Tag Archives: mertesacker

Arsenal vs Olympiacos: Walcott, Giroud, Podolski, Arteta, Cazorla, Wilshere & Mertesacker all rested

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Arsenal.com have revealed the 18-man squad that will travel to Greece to face Olympiacos in the Champions League. There is still the possibility that Arsenal can top group B, but with Schalke likely to win against Montpellier (who took only 1 points from the opening 5 fixtures) Arsene Wenger has decided to rest many of our regular first-team players, some of whom have been classed as “injured”. When the squad contains 7 players with shirt numbers over 30, you know that Wenger isn’t taking this game too seriously.

The squad to face Olympiakos includes unused players like Maroune Chamakh and Sebastian Squillaci, as well as 5 players who could make their first-team debuts - Zak Ansah, Sead Hajrovic, Elton Monteiro, Chuba Akpom and James Shea. What I find particularly interesting is that the likes of Ignasi Miquel, Serge Gnabry and Thomas Eisfeld are not included for various reasons. *Update – I do realise that Eisfeld is not eligible for the Champions League, I am simply surprised that he was not selected at all for the competition. 

“Some players needed a rest because they were a bit on the fringe of injury, and some players are injured.

“When I count the injured players I speak about Podolski and Walcott. We needed to rest Wilshere, 100 per cent, and Cazorla, Arteta and Mertesacker played many games recently. They have been rested.

“It is [to avoid fatigue], and we have one luxury, that we can do it. But we have as well one necessity, to win the game tomorrow night. I tried to find the right balance between resting some players and as well having a competitive team tomorrow night.”

Arsenal lost 3-1 to Olympacos at exactly the same stage in the competition last year and in similar circumstances. Yossi Benayoun scored Arsenal’s only goal of the team, but nobody really cared. As far as I am concerned, we still need a good performance tomorrow. Even though it is somewhat of a “reserve” team, it is important to start stringing together a few wins and a loss will only further damage the team’s confidence. I understand that many of the players (I am thinking in particular of Wilshere, Cazorla & Arteta needed a rest), so Wenger needs to find the right balance between fresh players and experience with the squad that he has chosen.

Arsenal squad:

1 Wojciech Szczesny, 5 Thomas Vermaelen, 7 Tomas Rosicky, 15 Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, 16 Aaron Ramsey, 18 Sebastien Squillaci, 22 Francis Coquelin, 23 Andrey Arshavin, 25 Carl Jenkinson, 27 Gervinho, 29 Marouane Chamakh, 38 Martin Angha, 39 Zak Ansah, 48 Sead Hajrovic, 53 Jernade Meade, 55 Elton Monteiro, 60 James Shea, 67 Chuba Akpom.

A full match-preview, including injury news (when it is available) and our predicted starting XI will be published shortly.

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[Video] Mertesacker scores 2nd goal for Germany

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Following on from our post about Olivier Giroud’s late equaliser for France against Spain, I am delighted to report that Per Mertesacker also found the back of the net, scoring Germany’s 3rd goal in a dramatic game against Sweden. This was Per’s his first international goal since he scored against Australia in the Confederations Cup all the way back in 2005. Lukas Podolski was also in action from the bench.

Misoslav Klose scored a brace and Mesut Ozil the 4th as Germany looked to be pretty comfortable against a Sweden side that were rather poor in the first half. Unfortunately, Mertesacker’s defensive performance apparently wasn’t quite up to scratch as Germany then blew the 4-0 lead that they had held at 60 minutes. Zlatan Ibrahimovic opened the scoring for Sweden, followed by goals from Celtic right-back Mikael Lustig and former Bolton man Johan Elmander. CSKA Moscow midfielder Rasmus Elm then completed the coemback with a last-gasp equaliser to earn Sweden a hard-fought point. The last time I can remember a team blowing a 4-0 lead in this way was 2 seasons ago at St James’ Park…

Although Germany’s 100% record in the group may not be intact, they still remain 3 points ahead of 2nd place Sweden in their World Cup qualifying group.

Hopefully we will have more good news for you tomorrow, with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain possibly in action for England against Poland. The Ox was not included in Hodgson’s starting line-up this evening, but the game was postponed due to torrential rain and will now be played at 4pm tomorrow. I am not sure whether we are allowed to make changes to the named starting XI, but Alex is unlikely to start anyway. Roy promised to make several changes from the team that played against San Marino on Friday night. If you wish to see a video of AOC’s first international goal, you can find that here. 

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Arsenal team news vs West Ham: Mertesacker, Sagna, Wilshere

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Arsène Wenger has given the latest Arsenal team news ahead of tomorrow afternoon’s late kickoff at Upton Park. The main news for our match against West Ham is that Per Mertesacker will have a late test to see if he has overcome a bout of flu that kept him out in midweek against Olympiakos.

There are also some short updates on Bacary Sagna and Jack Wilshere, who are both returning to action with the reserves/U21s following long-term injuries.

The good news is that we have no new injury concerns from Wednesday night. Mikel Arteta seemed to come through the game without any major problems and there is no indication that he won’t be fit to start tomorrow.

Per Mertesacker

“He is better. He came in on Thursday and had a little session. He’ll have a test. It is not certain that he will play.

“It is flu that has travelled from body to body. We have had Coquelin, Vermaelen, Walcott out. But nobody else has it at the moment.”

Bacary Sagna

“Maybe he will play on Monday night [for the under-21s]. He needs some games because he has not played for five months. He has been in training for a week now so he should be capable of playing for an hour.”

Jack Wilshere

“Jack is doing very well but we need to be a bit patient. He has played 60 minutes in the reserve team and he needs a few games, progressive build-up to get his body used again to competition, to shocks, to fights.

“But he is doing extremely well, the situation looks very good. We have to be cautious, not crazy, because of his talent you are always pushed in a situation where you would like to rush him back, and we have to resist that.

“The next match should be next week and he is working very very hard [in training]. The body is like that, when you have been out of competition for 14 months it takes a long time to find your sharpness back. You cannot rush it.”

Other team news

“There is nothing else. Wojciech and Fabianski are not back so Martinez will be back in the squad as the second goalkeeper.”

Match preview (including our predicted Arsenal starting line-up) tomorrow. This match and next week’s game against Norwich will be shown live on ESPN.

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Arsenal injury update: Wilshere, Mertesacker, Santos, Coquelin, Diaby

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Arsène Wenger has given the latest team news a few days after our vital win over Newcastle United.

There is mixed news from Wenger, who has revealed that Jack Wilshere has had positive scan results but that he expects that Per Mertesacker will not feature again this season.

There is also good news on Andre Santos, who made a successful comeback with the reserves. Francis Coquelin and Abou Diaby should both also be back within the next two weeks.

Our next game is away at Everton on Wednesday, and Santos should be fit enough to be in contention for a place in the starting line-up ahead of Kieran Gibbs. I honestly don’t know which I would prefer to play.

Jack Wilshere

“Jack’s scan was positive. There is no problem, it is normal evolution and he is continuing his progression. It’s too early to fix a date though, we go day by day with him.”

Per Mertesacker

“I believe Per will be out for the rest of the season. Basically there are only six weeks to go [this season] so I don’t think he’ll be sharp enough to come back and play. He would need to train and get back to full fitness.”

André Santos

“Andre played 60 minutes with no problem. Overall we are getting our players back so that is positive.”

Francis Coquelin

“Francis is two more weeks away from fitness.”

Abou Diaby

“Abou might play in the reserves next week at Liverpool. That game is on Tuesday night.”

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Arsenal vs Everton: Predictions and Preview

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It’s been a mixed week for Arsenal fans. After a pretty dire performance against Olympiacos in a meaningless match (from our point of view anyway), both Manchester clubs were subjected to a torturous night in the Champions League, culminating in their relegation to the Europa League. As for the Olympiacos match, we can point at three main factors for the loss – 1) Olympiacos needed to win to have a hope of qualifying whereas we didn’t, 2) We started with a very weak side and the errors leading to the Greek side’s goals reflected the lack of quality of our players, 3) It was an away game in the Champions League which is never easy. It was an unimportant match and rather uninspiring for us Gooners to watch. But Wednesday night produced the kind of drama that we all love. And seeing Man Utd face up to teams of the calibre of FC Metalist will be a brilliant experience.

But now it is back the Premier League, where London clubs have also been doing pretty well recently. In Europe, Chelsea and Arsenal are flying the flags whereas in the domestic league, Arsenal and Spurs are the two sides who are really impressing at the moment (along with City, but they bought their glory so it doesn’t count).

Arsenal will face Everton with something of a full back crisis. Sagna, Jenko, Gibbs and Santos are all unavailable. Our big German centre back has been speaking about the situation:

“We need more full-backs I think! It’s not good for the squad if so many full-backs are injured, but what can I say?

“We have to manage the situation. We have had some bad situations with injuries in the last month but we managed quite well.

“We are looking forward to climbing the league more and more. We have had a lot of pressure to get to fifth in the last month but we need more consistency, in December more than ever.

“Therefore I hope we can pick up a lot of points to get to the top four. We want more than that, of course.”

Mertesacker has gone from strength to strength in his time here, despite the odd lapse in concentration. He is performing far better than Koscielny was when he was this far into his Arsenal career, so I think we can continue to expect great things from Per. He can be expected to line up in a back four which will contain four centre backs. It will probably be Djourou, Kos, Per and Vermaelen, although Wenger might give Miquel a chance ahead of Djourou. I expect Koscielny and Mertesacker to start in the centre, with Vermaelen at RB and Djourou at LB, although that could all change if Miquel steps in. Miquel looks like an exciting prospect but obviously needs more game time. With the injury situation we have now, it could be Miquel’s big chance to shine.

Form Guide

Arsenal – W W W D W

Everton - W L L W W L

The match tomorrow will celebrate 125 years of the Arsenal. The statues were revealed today, depicting our most innovation manager Herbert Chapman, our most influential skipper Tony Adams and our record goalscorer Thierry Henry. We have a decent record against Everton – unbeaten in the last 8 and having won 13 out of 15 home league games against them under Wenger. Van Persie is now only four goals off Alan Shearer’s Premier League “Goals in a calendar year” record (36 in 1995), and the Dutchman has five games in which to score those goals. It would be great if he can do it, but right now the main task is about consolidating our place in the table – we are 5th, level on points with Newcastle (6th) and only two points off Chelsea (4th).

Team Prediction

Szczesny

Djourou – Koscielny – Mertesacker – Vermaelen

Ramsey – Song – Arteta

Walcott – van Persie – Gervinho

The only changes at the moment are likely to be in defence due to the injury problems. The front three are on fire and so I don’t expect changes in that department. The midfield is also ticking along nicely, and with Wilshere and Diaby injured, there isn’t much competition in the midfield. Rosicky and Benayoun just haven’t given Wenger enough of a reason to force their way into the side, although we don’t know how they have been performing in training.

Score Prediction

2-1 to Arsenal with two goals from van Persie, putting him level with Theirry Henry’s best haul in a calendar year (34 in 2004).

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How did the Arsenal new boys do?

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This post will examine the performances of our three debutants, who all made significant contributions to Arsenal’s 1-0 win over Swansea yesterday. To view the full post-match analysis, click here.

Mikel Arteta

Replacing Cesc Fabregas could not be a more difficult task, but I thought that Mikel Arteta had a very promising debut against Swansea. It was obvious within the first 10 minutes that Arteta fits perfectly into our midfield.

With Frimpong and Ramsey playing as holding midfielders, Arteta was able to push further up. His passing and possession play were very strong and he linked very well with Robin van Persie. The other good news is that Mikel didn’t mind tracking back when necessary; he was always looking to close the Swansea attackers and was calm and composed throughout.

Wenger’s verdict

“Arteta played very well, especially in the first half. In the second half it was more difficult for him but you can see he will give us some technical security that this team needs and he wants to play like we play.

”

Per Mertesacker

Per Mertesacker did not have the best debut. It wasn’t a terrible performance by any means, but it is obvious that adapting to the Premier League will take a few games. Mertesacker seemed to find dealing with Danny Graham’s movement very difficult, the most notable occasion being in the 6th minute when he was beaten in the air by Graham. Luckily for us, Szczesny made a fantastic save.

Mertesacker was also a spectator when Graham squandered a golden opportunity during extra time. However, it must be pointed out that unlike Arteta, Mertesacker has not yet trained properly with the rest of his Arsenal teammates. Arteta has been in training for a few days and has adjusted well to the game, and I expect that Mertesacker will do the same over the coming weeks.

Wenger’s verdict

“Mertesacker was calm and composed – he just needs to adapt to the pace of the game. He looks very intelligent in his positioning.

 “

Yossi Benayoun

Like Mertesacker, Benayoun is yet to have a full training session with his new Arsenal teammates. Yossi played the last 30 minutes of the game and, although didn’t make the huge impact that Arsenal fans wanted, his performance was still relatively encouraging. When you consider that he may be lacking match practice (he was injured for a large part of last season), then I thought that he did okay.

Benayoun combined well with Arteta and showed that despite his age he can still contribute hugely to our season. Considering the amount of Premier League experience he has, I am sure that after a few weeks of training with the squad, Yossi will be a great addition to the Arsenal squad.

Wenger’s verdict

“He brought us something when he came on because he was mobile, he was dynamic and he did well.”

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Arsenal vs Swansea Match Preview: Stats, team news and prediction

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When Arsenal played its first match against a newly-promoted team last campaign, it was Blackpool who made the trip to the Emirates. Arsenal trounced them 6-0 to kick-start our season, as we went on to win five of the next seven games, losing only one (home vs West Brom).

This time Arsenal needs to win, and win big like against Blackpool. But the purpose is not simply to gain three points, nor to push the team away from the unfamiliar surroundings of the relegation zone. The most important reason to win this game is for the minds of the players.

It may be a long time, perhaps a few generations, until Arsenal players have to experience the pain and humiliation of such a resounding defeat to one of their rivals. Losing 8-2 to Man Utd was more than missing out on three points – it is the psychological damage which may haunt us for weeks, if not months to come.

After failing to win in the first three league games, getting three red cards in those matches, losing key players to injury and losing two of our star players this summer, this team needs some good news. Yes, we did get through to the Champions League group stages by beating Udinese, but that doesn’t stop the negativity surrounding the club from the press, pundits, ex-players and even the fans.

Swansea City AFC

In July 2001, Swansea City was sold for £1. The Swans were playing in League Two in the 2004/05 season, only a few years ago. Now the club is the first Welsh team to play in the Premier League (est.1992).

This meteoric rise is highly impressive, and Swansea hasn’t had a terrible start to the season either, as the club sits 15th in the league table. After holding their own for an hour against moneybags Manchester City, Swansea succumbed to a 4-0 loss. The following two games against Wigan and Sunderland both ended 0-0. However, the Welsh side did lose to Arsenal’s next Carling Cup opponents, Shrewsbury Town, a few weeks ago.

Swansea has been lauded for its passing game, but a lack of quality up front has cost them. With players such as Danny Graham, Scott Sinclair and Leroy Lita, they have strikers who know English football. Their manager said the following:

“If after 10 games we haven’t scored a goal and haven’t got a result then there’s certainly something to look at.

“But the most important aspect for me is that we’re creating chances.”

Looking at their squad, Swansea shouldn’t pose much of a problem for Arsenal’s defence. But it does depend on how our players react to the game at Old Trafford.

Form Guide

Arsenal has won just 5 of the last 20 competitive fixtures (Leyton Orient, Blackpool, Man Utd and twice vs Udinese) since that awful day at Wembley in February. We also endured a poor pre-season, winning only two out of six matches and failing to get our hands on that sought-after Emirates Cup.

Swansea finished last season very strongly, losing only 5 out of the last 20 competitive games. However, with just one goal in four matches this campaign (against a League Two side), recent form is quite poor.

Head-to-Head

Arsenal and Swansea have only faced each other four times, with each team winning twice. The most recent fixture was in January 1983, when Arsenal won the game 2-1.

Arsenal Team News

Injured: Wilshere, Vermaelen, Diaby, Squillaci

Doubtful: Rosicky, André Santos, Chu Young Park, Ryo

Suspended: Gervinho, Song, Jenkinson

New signings Santos and Park are unavailable and Rosicky faces a late fitness test. Those who are excited to see Ryo Miyaichi play for us will have to wait a bit longer. Wenger says he will be in contention for next week. Sagna should be returning from his illness given that he played the full 90 minutes for France on Tuesday. This is my team prediction:

Score Prediction

With a few players returning from fitness and the new signings at the helm, their should be an air of optimism surrounding the team. Swansea will be tricky customers but I think we will win comfortably, so I’m going for 4-0 to the Arsenal (14/1 with Paddy Power).

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Mertesacker thinks experience will help him settle

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Arsenal’s new signing Per Mertesacker hopes that his transition to the Premier league will be smooth. He hopes that he will be able to adapt quickly. The English game is known for its fast pace and physical nature. It is often the case that players that move to the Premier League struggle with the high demands of English football.

Mertesacker has suggested that he is relishing the opportunity to play in the best league in the world. He hopes that his experience, both at an international level and also for his club, will put him in good stead for the challenges that lie ahead.

Here’s what he had to say:

“It is a little bit easier if you have played a World Cup for Germany and I hope I can use my experiences in my career.

“We met England and that is a great experience I have. But I also have to improve myself and that should be my first thought.

“It’s exciting to be here but I have a lot of experience in football so that is OK for me. I am very happy and I am very glad to be here.

“Arsenal is one of the top teams in Europe and I have been looking out for Arsenal since I got my first jersey when I was ten or 12. Arsenal has always been special for me.”

His comments are encouraging. What really impresses me is that he still thinks he can improve. At 26, some footballers may think that they have it all, and that they are the best they can be. Mertesacker is still looking to improve his game, and this is good to hear. The German is already a quality centre back, and will undoubtedly form a strong partnership with Vermaelen (when he returns from injury). If he can improve his game, he will probably become one of the best centre backs in the world.

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Breaking News: Vermaelen faces lengthy spell on the sidelines

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Reports are spreading rapidly this evening that Thomas Vermaelen could be out for several weeks (if not months) following surgery on his left ankle. Vermaelen spent a prolonged period out of action last season and, if posts (and pictures of tomorrow’s Daily Mirror) across Twitter are to be believed, the Belgian international also looks set to miss a significant part this season. Depending on how long he is out this will be a massive blow to Arsenal Football Club; our vice-captain always plays such a vital role in our team and his presence will be sorely missed.

So far there has been no confirmation of the ankle injury on the official Arsenal website. However, I would think that the club will have to release a statement within the next 24 hours; Vermaelen’s surgery is hardly the worlds best-kept secret, especially if the Daily Mirror do indeed run with the story tomorrow morning. The Mirror article suggests that Vermaelen has already had surgery on his ankle in Stockholm.

This news comes as a bitter blow to Arsenal fans, who heard only a few days ago that we will be without Jack Wilshere for at least another 2 months. In my opinion, it is extremely optimistic to think that Wilshere will play more than 45 minutes in an Arsenal match before the new-year, and from the looks of things it is entirely possible that Vermaelen will go the same way.

With Vermaelen injured, I think that it is pretty clear that Wenger did a fantastic bit of last-minute transfer business in signing German international Per Mertesacker. Had we not signed a new defender (even though it was so obvious to everybody that it was necessary), we would now be relying on the Johan Djourou/Laurent Koscielny partnership, with Squillaci and/or Ignasi Miquel on the bench.

Mertesacker will no doubt prove more than capable of coping with the physicality of the Permier League and will ensure that Vermaelen’s injury does not prove to be too costly. I imagine that he will be pared with Koscielny, although we won’t officially know until we see the starting line-up for our game against Swansea on Saturday.

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16 Gunners on international duty

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Sixteen members of the Arsenal first team (including 5 of our new summer signings) have been called to represent their countries over the next few days. Arsenal’s next fixture is against Swansea on September 10th; there are no Premier League fixtures this week as there is a one-week international break. Most players are playing in qualifiers for major international tournaments.

Euro 2012 qualifiers:

  • On-loan midfielder Yossi Benayoun will captain Israel in home fixtures against Greece and Croatia.
  • New-signing Per Mertesacker will no doubt play a vital part as Germany host Austria in Gelsenkirchen.
  • Theo Walcott has been included in Fabio Capello’s England squad and will travel to Sofia (where England face Bulgaria tomorrow evening). Walcott then returns to England next week to play against Wales at Wembley Stadium.
  • Aaron Ramsey will captain Wales against Montenegro, and will then take on Theo Walcott and the England team at Wembley.
  • Laurent Koscielny and Bacary Sagna face a double away trip. France play against Albania tomorrow night and then head for Romania early next week.
  • Andrei Arshavin will captain Russia, who play Macedonia and then the Republic of Ireland in Moscow.
  • The Netherlands have called upon Robin van Persie to help them against San Marino in Eindhoven. RvP then heads to Helsinki to face Finland.
  • Johan Djourou will represent Switzerland against Bulgaria in Basel next week.
  • Thomas Rosicky is included in the Czech Republic squad to face Scotland.
  • Thomas Vermaelen is included in the Belgian squad that will travel to Baku to face Azerbaijan.

African Cup of Nations qualifiers:

  • Gervinho will travel to Kigali to play for the Ivory Coast against Rwanda.
  • Alex Song is included in the Cameroon squad to face Mauritius.

World Cup 2014 qualifiers:

  • New-signing Chu Young Park will captain South Korea against Lebanon and Kuwait.

UEFA under-21 Championship qualifiers:

  • Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will represent the England Under-21′s against Azerbaijan and Israel.

Friendlies:

  • After his Euro 2012 qualifier against Azerbaijan, Thomas Vermaelen will return to Belgium for a friendly against the United States.
  • Thomas Rosicky will travel from Scotland back to the Czech Republic, where they will host Ukraine.
  • Wojeich Szczesny is included in the Poland squad for friendlies against Mexico and Per Mertesacker’s Germany.

We wish all our players the best of luck in these international matches, and I bloody well hope they don’t get injured!

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