and a knee injury and faces a race against time to be in shape for the crucial game at the Hawthorns.

Arsenal go in to the game with their destiny in their own hands as far as finishing third and qualifying for the Champions League is concerned. If Szczesny loses his battle to be fit then it would appear that Lukazs Fabianski, seemingly on his way out of the club in the summer because of lack of first team action, will act as his stand-in.

Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger says there should be no need for Arsenal to worry about what the Tottenham and Newcastle results are on Sunday with the Gunners one point ahead and with a better goal difference.

If Arsenal fail to get the required result, we could finish fourth or indeed fifth if Newcastle, who are two points adrift, win and we lose. And if we don’t achieve third spot it’ll mean a nervous wait to see if Chelski win the Champions League final in Munich, which would mean they take the place in the group stage next season with the fourth-placed Premier League side dropping down into the Europa League rather than going into the qualifiers.

We could have sealed our position last week against Norwich but, as you know, were held to a 3-3 draw and Wenger insists Arsenal cannot afford any more defensive errors like they displayed against the Canaries.

And the week before, a win at Stoke would have helped our cause but we came away with a point from a 1-1 draw.

Wenger said: “We were focused and switched on in the last couple of weeks. At Stoke we had a good game and offensively against Norwich we had a good game. Defensively, though, we had not the expected level.

“Maybe we were focused too much on winning the game and forgot that to win the game you need to defend as well.”

CARL ELDRIDGE

Koscielny Highlights the Importance of Champions League Qualification

Arsenal FC defender Laurent Koscielny believes that it is vital for the Gunners to finish the season in third position on the Barclays Premier League points table. (Goal.com)

A win over West Bromwich Albion in this weekend’s final game of the season will ensure that Arsenal retain their current third place. It will also book their place in next season’s UEFA Champions League. But a fourth place finish means that their qualification would depend on how Chelsea fare in their upcoming Champions League final against Bayern Munich.

Koscielny realises how important it is for Arsenal to maintain their Champions League status and therefore, he has urged his teammates to step up and secure their qualification for the tournament by defeating WBA on Sunday.

In an interview with Arsenal.com, the French centre-back said: “Every player wants to be in third place; it is very important for the squad, the club, for everything. We must do it on the pitch to make sure we are in third place after Sunday’s game. Since Arsene Wenger was here, Arsenal have [almost] always qualified for the Champions League, so I don’t want this to be the first team not to qualify.”

Wenger: Gunners Can Handle Pressure  

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is confident that his men will not be intimidated by facing West Bromwich Albion on Sunday in a match that will decide their next season’s Champions League qualification. (Times of India)

The Frenchman claims that his players are used to playing in pressure matches and therefore they will not be frightened by the importance of the occasion.

Wenger said: “We have a massive game in front of us, but I feel we are focused, switched on. I am confident we will do well. For us it is just to find the right mixture – to be focused, combative and relaxed, and especially be faithful to play our football like we want to.

“At the end of the day it will be down to playing well, no matter what is at stake. We have known final days like this before, games where we have played for championships, or qualifying for the Champions League. It is a fantastic opportunity for us, that of course we want to take. We are used to coping with that. At the end of the day, it’s playing football.”

Vela Targets Permanent Transfer Away From Arsenal

Real Sociedad’s on-loan forward Carlos Vela doesn’t want to return to his parent club Arsenal this summer. The 23-year-old Mexican has been loaned by the Gunners on multiple occasions in the past few years but the player now wants things to settle down a bit and therefore, he is looking for a permanent transfer somewhere else. (Goal.com)

The news was broken by the director of Mexican national team’s director Hector Gonzalez, who said: “He [Vela] told us that he does not want to play for Arsenal and he will go to a different club. He asked [not to be called up] so he can play the pre-season and meet his new manager at his new club, because it is almost sure he will not continue on at Real Sociedad.”

Arsenal to Rival Man United In Kagawa Chase

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has reportedly set his sights on Borussia Dortmund’s star playmaker Shinji Kagawa. (The Daily Mirror)

The Japanese midfielder only has one more year on his existing deal with the German champions and therefore, he could be available for as little as £7 million.

Kagawa is also on Manchester United’s radar but now the Gunners have also joined the race to bring him to the Premier League.

Not only is he an exciting player but is also very popular in Asia, which means that he has the potential of benefitting his future employers on both sporting and commercial levels.

Ray Parlour believes Steve Bould can give Arsenal fresh impetus and provide Gunners players with the inspiration to get back amongst the silverware next season.

Arsenal have confirmed that assistant manager Pat Rice will be leaving the club at the end of the season, with youth team coach Bould named as Arsene Wenger’s new No.2. Bould was put in charge of Arsenal’s youth team in 2001, leading us to the 2009 Youth Cup and consecutive FA Academy Premier League titles.

And Bould’s former Highbury team-mate Parlour says the appointment is good news for the club and its supporters. He said: “Steve Bould has obviously been doing a great job with the youngsters at Arsenal and Arsene Wenger has seen first hand how he coached and handles players and motivates them.

“He will bring a new dimension to the role and hopefully he can help turn things round at Arsenal and the club can mount a better challenge for honours next season.”

“Take nothing away from Pat Rice who has been such a loyal servant to the club. But his retirement gives Arsenal the chance to take a fresh look at things and I hope that can lift the players.”

Wenger paid tribute to Rice, who is calling time on his 44-year association with the club. He said: “Pat is a true Arsenal legend and has committed almost his whole life to Arsenal Football Club, which shows huge loyalty and devotion to this club.

“Pat has been amazing for me over the past 16 years. When I first arrived at Arsenal, Pat was always there and taught me so much about this great club. I will always be indebted to him for his expert insight into Arsenal and football as a whole. On the training pitches and on matchdays, Pat has always been a passionate, loyal and insightful colleague, who we will all miss.

“Thank you Pat, we’ll miss you and all of us wish you and your family the best of health and happiness for the future. Although, we’ll still see Pat a lot, as I know he’s planning to come to all the home matches as a supporter!”

CARL ELDRIDGE