Player Close-Up: Jack Wilshere

Full name: Jack Andrew G. Wilshere 
D.O.B: 1st January 1992 (age 19) 
Place of Birth: Stevenage,England
Club: Arsenal F.C. 
Position: Central midfielder
Height: 5ft 7 inch 
Blood Type: Arsenal 


Jack Wilshere is perhaps THE brightest talent to have emerged from the Arsenal Academy since a certain Cesc Fabregas.Jack was born in Stevenage,England and grew up in Hitchin.


Jack is an Arsenal man through and through.He joined the Arsenal Academy at the age of nine and has never looked back.He rose through the ranks at the academy and was made captain of the the U-16s team and also made appearances for the U-18s after taking part in the Champions Youth Games at the age of 15.

Future main man for Arsenal and England

In February 2008,at the age of 16,he made his first appearance for Neil Banfield's reserve team.He started against Reading and scored the only goal of the match.By the end of that season,he had notched up 2 goals and 2 assists in three appearances for the reserve side.


His performances for the reserve side helped him gain a place in the first team at the start of the 08-09 season.He started to make mainstream news during the pre-season friendlies.His first appearance for the senior team was as a second half substitute against Lower League opposition Barnet,setting up a goal for Jay Simpson.he made his PL debut against Blackburn in September 2008.At the age of 16 years and 256 days,he broke Fabregas's record of Arsenal's youngest league debut-ante.He scored his first professional goal against Sheffield Utd in a 6-0 rout in the League Cup.But after that he did not play a heavy part in that disastrous campaign which saw Arsenal finish 4th in the league.


The 09-10 season was a very important season for Jack for many reasons.He signed his professional contract tying him for a pretty long time in January 2009.He played phenomenally well in the Emirates Cup with 2 MOM performances.He still failed to make his way into the first team,mainly because Diaby had a pretty good season.So Arsene Wenger decided to not let him waste his talent and sent him out on-loan to Bolton in the winter transfer window.He went on to make 14 appearances for Bolton and was soo impressive that they even tried to sign him on for another season.But Wenger had other ideas for this mistral.


10-11 has been the breakthrough season for this English Gunner.He started in the opening high profile match against Liverpool and has never had to look back.He has cemented his place in the Arsenal starting line-up adn started in almost every one of Arsenal's league games this season(missed out on 3 due to suspension).Eventhough he doesn't look the part, Jack is a very physical player with great creativity and vision.His passing is of the highest standards and eventhough he has been a bit shy in front of the goal in the 
beginning of the season he has been taking a lot more shots of late.


One of the high points of his season would have been the Champion's league match(1st leg) against Barcelona,where he went up against what was touted as "the world's best" midfield pair of Xavi and Iniesta and stood his ground and caused them discomfort.He played a very influential 2nd half and completed 90% of his passes in the final third and nearly scored in the famous 2-1 win.

Xavi who?

Jack made his full England debut against Denmark in February 2011 and has since made a total of 3 appearances for the Three Lions.When asked whether the Arsenal midfielder is now set to be a regular first-team player for the national side, Capello replied: “Yes, yes, because he is good, because he plays without fear, and with confidence.Also for someone so young, he is a leader. It is incredible. I never saw someone so young be a leader on the pitch. It is incredible.Wilshere, after the game against Barcelona, he has arrived. He has arrived. You can understand the value of that sort of performance. As a young player, I think he is at the top, not only in England but Europe and the world." 

Jack has grown to be a fan favorite and he often interacts with the fans through his Twitter account  and his rivalry with Van Persie for the follower race has been endearing.He recently came in the news for shouting at a cabbie for wearing a Spuds hat.It only goes to show how much he loves the club and we as fans LOVE YOU.


This is just the beginning for young Jack.He has already being touted as a future England captain.He just needs to keep his head down and get on with his work and he will be a Legend for Club and Country.


Thats all for the day folks,I will leave you with an interview with Wenger about the latest developments at the club during the interlull.You can follow me on Twitter or Facebook.Have a good day.


THIS IS GOOONEEERBUUURGH!!!

Interlulyaaaaaaaaawn

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwwwn.....boring times these are.....living in a cricketing nation with no live football to watch......boring times these are....

        So we go into a rather loong interlull knowing that quite a few of our players have packed their bags to go play for their countries,14 to be exact.For some of the players on this list it will be some very much needed playing time so they can get back into the groove for the final lap of the league.For others,it will be a bit too much football for the season.For example,Wilshere has featured for a hell lot of games for the club this season.The only games he missed were the one he got suspended from.So a rest would do him good.....but i don't think Capello is planning on resting him.

The injured players left back will have a good rest and will be ready for the remaining of the season,that list includes Alex Song,Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas.These are some pretty big names and they will have to be firing in all cylinders if we are to win the league this season.

Talking about injuries,we have some positive news.Johan Djourou had an exploratory surgery and it has been found that no further experiments need to be conducted on him,and that he will be out for a minimum of four weeks.And in the case of Wojciech,the keeper is set for a scan on April 5th(that far off???don't ask me,i don't know why).He is still working in the training ground.He says "I work in the gym everyday, working on my lower body and my distribution as well which will be very good for me. I’m not getting bored, I can still do a lot of stuff." 

Back to what he does best

While we are on the topic of keepers,over the week there have been a lot of talk about getting Almunia dropped,but when you come to think of it,do we actually want a 41 year old retiree to be the one between our sticks?I know he is/was a great keeper,but the best option would be to wait it out and hope that by the time Wojciech is back,we haven't dropped any/many points.Maybe it is the return of Jens that was the problem,instead of keeping Almunia on his toes,he must have scared the shit out of him into making those mistakes on Saturday.Well,we'll never know(or maybe we will).


In other news,Russian billionare Alisher Usmanov has increased his stakes in the club to over 27% closing in on the 29.99% mark which prompts a takeover bid.His group,Red and White Holdings have been steadily acquiring shares since 2010 and maybe a change of scenery can be expected.

Our very own Cash Pit

We have a relatively easier run-in to the end of the season compared to the others,so there are hopes that United might tire out and so on.....but anything can happen.So here's to a great end to the premier league and let me get back to my sleeping.I shall leave you all with a video of an interview with Wojciech. You can follow me on twitter or facebook,your choice.Have a great day folks..

West Bromwich Pre-Match Videos+Jens Lehmann Interview

Wenger's Pre-Match Conference

Wilshere's Pre-Match Interview

Van Persie Pre-Match Interview

Squillaci's Pre-Match Interview

                                                     Lehmann's Interview

Return of the MAD GERMAN?? + Ignasi Miquel Close-Up Vid

It feels a bit weird today.The past few weeks have been kinda hectic and we had a match every mid-week other than the normal weekend ones.So to finally have a whole week in between games has been........strange.This break will do only good for the team who have had a tough week.

         It has been a very interesting week this......We heard a lot of news.The return of an'Invincible',the early comeback of Johan Djourou or the rise in ticket prices to name a few.

A lot of stuff is going on at the Emirates and the return of Lehmann is the most exciting one.After the injury of Wojciech we were down with Mr.Inconsistent and Mr Debutant.Not the best of situations.When asked about the situation,Wenger said that he was considering an emergency loan.Well you can see the emergency,but its not like you are gonna get anyone good for loan towards the end of the season.So he went for the best available Free Agent.

This is how the whole situation went down (in my head).

The boss's office
ENTER JENS LEHMANN

Arsene Wenger(AW): Jens!!! What are you doing here?
Jens Lehmann(JL): Ummmmm i came here for the temporary coaching position.....for my liscence.....come on boss don't say you forgot..
AW: Ahhh yes i remember ziz,u are going to shout at ze kids....
JL: Yes boss.
AW: (Thinking)
JL: Umm boss??
AW: Jens,how are you?Physically?
JL: I am not that type....
AW: Bête,i mean,do you train?
JL: Again,i am not that type.
AW: Parfait(forgot he was ziz stupid),i mean do you play football nowadays? 
JL: Football? Ahhh yes....i am as fit as i can be.
AW: Good,you know about ze current goalkeeper situation here i presume?
JL: Yes,you are stuck with the talentless Spaniard.
AW: Yes,and can you play backup for that talentless Spaniard? It pays more.
JL: You serious?
AW: Sure,after all we have one of ze biggest wage budget around,i can fit you in somewhere.
JL: Thank you boss!
AW: No problem,make you sure don't shout at anyone.
JL: Can't promise that.
AW: Ahh well, atleast not at ze kids.
JL: They are all kids!!
AW: You know what i mean.
JL: OK,Danke!
AW: Now leave.
JL: Good day sir.
AW: (Hmmmmm problem solved.)
JL: (I am back Spaniard..buahahaha).

HE IS BACK
                                                                                        ©WonderGunner

The injury crisis going on at the club took a change in direction when the Swiss FA announced that the shoulder injury sustained by Djourou playing against Man Utd was not that serious and that he could be back before the end of the month.The Arsenal Medical team said differant and the article that was posted suggesting this has since been removed.

     It is now understood that Djourou will undergo a corrective surgery later on this week.Given that Vermaelen is out for the season this is  another huge blow for the year's campaign.Djourou had been the most consistent defender for the team this season and now we are left with a not so gelled combination of Koscielny and Squillaci.All we can do is hope for the best for now.

                                        What  Djourou should do to Recover


With two first team defenders out for the season,a lot of responsibility has fallen onto the shoulders of the reserve team captain Ignasi Miquel.Below is a video which talks about his life in London and his transition to the first-team.

                                                 Ignasi Miquel Close-Up


In other news,in the light of the half yearly financial losses,the club management have increased the prices for 7000 of the 'Club Level' seats by 6.5%.In the current economic situation this is a dangerous move by the board and could possibly scare away a few fans.I would suggest the Club management to try and find ways to increase their commercial pull and make money off from that.

Save a Life,Donate

On a personal note,i send my thoughts and prayers for the people of Japan,I urge every reader to make a donation to the 'Save The Children' charity who are doing groundwork in Japan.Save a Life,Make a Donation.


Thats all for the day people.You can follow me on Twitter or Facebook.As usual have a great day.

Arsenal-0 Manchester Utd-2.....Bad luck continues

It has been a very bad 10 days for all Arsenal fans.A draw against Sunderland,and 2 losses that cost us two competitions.These are testing times for Gooners.Hope we can get out of this slump and get on with it.

      Before the match,seeing the squad,there was a general air of curiosity about the 11 chosen by Alex Ferguson.With the amount of injuries that they had,they were forced to start with seven,yes seven defenders.Everybody was thinking their manager had gone mental,but none had the sense to see that Fabio and Rafael where very much attacking players and so they proved yesterday.But for me,the real man who changed the game yesterday was a certain Edwin Van der Sar.For unknown reasons,goalkeepers seem to have the game of their lives against Arsenal(this season in particular).I guess it is some kind of a curse.I shall put on my Mayan costume and dance around a fire,maybe that will work.

Coming back to the game,it was a difficult result to swallow.We lost the game even though we played well.We controlled the game and created real good chances.But when it came to taking those chances,we failed miserably.Two prominent misses were Chamakh's header and Rosicky's sitter.The finishing was sloppy.That was all there was to it.

   The first half we were controlling the game and playing some good football until,we conceded a goal in virtually the first chance they had.Some messy defending let Fabio have a clean shot on goal after Almunia had made a good save from a Hernandez header.This has been our primary weakness.....we keep dominating possession but,when we lose the ball,we become susceptible to lack of concentration in defense.If we are to win anything this season,we have to be sharper to the quick counters into the defense.

    Once we were one goal down,we looked likely to concede another one.Well this is not the right way to respond,but that was exactly what happened and there we were 2-0 down against a team playing seven defenders.Not the best situation to be in.On came Chamakh,Rosicky&Ramsey(YEAH he played!!) for Denilson,Diaby and Arshavin.Two who came on had chances to turn the game,but both of them missed their chances.

So it was proved once again that we were low in the 'Luck' department and we were out of another competition.Knocked out of two competition in a span of 5 days,and to think we had a chance for a quadruple only 3 weeks ago is all the more saddening.But I (as should all fans) believe in Wenger and his plans to attain Self-Sustenance.It will take time for the squad to mature into winners and i am willing to wait.Being an Arsenal fan is a tough job and it requires a hell lot of patience.

In the injury dept there were huge positives and negatives yesterday. Aaron Ramsey got some playing time yesterday.He showed some nice touches and made some good runs,but couldn't do much to change the game.But his is a welcome addition with Cesc out for 3 weeks.Maybe he could start against West Brom......

Rambo is back!!!

                  The bad news is the demise of Djourou's campaign.Sagna and Djourou collided in the penalty box resulting in a dislocated collarbone for the Swiss.It is a huge dent in our defense and we will have to run the rest of the season on an inconsistent defensive partnership of Koscielny and Squillaci.Maybe Miquel will also get to play a part.So we go into the last stretch of the league with two fit first-team CBs and one fit first-team keeper.Not soo good.

Wenger's post-match interview:

The manager has a tough job of bringing the belief of this team back in order.With no other target left,Wenger will have nothing else in mind other than winning the EPL.With the other teams having slightly busier schedules than us,we have a better chance of winning the league,and with Song, Walcott and Fabregas all back after the International break,we really have a good race to the finish this year.

Thats it for now folks!! Have a nice day!! You can follow the blog on twitter or Facebook.
I leave you with a video for all BUSSACA haters!

Transfer Alert!!! Chris Foy for £ 20 million...Arsenal and Man Utd interested

The two  big heavyweights of the competition face off in the quarterfinal stage today.Arsenal(10) and Man Utd(11) have 21 FA cup trophies between them.They have faced  each other 13 times in the competition, and it has been pretty even with Man Utd winning 6 times and Arsenal winning 5 times (2 ended in a draw).

        The fixture is a very important for Arsenal and Man Utd.It comes off the back of a disappointing week where they were screwed over by the referee in both their matches.Both the teams will be coming into the match  looking to get back on track.

A lot of talk has been going on about referee performances in recent matches.Some of the decisions made by the match officials has been atrocious.People have even been talking about bought match officials.UEFA even charged Wenger and Nasri for their comments about the Barcelona match.Ferguson remained silent to the press after the Chelsea match.A lot has been going on.The talk going around,coming in to this match has been surrounding which team the referee,Chris Foy will be playing for....

Who will win the Transfer Battle?

Both teams are pretty depleted coming into the game.Man Utd are without Ferdinand,Anderson and Nani.So the pace in their game is depleted a bit.There are rumors that Valencia might play,but I don't expect Ferguson to start him.Arsenal are without Walcott,Fabregas,Wojciech(6 weeks at least),Song and long-term absentees Vermaelen and Fabianski.The team still looks pretty strong.

Arsenal have been forced into replay twice in this competition already,and another axtra match is hardly what they need right now.They should go all out and try to win this at Old Trafford.Manchester United have won all of their last eight home matches,and are unbeaten against Arsenal in their last six encounters.So the tide could change this time round and maybe Arsenal can pull off an upset.It would be a major uplift for the team,who have been pretty down in morale lately.

Arsene's pre-match conference video is posted below.He talks about the damage done by the UEFA to the club and that he wants them to apologize and so on....

Wenger's Pre-match Conference

Arsene says he will be playing his best side, so I expect Djourou and Kos to start alongside Sagna and Gibbs(maybe).Diaby should play,he should compensate the physicality of Song.Also Van Persie is expected to start after playing less than expected on Tuesday.

Possible line-up: Almunia,Sagna,Djourou,Koscielny,Gibbs,Diaby,Wilshere,Nasri,Van Persie & Arshavin.

The last time these two teams met,Man Utd walked away 1-0 winners thanks to a Park goal.Both teams looked pretty even then and it will be the same this time as well.Both the teams look pretty strong on paper and it will be tough to predict a score.,I will go with a 1-1 draw with a replay at the Emirates on the cards.

I know all the fans are pretty down so I leave you with a video clip that will cheer you all up.Watch it,comment and share.Have a good day folks!!!

Nike  CTR360

WOW!!! Refs really are ASSES!!!

Barcelona are great at playing the beautiful game.We all know that.They were holding a class at it on the pitch.But we were adapting and holding on.......until the REF started to play as well.........Thats two games in a row now.....where we were robbed of a fair game.

    The match was pretty one sided,but we could've held on for the draw.The second yellow card that led to Van Persie's dismissal really was a joke.There is no other way to put it,a yellow card for a second?? And no action for what Adriano,Abidal or Valdes did?? Well now we know who the Ref was supporting.

This is not wrong...IT IS LEGAL TO CHOKE        
                                                                                                                                                  @WonderGunner

Barcelona totally dominated the first half.We didn't even get a shot on goal,but that was expected.We were playing Barcelona,masters of possession football.But we knew they would tire out in the second half.Signs of it were beginning to show as well,and we started roaming forward more.We got a goal and the game was back in balance.We stood a chance.....atleast till a moment of (absolute) stupidity from the referee.Once we were down to 10 men,playing against the world's best team(at the moment) was.......well it turned out to be a complete disaster...

One positive from the game was Almunia's performance.He showed that he still has quality.We all know that he has the quality,but there is no consistency to his performance.In the absence of Wojciech he has a good chance to reclaim the no.1 spot.Samir Nasri ran and ran the whole day.He worked real hard in defense and tried to move the game forward. In-fact the whole team worked real hard and they didn't deserve an ending like this.

There will be a lot of regrets and 'what ifs'.But what's happened,has happened.There is no changing it.We are out of the Champion's league and that's that.Its not easy being a fan.But we will just have to get through it.The team's response to this really matters.We are gonna play another very tough match this weekend.Man Utd away in the FA Cup.We all can say 'only a win will do',but all i say is'only our best will do',coz that is all that i can ask for.

         The match had its list of casualties.Fabregas was reportedly playing through pain to finish the match and will be out of the FA Cup fixture against Man Utd.Wojciech was replaced by Almunia in the first half and has been found to have a dislocated finger.A detailed checkup will determine the amount of time he will be out of action.There has been a lot of rumors floating that he is out for the season.But there is no official confirmation.Reserve keeper Shea has been called back early from his loan spell to make the bench for the FA cup fixture.

Thats all for the day...Keep your chin up.....WE ARE GUNNERS!!!!! ONLY ONE ARSENAL!!!

Share and leave your comments......

©goonerburgh

Refs are Asses + Wenger Mindfucked Barcelona

The Sunderland game was a disappointing one in many ways.We played pretty badly in the first half,but i thought we did make some pretty good chances,maybe we will do better.In the second half we totally dominated Sonderland and well,we still didn't win.We still didn't win.There seems to be a lot of that going around....We give our all and still not win,hmmmmmmmmmmmm why could that be???? LET THE BLAMING BEGIN!!!!
Blame it on the linesman
Got you feeling low man
Blame it on Bramble
Got you in a Shamble
Blame it on the R e e e e e Referee
Blame it on the R e e e e e e Referee 
(to be sung to the tunes of 'Blame it on the alcohol' by Jamie Foxx)


Some of the decisions made during the match were sooo bad that........ahhhh i dont wanna talk about it.A clear penalty and a goal disallowed in the same match against the same team says a lot for itself....

          Sunday morning was pretty sad......but things started to get better as the day progressed.First i read that Wilshire was fine and ready to take on Barcelona,then later on in the evening Manchester Utd got pawned by Liverpool (one thing i love more than Arsenal winning,is Man Utd losing) thanks to a hat-trick by Kuyt(the ultimate opportunist) & crybaby Nani got injured(not as good an actor as C.Ronaldo).Finally things were looking good.So it became a weekend where we ended up a point closer rather than falling behind by more..

Now the focus is on Barcelona on Tuesday.We lead 2-1 on aggregate.But that doesn't matter.Once they get started,those guys can score a lot of goals.So what we have to do is hang on for the first 45 mins without losing a goal.If we do so,we pretty much have the game in our hands.

    A lot of talk has been going around this weekend about the team that would be travelling to Barcelona.On Saturday Jack Wilshere was said to be a doubt for the Barcelona fixture with some sort of ankle problem he picked up from the Sunderland game.When asked about the injury list,Wenger said "No Walcott. No Van Persie. Fabregas has a chance."


Come Sunday,Wilshere tweeted "Afternoon everyone..just to let you know i am not injured and if selected will be fit to face Barca! Few kicks but nothing too bad!"The Arsenal website confirmed this later on.Fabregas was reported to have a 90% chance of playing in the game,but Alex Song was confirmed out.When asked about this,Wenger said "Fabregas will have a final test today,It is 90 per cent he will travel and be fit. It is vital for us because he is important in the transition between attacking and defending. He is also the leader of the team so we want him there.Alex Song  is completely out. He had a test on Sunday morning and it was negative. Wilshere will be fit. Everybody else who played on Saturday should be available."


  
                             Monday morning Arsenal.com posted pictures of the team's final training session at London Colney.Surprise surprise,RVP is training with the team!!!The man who was ruled out for 2-3 weeks is magically back and in full training.The whole team looked pretty confident in the pictures,i mean who will not be???Their most potent goal threat was back to full training and had a chance to play in the all important tie....Ofcourse,there was no official statement till about late afternoon.

Manager of the Decade

Van Persie playing.....well that changes quite a lot,for Barcelona....Here they were,planning on ways to handle Bendtner and thinking 'Hey,we have this in the bag.",till Wenger enters with the ultimate surprise"Ermmmm guys......Van Persie is fit and will playing on Tuesday.......sorry(evil grin)..."That changes the whole game plan,we play differently when each of these strikers play,and it takes a very different  approach to cope with it.I bet Barcelona players are shitting their pants thinking of how they are gonna cope with Van Persie,Arshavin,Nasri,Fabregas&Wilshere with both their starting center-backs out.......We still go into this game as underdogs,but with a more fighting chance...

Guess who's back?? Back again!!    
                                               courtesy @WonderGunner

                                  
               Although even with Van Persie fit,i don't expect him to start.The risk of him to tighten up his muscles is great.I am hoping Wenger wont take that chance.With Song and Walcott out,i expect Diaby and goal hero Arshavin to start.The defense looks pretty solid with Kos and Johan at the back.With Wojciech back to his best,i expect both Sagna and Clichy to act more like wingers and make a lot of runs forward.Wilshere will play a deeper role in midfield and try breaking up the play between Xavi &co.

During the pre-match conference Pep said that he had a lot of players like Wilshere in his second team........wait he does?????I wonder,then why would Barcelona try soooo hard to buy Cesc from us if they have such talent.......(something to ponder on)

Predicted line-up: Wojciech,Sagna,Djourou,Koscielny,Clichy,Diaby,Wilshere,Arshavin,Fabregas,Nasri,  Bendtner

              A win would do a lot in terms of morale for the team.A positive result would be the perfect preperation with another tough fixture against Man Utd (FA Cup) coming this weekend.

My prediction for the game is a 2-2 draw.I am sure all the fans will be happy with this result.Personally i would even take a 3-2 loss with us going ahead on away goal rules.....But I'd rather have the team squash Barcelona at Nou Camp and just show them their place.They are a good team,but are getting pretty vain these days....

           Thats all for the day folks,post your comments below and follow me on twitter for more news and banter on Arsenal FC.

Wenger's post match conference + Arshavin close up vids

Well we drew yesterday and it felt like a loss......i have a lot to write about,but i no pro to write when i am a disappointed dud.So i leave you with the full post match press conference with Arsene Wenger below.

Post-match conference

An Andrei Arshavin exclusive close up video is posted below for those interested..

Andrei Arshavin Exclusive

Sunderland-3 points closer? + Miyachi Exclusive Interview!

Arsenal are playing Sunderland at the Emirates and it's a good chance for us to get closer to Man Utd or even get the chance to top them on the table.The main talking point of this game is the probable return of a certain Aaron Ramsey.He hasn't played for the first team since his horrific accident over a year ago. He'll be coming off the back of a successful loan period to Cardiff. "There is a chance Aaron could be available in the squad for Saturday," Arsene Wenger told Arsenal TV Online on Thursday. With both Fabregas and Song out of the game, he'd be welcome addition... but the likelihood is he'll start the game on the bench.

The last time we met Sunderland, it was under similar circumstances,with a chance to get to the top of the table if we'd won...the match ended in a draw.The game was pretty bland except for two exceptional goals, each in their own way.The first one happened when Anton Ferdinand's clearance took a deflection off Fabregas's boot all the way up to the halfway line, and somehow found the net.That deflection left our captain injured. The second goal came well into extra-time from Darren Bent (a looooot of arguments over the extended extra-time because of that one).

The Arsenal team has not lost a single EPL match in 2011, keeping six clean sheets in the process. Our home form has been good with us winning our last four matches at the Emirates. Sunderland, on the the other hand,  have had a rather different start to the year.They've lost all of their last four games AND lost their most prolific scorer, Darren Bent, in the transfer window to Aston Villa. So you can expect THE team going all out, hungry for their very first win at the Emirates. The players starting will have to be on their toes during the full 90 minutes if they hope to get a win.

Riding on a wave of confidence after a MOTM performance against Orient, Nicklas Bendtner is confident that the team has moved on from Sunday's defeat and are ready to move to the top of the table (if Liverpool beat Man Utd on Sunday, then we can top them if we win our extra match). He also believes that they're ready to face Barcelona and thinks that scoring against the Catalans is not impossible. He's confident of being in the starting line-up today... and so am I. I also expect Diaby to start in place of the injured Song- his towering presence in midfield would very well counteract the physical Sunderland midfield. Rosicky is also expected to start, even though he walked out with a concussion during the midweek win over Orient.

Predicted starting line-up:

Szczesny, Sagna, Koscielny, Djourou, Clichy, Diaby, Wilshire, Nasri, Rosicky, Arshavin and Bendtner                                              

                                                                                                                                       

The full pre-match interview with Arsene Wenger from Arsenal TV Online is below:

In other news, Arsene Wenger won Barclays' Manager of the Month award for an unbeaten record throughout February. Scott Parker from West Ham won the Player of the Month award.

                                       Arsene Wenger with his Manager of the Month Trophy

Former Arsenal player Kolo Toure got suspended from playing for Manchester City FC after a 'specified substance' was found in a routine blood sample.Wenger came to his defence saying "It is a complete surprise,I had Kolo Toure here for years, I brought him to England. He is a boy who has a clean life, very honest living, always at home and a family man." He went on to say "I just think it is a mistake by forgetting to ask ‘can I take that?' He wants to control his weight a little bit because that's where he has some problems and he took the product of his wife. I think it is a mistake and he was not cautious enough. I don't think there's a desire there to do something wrong and hide it."

Young Japanese prospect Ryo Miyachi was signed in the January transfer window. In order to gain some valuable experience, he was sent on loan to Feynoord in the Dutch Eredivisie where he has gone on to be a regular. An interview he gave just before he left for Feynoord is featured below.

Like last time, I predict a home win with a 3-1 scoreline. Bendtner can continue on from his midweek hat- trick with the opener today.

That's all for the day folks.You can follow me on twitter for my banter about the club and updates about new postings, and you can leave your comments below. Have a good weekend!

©goonerburgh

Prediction true... 5-star Arsenal downs Vegas dreamers...

This is the end of the road for cup dreamers Leyton. They were promised a trip to Vegas if they drew against us at home and they did that.That was their chance... and that was the only one we'd give them. More than 9000 fans made the short trip to Ashburton Grove- more in hope of an upset than genuine belief- and well their hopes were shattered.

With our Dutchman predicted to be out for at least a month, Chamakh took up the mantle of attacking spearhead again. Samir Nasri, Jack Wilshire & Arshavin were on the bench if help was needed to sort out the game.

The first half was pretty much our half. We dominated possession and scored pretty early: Rosicky got lucky when he made a run into the right side of the box and his low cross found Chamakh. Marouane made no mistake and slotted it low and away from the keeper. Our game went down a bit after that and some misplaced passes later, a searching cross from Gibbs found Bendtner and his header was nothing short of brilliant.We suddenly started looking sharp, all the passes made were the right ones, and again, Bendy cut in from the left and shot a curler that just went around Jones and into the net. What a way to answer his critics. The three men who really had a lot to prove (Bendtner, Chamakh & Rosicky) made the real impact in the first half.

                                                                                     courtesy: @wondergunner

Leyton had a spell of about 10 minutes in the opening of the second half in which they looked threatening. They broke through twice and delivered dangerous looking crosses, but we coped well, got our footing back and never looked back. Rosicky got a knock on the head and looked to be in some discomfort.Wenger right away made the call and Samir Nasri came on for him. It looked more like a precautionary move than anything. About 15 minutes into the half, Gibbs weaved his way past to defenders and was brought down in the box by Revell: PELANTY!! Bendtner duly stepped up and slotted his third for the night. This was the first hat-trick by an Arsenal player in the FA cup since Ian Wright in 1993.Wenger took him and Diaby off soon after and brought in Wilshire and Clichy. Wilshire seemed to be rather enjoying himself, getting adventurous with the ball with all the back-heels and Clichy, just seven minutes after his introduction, scored a goal; his first since 2008 and 2nd overall for Arsenal. A ball from Eboue found its way over a full box and onto his feet and he slotted it in first-time. Leyton had a late chance when Dean Cox broke through the defence, but the ball was shot wide off the goal.For full highlights from the match you go here.

       We had another debutant today: Conor Henderson had a decent game. A few mistakes were made, but that's to be expected- it's only his first game and he can improve from this. Arsene said"Conor Henderson is technically very good... he would have been involved before but he was injured." These are good words, and true, he has the potential to become a very good player. I sincerely hope that he'll stay with us for the forseeable future.

              Now, a mouthwatering tie at the Old Trafford is ahead of us in the quarter-finals... but that'll have to wait- there are other matches to be worrying about. When asked about this, Wenger said "The league is the most important because you win the league after 38 games... it will be a tight, exciting run-in. He went on to say "Chelsea's win keeps us even better in the title race... it just depends on us now... it is down to our results, our consistency."

The post-match press conference with Arsene Wenger is below:

           

I have to say this- our reaction to Sunday's disappointment was the right one and I hope we can carry this form on into this weekend's fixture against Sunderland, and Barcelona after that.

Also, from now on I will keep predicting results (I seem to be good at it), and maybe our good luck will continue. Have a good day gooners & goonerettes...

      
©goonerburgh

FA Cup Replay....Time to NUT up!!!

As a fan, am I depressed? Hell yeah. Will I get over it? Meh... maybe... but I can take my own sweet time getting over my depression whereas our MEN should get this hiccup over with and get their acts together for the FA cup replay today. Leyton at the Emirates looks like an easy fixture, but with the growing injury list and the amount of players,  I'm guessing that Wenger isn't going to rest.

Leyton will be very eager to win this game with another mouth-watering, money-earning fixture at the Old Trafford being their prize. Despite our dominance in the previous fixture, we failed to add to Rosicky's goal and later on we kind of screwed up and gave away a goal. Leyton will come to the Emirates full of confidence on the back of a 13-game unbeaten streak (I guess that'll have to end today), but will be without captain Stephen Dawson and goal-hero Tehoue due to injuries and illness.

This fixture will be a pretty big test of character for the team.The way they play today will decide how the rest of the season will pan out. I'm personally hoping for a 5-0 win, with Chamakh scoring a hat-trick and finally getting back on scoring form (Form is Temporary, Class is Permanent... believe in him). But that's just me. I really hope he scores-he needs it. He's not like Bendtner who never seems to be short on confidence. He had a really good start to the season but tired off in later stages; now he's had his rest and should get back on his feet and really finish off this season in STYLE. Other players who need to show up and prove themselves are Denilson and Rosicky... both have been pretty below par this season... Rosicky did score in the last game but you have to admit, other than that he wasn't much good. So he'll be one who along with Chamakh will have to NUT UP!!

In a way it's lucky that we have a fixture so soon. This way we can put the disappointment behind us and concentrate on the games ahead; all the frustration and anger can be taken out on Leyton. Personally, I'd like to see 3 people play: Wojciech,Koscielny & Wilshire.Woj and Koscielny have something to prove and Wilshire... well he needs to let some steam off. With the home tie against Sunderland coming up,and Koscielny being injured I don't expect that'll happen.

                                                                         courtesy @wondergooner


Possible line up:                                                   Almunia
                                     Eboue               Squillaci               Miquel          Gibbs
                                                                Diaby               Denilson     
                                                 Bendtner             Rosicky              Arshavin
                                                                             Chamakh

This line up has too much quality for Leyton to cope with; although miracles happen, they don't happen back to back, and well, WE'RE GONNA WIN TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!

I also have the pre-match interview with Arsene Wenger below:

I'm keeping it short... Have a good day...


©goonerburgh