Thursday, 23 May 2013

Backpage Roundup: Gotze to Stay Put, Ox Confident of Top-Four Finish, Wenger’s Rejection of Neville’s Views, Vermaelen’s Cry and More

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Gotze’s Agent Rules Out Summer Switch Arsene Wenger’s purported plan of signing Mario Gotze for Arsenal this summer has been dealt a major blow, as the Borussia Dortmund starlet’s agent has announced that his client is not seeking a transfer at all. Gotze was thought to be one of Arsenal’s primary targets after reports recently [...]

Arsenal doesn’t break a sweat in 4-1 win over Reading

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Chelsea’s loss was Arsenal’s gain on Saturday March 30. The Gunners didn’t really break a sweat while disposing of an uninterested Reading side 4-1 at home while Rafael Benitez led his men to another loss, this one a 2-1 defeat down on the south coast at Southampton. Spurs managed to beat Swansea 2-1 to sneak [...]

Arsenal breathing down Chelsea’s and Spurs necks

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Arsenal crept closer to Chelsea and Tottenham with a solid 2-0 win at Swansea on Saturday and kept their second away clean sheet in a row. The game lacked drama though as the Gunners were more or less in control of the proceedings right from the opening kickoff and very rarely seemed to be in [...]

Too little too late for Arsenal

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You can’t criticize a team that went into Munich and beat the Bundesliga leaders 2-0 in their own backyard. However, it was still a case of too little too late for Arsenal as they needed a third goal to secure a spot in the European Champions League quarterfinals and lost on the away-goals rule after [...]

Champions League now Arsenal’s only hope for silverware

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Arsenal’s one and only chance to break their long trophy drought this season is to become the champions of Europe by capturing the European Champions League. Everything else has flown out the window now with the club being eliminated from the FA Cup in the fifth round on Sat. Feb. 16 with a less than [...]

Backpage Roundup: O’Neill Sees Brady in Wilshere, Wenger Shocked by Match-Fixing Scandal, Vermaelen Talks up Arsenal Quality, Sakho’s Threat and More

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O’Neill Sees Brady in Wilshere Sunderland manager Martin O’Neill has heaped praise on Jack Wilshere for the quality he has shown since returning to action this season and likened him to Arsenal legend Liam Brady. The 21-year-old midfielder finally recovered from his foot-related injuries earlier this season and has been one of Arsenal’s best performers [...]

Arsenal gains ground with 1-0 win over lacklustre Stoke

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Arsenal’s pedestrian 1-0 win over a toothless Stoke side could see them gain points on every club that stands between them and the coveted fourth-place position in the table this weekend. With Rafael Benitez’s Chelsea dropping more points via a 3-2 last-minute loss in Newcastle and Everton fighting back from a 3-1 deficit to draw [...]

It’s feast or famine with Arsenal

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Some days Arsenal create chance after chance, but just can’t put the ball in the net. On other occasions they seem to have the Midas touch as everything they do ends up past the opposing keeper. Their London derby against West Ham at the Emirates on Jan. 23 was a prime example of the latter [...]

Arsenal show up unprepared for Man City

About Diaby

Arsenal simply wasn’t prepared for Man City at the Emirates on Sunday Jan. 13 and paid for it with a 2-0 defeat. Manager Arsene Wenger said his players were too timid at the start of the match and allowed City to dictate the pace. However, defender Laurent Koscielny was far from timid when he placed [...]

Arsenal rings in 2013 with inconsistent showing in Southampton

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Being unpredictable is so predictable for Arsenal. You just never know what you’re going to get with this team once they take to the pitch. Their 1-1 draw in Southampton on New Year’s Day was a prime example of this. They’re basically consistently inconsistent and with the aid of an own goal and one which [...]

Arsenal kisses 2012 goodbye in style

Theo Walcott scores against Udinese

Arsenal blew the doors off of a weakened Newcastle side 7-3 at the Emirates Stadium on Dec. 29 in a thoroughly entertaining finale to 2012. However, don’t let the final score fool you, Newcastle was neck and neck with the Gunners right up until the 69th minute and also had 56 per cent of ball [...]

Backpage Roundup: Song Wants Arsenal Barca Meeting, Five Gunners Pen New Deal, Vermaelen Doing Nothing to Convince Walcott, Ba’s Confession and More

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Song Wants Barca to Be Paired With Arsenal Alexandre Song has revealed that would love to play his former club Arsenal in the next round of the UEFA Champions League. The 25-year-old midfielder, who was sold to Barcelona in the summer, says that he has fond memories of his time in North London and would [...]

Arsenal within reach of fourth place after 5-2 dismantling of Reading

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Arsenal inched closer to fourth place in the Premier League standings with a thorough 5-2 beating of Reading at the Madejski Stadium on Monday Dec. 17. Santi Claus came early this year for the Gunners as Spanish midfield maestro Santi Cazorla banged in a hat trick with goals in the 32nd 34th and 60th minutes. [...]

Arsenal crashes out of League Cup with quarterfinal loss to Bradford

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No matter what Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger would have you believe, his team certainly was embarrassed on Tuesday night up in Bradford when the League Two outfit eliminated them from quarterfinal stage of the Capital One Cup. That’s the old League Cup for those who can’t keep up with the regular name changes of the [...]

Arsenal back in the saddle after win over West Brom

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Arsenal put in a pretty solid performance at the Emirates on Dec. 8 to come away with a 2-0 win over West Brom in front of a lively crowd. Mikel Arteta scored both goals from the penalty spot in the 26th and 64th minutes to seal the victory. Although there was a lot of controversy [...]

Backpage Roundup: Bendtner Wouldn’t Mind Spurs Move, Walcott Not Leaving In January, Frimpong Departs On Loan, Ramsey Targets Montpellier Win and More

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Bendtner Wouldn’t Mind Playing For Spurs In a confession that would make him even more unpopular than before among Arsenal fans, Nicklas Bendtner has revealed that he would be open to signing for Tottenham Hotspur if the Gunners decide to sell him next summer. The Danish striker, who is currently on loan at Juventus from [...]

Arsenal and Spurs set to battle it out

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Two of Arsenal’s biggest matches this season, like every other season, will be against arch rival Tottenham Hotspur in a pair of North London derbies. The first of these highly-anticipated showdowns takes place at home at Emirates Stadium on Sat. Nov. 17. With seventh-place Spurs ahead of the eighth-place Gunners in the league table and [...]

Ox helps Chelsea beat Arsenal

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain helped Chelsea overcome a strong Arsenal side 3-1 recently. Even Fernando Torres scored. What’s this? A premonition, perhaps? No, this did happen recently, when the Ox took on other Arsenal players in a FIFA 13 game tournament. Quite why some players had to play as teams other than Arsenal isn’t really known, or [...]

Backpage roundup: Jenkinson trains with England, Wenger plotting moves for Llorente and Lopez, Fulham want Arshavin, Ox’s relief and more

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Jenkinson Trains with Three Lions Squad Carl Jenkinson trained with the England squad on Sunday although it wasn’t an official call-up and he won’t be a part of the Three Lions squad for their upcoming World Cup qualifier against Poland. England were using Arsenal’s London Colney training ground on Sunday and so Hodgson decided to [...]

Oxlade-Chamberlain and Walcott’s contrasting England experience

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There are a lot of highs and lows in professional football and two Arsenal players experienced different ends of the scale on Friday while playing for England. Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Theo Walcott both started the match for the Three Lions at Wembley on Oct. 12 as England successfully beat San Marino 5-0 to win their [...]

Backpage roundup: Wenger better than Guardiola, Cazorla eyes more improvement, Ox dreams of England century, Akpom’s pro deal and more

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Wenger Better than Guardiola – Hleb Former Arsenal midfielder Aliaksandr Hleb regards Arsene Wenger as a better coach than Pep Guardiola and says that the former taught him more than the latter. The 31-year-old Belarusian, who now plays for his hometown club Bate Borisov, spent several years under both Wenger and Guardiola earlier in his [...]

Carl Jenkinson – Risen from the ashes

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Few can forget the humiliation of the 8-2 thumping at Old Trafford last season. Especially so for Arsenal’s 20-year-old right back, Carl Jenkinson. Brought in from Charlton Athletic in the June 2011 as a little-known local boy, Jenkinson was almost immediately called into first-team action despite his lack of experience due to an injury crisis [...]

Backpage roundup: Arsenal psychologically damaged, Ox’s Southampton release, Martinez ready to step up, Walcott offered central role and more

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Wenger Admits Gunners Are ‘Psychologically Damaged’ Arsene Wenger has admitted that Saturday’s 2-1 defeat to Chelsea has inflicted some psychological damage on his men and they would now have to work on their defence to recover from that setback. Two individual errors from central defender Laurent Koscielny handed the Blues the win but Wenger believes [...]

Arsenal tastes defeat for first time this season

Theo Walcott scores against Udinese

The way Arsenal kicked off the season with two uninspiring 0-0 draws against Sunderland and Stoke City; they’ve perhaps done well to go six league games before losing. What really hurts though is that the loss came at home to Chelsea, who has now expanded their league lead to seven points over the seventh-place Gunners. [...]

Backpage roundup: Wenger’s hails Cazorla’s humility, Girard’s warning for Wenger, Ox earns Adkins’ praise, Ian Wright loves Drogba and more

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain

Wenger: Success Won’t Get to Oxlade-Chamberlain’s Head Arsene Wenger is confident that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will keep his feet on the ground despite the instant success he has achieved on both the Premiership and international levels. The teenage winger’s impressive performances for Arsenal last season forced England coach Roy Hodgson to pick him in his squad [...]