ESPNare reporting that Arsenal are close to agreeing new long-term contracts with Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey. Arsene Wenger is looking to tie down his British core and reassure dismayed Arsenal supporters who are becoming increasingly frustrated as some of our key players enter the final years of their contracts. Wilshere looks set to agree a 4-year deal with a large pay-rise.
A source close to the club said:
“The three youngsters are agreeing long-term contracts and that is very positive.”
However, the fact remains that while these new contracts are all great (especially Wilshere’s!), Arsenal fans are slightly more concerned about the status of Theo Walcott’s contract negotiations as the January transfer window draws ever closer. The BBCare reporting that negotiations over Walcott’s contract will continue now into January, despite Wenger having previously set a Christmas deadline.
In my opinion, Walcott will be more than happy to let his current contract run past Christmas for 2 reasons: 1) He will be free to talk to other clubs in January and get a feeler for what other contract offers are out there and 2) We will know a bit more about where Arsenal stand (both in the league and in terms of January transfers) in a month’s time. Wenger has made it very clear that he does not want to sell Walcott in January, but I am starting to think that he might have reconsider his stance. Bearing in mind how tight-fisted Arsenal are, I am not so sure that the board would pass up the opportunity to grab a few million in January rather than lose Theo on a free in the summer. That is, of course, if they think that we can make the Champions League places without him. It all depends on who Wenger can bring in as a replacement (and more!) in January. We have been heavily linked with Huntelaar, but I will not be happy until any transfer is confirmed on Arsenal.com next month.
In a long interview with Four Four Two magazine, Wenger talked of his regret over letting players like Van Persie, Fabregas, Nasri & Song leave the club just when it looked as though we were putting together a really great squad. Walcott seems to be edging closer to an exit, and Bacary Sagna (who has only has a year and a half left on his deal) may not sign a contract extension either. Losing these two players would be another huge blow that we simply cannot afford.
‘My regret is that we already had a great team two or three years ago which could compete on four fronts.
‘We just missed out in the Champions League [last 16 tie] against Barcelona, when we could have scored in the last minute, and then we just missed out on the Premier League too.
‘But you could feel the potential was there, and I thought, ‘Okay, let’s do this together’. Then the team split up, sometimes after five or six years’ work, it is frustrating, you have to start all over again.’
‘We have lost recent players earlier in their careers – to lose Van Persie, Fabregas, Nasri and Song in just two years, it is a massive amount of potential, of course you worry.’
Arsenal.com have revealed the latest team news ahead of Saturday’s Premier League game against Fulham. Speaking in his pre-match press conference, Arsene Wenger revealed that although there are no new injury problems arising from our 2-2 draw with FC Schalke, it is not yet known whether Aaron Ramsey has recovered from the groin injury that kept him out on Wednesday night. Wojciech Szczesny and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain will also have late fitness tests.
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain/Aaron Ramsey
“From the other night we have no big problem. We have to test Oxlade-Chamberlain to see if he can be in the squad, we have a test as well with Aaron Ramsey to see if he can be in the squad.”
Wojciech Szczesny
“Maybe Wojciech has a little chance to be in the squad because he will play tomorrow [Friday] with the under-21s. If he gets through I might take him in the squad.”
Gervinho/Diaby/Rosicky/Gibbs
“Gervinho is out, Diaby out, Rosicky out, Gibbs as well is not back.”
Other news
In other news, Arsene Wenger has reveled that he has reached a compromise with Roy Hodgson over Jack Wilshere’s England commitments. Wenger says that it is ok for Jack to play on Wednesday because he is not playing this weekend against Fulham due to the red card that he received at Old Trafford. Wilshere has been included in the England squad for Wednesday’s friendly against Sweden along with Walcott. Carl Jenkinson is apparently still waiting for clearance from FIFA because he represented Finland at Under 21 level, is also in line for his first international call-up.
”I had Roy Hodgson on the phone, we found a good understanding and a good compromise. What helps is that he is not playing over the weekend because he is suspended, of course. He will have a little breather. Roy wants him in the group to connect the game with the players.
With Wilshere suspended and Ramsey, Diaby, Rosicky and The Ox all injured, Arsenal are really lacking in options in midfield against Fulham. It is fairly safe to assume that Coquelin will start alongside Arteta and Cazorla at the weekend, but I have no idea who will be on the bench. Arshavin can play central midfield at a push.
No sooner had I published an article saying that Arsenal hadn’t give us much team news than Arsenal.com release a very short article with news on Theo Walcott and Aaron Ramsey.
We reported earlier that Aaron Ramsey has been forced to withdraw from the squad with a groin injury picked up in training. The only other news is that Theo Walcott is suffering from a stomach bug and may or may not be available.
“Ramsey (groin) is left at home and Djourou replaces him in the squad.
“[Theo] has been sick overnight [and] didn’t practice today so we have to see how he is on Tuesday morning.”
Asked to comment in his pre-match press conference on why Theo has not started a Premier League or Champions League game since August (does it have anything to do with his contract situation?), Wenger said: “He was sick and then injured against San Marino so he has not been available.” Well that answers that question.
With no Walcott, no Gervinho and no Oxlade-Chamberlain in the squad Arsenal really are lacking pace up front. Looking at the attacking players that we have taken with us, I would be very surprised if Andrey Arshavin did not start. Wenger will not opt to play a 4-4-2 with Giroud and Chamakh, leaving only Podolski and Arshavin to play alongside Giroud in the front 3. There is the possibility to play Santi Cazorla on the wing, but we only brought 4 midfielders so that is unlikely. Cazorla does play on the wing for the Spanish national team, so it is not beyond the realm of possibility.
I am not sure how we go about replacing Walcott if he is unavailable. Are there extra players who travelled out with the squad? If so, who will be added to the team? I guess that all will be revealed tomorrow evening.
Arsenal came from a goal down yesterday to earn a hard-fought 3-1 win over West Ham at Upton Park. A goal just before half-time from Olivier Giroud cancelled out Mohamed Diame’s solo effort and goals from substitute Theo Walcott and the superb Santi Cazorla sealed the win. Below are some of my thoughts on the game:
1) West Ham made Arsenal work very hard for the victory, but we got there in the end. The Hammers have started the season well and gave us a bit of a scare when Mohammed Diame confused/wrong-footed Aaron Ramsey and curled the ball in from the left side of the box. Per Mertesacker could maybe have closed him down a bit more quickly, and Arsenal had failed to score with 4 or 5 efforts on goal at the other end beforehand, but credit where credit is due. Diame’s first goal for West Ham was pretty special.
Wenger’s comments:
“We weakened a bit physically in the second half but overall it was a very important test for us today. We expected a difficult game. We were not disappointed – a game with a lot of pace, where both teams went for it in different styles. It was a good test mentally as well, because we went 1-0 down with their first shot on goal. We came back and won this game. You could say that we had a good performance today overall.”
2) Mohammed Diame was very lucky not to have been sent off. Both Diame and later Theo Walcott were given yellow cards for running into the crowd to celebrate their goals, which I find slightly ridiculous. This is definitely something that the FA should reassess. However, the fact remains that Diame was already on a yellow when he made a bad challenge on Mikel Arteta only a few minutes after he had opened the scoring. I simply can’t see how referee Phil Dowd can justify not giving him a second yellow card for that challenge.
3) Olivier Giroud’s goal shows how important he can be for Arsenal this season. The Frenchman finally announced his arrival in the Premier League in style, with the kind of goal-poachers effort that we very rarely get to see at Arsenal. The replay on ESPN showed just how far he had run to make sure that he got on the end of Lukas Podolski’s cross. Giroud’s movement is fantastic, his hold-up play and arial ability are unlike anything we have seen at Arsenal for a few seasons, and I am sure that this goal will give him the all of the confidence that he needs to pursue a long and prosperous career in North London.
“In similar situations he nearly scored like that against Olympiacos on Wednesday night. He was good today. He had the physical presence and scored the goal. That will help him a lot I think to adapt very quickly.”
4) Arsenal couldn’t deal with the arial threat of Andy Carroll. Carroll was fierce in the air and was at the focal point of many of West Ham’s attacks, even with Per Mertesacker in the team. We can be very glad that Mannone made some good saves and that Kevin Nolan squandered an opportunity from a flicked-on header.
“You never can completely control Carroll for 90 minutes. You have to fight for him and be good on the second ball. The problem with West Ham is not only Carroll, but is [also] Nolan on the second ball in the box. We could have been punished once or twice but overall we gave it all to deal well with him. He [Carroll] was really up for it I must say. He did fight from the first to the last minute.”
5) Mikel Arteta is the best passer in Europe. According to the ESPN, Mikel Arteta has made the most passes this season out of any player in any top division in Europe. I am not sure exactly where they get this stat from (it must take hours to analyse every player in Europe!), but ESPN stats are normally quite reliable and this is a stat that I have no problem believing. His passing yesterday was, as usual, superb, and he really dictates the play from that deeper midfield role. He also gives players like Santi Cazorla (who I will talk about later) a bit more creative freedom than they might have in other teams. The fact that Mikel hasn’t made a single appearance for the Spanish national team is a travesty and is a testament to the likes of Xavi and Iniesta. I honestly think that if Arteta was playing in Spain he would have been given a chance in the national team. The fact that he is in the Premier League (and previously the SPL) means that he doesn’t get as much of a look-in.
Before kick-off, the Welsh fans unveiled several protest banners following comments made by Ramsey and Gareth Bale suggesting that they wish to be allowed to play a part in the Team GB at the Olympics.
However, Ramsey was unfazed by the criticism and dominated in midfield as he captained Wales to a 4-1 win over Norway in Cardiff.
Theo Walcott
Theo Walcott played the first half as England defied the odds to beat Spain 1-0 win at Wembley. Frank Lampard capitalised on a fortunate bounce off the post from Darren Bent’s header, and Cesc Fabregas wasted a a golden opportunity to score a late equaliser (which was probably karma for having such a ridiculous haircut and leaving Arsenal).
Wojciech Szczesny couldn’t waste the opportunity to have a dig at our former captain, posting on his Twitter page: ‘Well done England for beating Spain, but someone has to tell Cesc to sort out his hair.‘
Gervinho
Speaking of ridiculous haircuts, Gervinho was in action as the Ivory Coast drew 1-1 draw with South Africa at the Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth. Gervinho put the South African defence under a lot of pressure, eventually forcing Siboniso Gaxa into heading the ball into his own net.
16 Arsenal players have been called to represent their countries in the upcoming international break.
Euro 2012 qualifiers:
Tomas Rosicky will captain the Czech Republic in home and away Euro 2012 qualifiers against Montenegro.
World Cup 2014 qualifiers:
Ju Young Park looks set to captain South Korea for their vital World Cup 2014 qualifiers against the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon.
European U21 Championship qualifiers:
Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is included in the England U21 squad for Euro 2013 qualifying matches against Iceland and Belgium, while Francis Coquelin has been called up to the France U21 squad to face Romania and Slovakia.
Friendlies:
Theo Walcott is included in Fabio Capello’s England squad for friendlies against Spain on Saturday and Sweden on Tuesday, while Thomas Vermaelen is in the Belgium squad to face Romania and France.
Aaron Ramsey‘s Wales host Norway in Cardiff on Saturday, while Andrey Arshavin will travel to Athens where Russia face Greece.
Per Mertesacker will be pitted against Robin van Persie as Germany take on the Netherlands. The Germans are also playing Ukraine, while RvP will first face Johan Djourou (Switzerland). Djourou is also in the Switzerland squad to face Luxembourg.
Laurent Koscielny is the the French squad for consecutive home matches, first against the US and then against Thomas Vermaelen’s Belgium. Koscielny has been included in the French squad on several occasions, but is yet to actually feature for Les Bleus.
Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski are both in the Poland squad for friendlies against Italy and Hungary.
Alex Song is included in the Cameroon squad for the LG Friendly Cup. Cameroon take on first Sudan and then Morocco.
Gervinho has been called up to the Ivory Coast squad for their friendly against South Africa on Saturday.
Aaron Ramsey says the he would like to be given the opportunity to represent Great Britain at the Olympics next summer.
Stuart Pierce will manage the Great Britain football team next summer – the first time that Team GB has taken part in Olympic football since 1972.
The English FA are so far the only governing body to give Team GB it’s full backing. The Welsh, Scottish and Norther Irish FA’s have expressed concerns that having a Great Britain team would damage the reputations of the individual teams of each home-nation.
Pierce must use at least 15 players born on or after January 1 1989 as part of his 18-man squad. He is allowed three players who are “over-age”. As part of his squad, Pierce has said that he would be more than willing to accept players from all of the home nations should an agreement be put in place.
Quoted in the December 2011 issue of FourFourTwo, Ramsey argues that both he and Gareth Bale (and any other player who makes the decision) should be allowed to represent Great Britain in front of the home crowd:
“If we have the opportunity to play, why not? You’re representing Great Britain in the Olympics. Having the chance to win a gold medal doesn’t come around very often.
“Players, if given the opportunity, should go ahead and do it – I don’t see what the problem is. I’ve spoken to Gareth Bale and he’s up for it. I think the Welsh are fine with it. It’s up to the players.”
I am inclined to agree with Ramsey. The chance to win a gold medal at the Olympics is very rare, and the fact that it is in front of the home crowd makes it even more special. The decision should be left to each individual player.
What is the point of having “Team GB” if all the players are English? I don’t think that having Welsh (or Scottish/Norther Irish) players in the squad would discredit the countries governing body. If anything, it would show that we are not divided as a nation.
Ramsey was then asked which other Welsh players he would select for the team, and what he thought of picking David Beckham as one of the three “over age” squad members:
“I can’t answer that! [Who else I would pick from the Wales team]. But outside Wales, it would be great if David Beckham was involved in some sort of way.”
Arsenal travelled to France for the third Champions League matchday in what turned out to be a difficult and relatively boring encounter. A lack of quality from either side in the final third left most of the possession to the midfielders. And our best player was probably a midfielder – Alex Song – a rock in defence and a powerhouse moving forward. But let’s not also ignore a great game from Laurent Koscielny who is finally showing a consistent side to his game.
This form of Koscielny’s started soon after the Carling Cup final – but who could notice anything good that he did in the aftermath of that match?! He has been growing in confidence and tactical awareness for months, and today he showed just how good he has become. He won aerial battles, put in plenty of tackles and his passing was pretty decent too.
Our wingers – Walcott and Arshavin – were poor. In this formation, when the wingers are off form it throws the whole team. It forces van Persie deep which can really reduce his impact. Further to that, every cross will be met by no one. Arshavin seems to struggle in a full 90 minute game – does he still not have the fitness? And Walcott’s decision making just needs to improve. He made some good runs but just not enough of them. To be fair, Marseille played quite conservatively at times, making it difficult for Theo to find space. But in the first half, there was plenty of space and our Englishman failed to take advantage of it on enough occasions.
The only talking points of the first 45 minutes were two penalty shouts and a clearance off the line from a van Persie header. The first penalty decision was from a handball by Jenko. It was 100% a penalty, the ball came from a far distance and Carl raised his hand to the ball. The second was from one of our many corners (which rarely threatened the opposition, as per usual). A Marseille defender raised his arm quite clearly, lifting the ball higher into the box. Funnily enough, van Persie’s header arrived as a result of that infringement, and the player who handballed it ended up clearing the ball off the line!
The second half was more Arsenal’s – plenty of possession and no end product. Van Persie was having a tough time getting into the game, which left chances scarce. A few long range efforts failed to trouble the keeper, so the first big chance fell to Theo. He took a poor touch from Gervinho’s pass but the defender made an even worse attempt at a tackle. Walcott was through on goal but hit a tame effort straight at the keeper.
Other talking points in the second half included Jenko going off injured, leaving no recognised RB to take his place. The increasingly-dodgy Djourou took his place and had a fair game, although was booked for a great tackle and slipped in a very dangerous position when trying to clear the ball. He did cross for the winning goal, so he redeemed himself slightly. Gervinho came on for the ineffective Walcott and Ramsey took Arshavin’s place.
Van Persie had a great chance in the final minute of normal time as Gervinho ran at the opposition defence before threading a sensational through ball to our captain. RvP smashed the ball at the keeper to cap a frustrating game for the Dutchman. However, the winner came moments later through an arching cross from Djourou. Gervinho tapped the ball onto the oncoming Ramsey who slotted it home with ease.
With 7 points and two Champions League home fixtures to come, qualification looks almost a certainty. A win at home against Marseille will all but secure it.
Arsenal.com have announced the starting XI and substitues ahead of our Champions League Group F fixture against Marseille, which kicks off in just over an hour.
The match will be shown on ITV1 (k/o at 7.45pm GMT), with highlights at 10pm on Sky Sports 2.
Straight Talking Gooners will also be running a live-blog to keep you up-to-date with all the action as it happens.
Below I have stated (and justified) who I think will be included in the starting XI for our match against Marseille this evening.
L’OM have won both their opening group games and will be looking to extend their lead at the top of the Group F table, but Wenger will no doubt have other plans. A draw against Marseille away from home would be a good result, but we will probably field a very attacking team that will be looking for the win; Playing for the draw is not the Arsenal way.
Team news:
Aaron Ramsey has recovered from a minor hamstring injury and has been included in the squad, but Kieran Gibbs has not travelled to France following a stomach injury picked up against Sunderland. Our other injuries are to Wilshere, Diaby, Vermaelen and Sagna.
“Gibbs is out, he has a muscle strain in his stomach. He is out for two weeks I think.”
Defence:
Szczesny will start in goal as per usual, and I expect only one change to the back four that featured on the weekend. The injured Gibbs will be replaced by André Santos, who adds another attacking dimension to the team.
Midfield:
I see no reason why Wenger would change the midfield three. I thought that Rosicky was one of our best players vs Sunderland, and Song/Arteta will not be left out of the team.
Attack:
RvP is always a starter, whilst I hope that Wenger plays Gervinho and Arshavin (with Walcott on the bench). Theo didn’t make such a huge impact on the weekend, but Gervinho was decent and Andrei looked very sharp for the half an hour that he played.
Score prediction:
Marseille 1-1 Arsenal I am not going to be optimistic and predict an Arsenal win. Marseille are a tough team to play away from home – they have won 7 of the 10 games against English sides played at the Stade Velodrome. I don’t think that there will be many Arsenal fans who wouldn’t take a draw away from home.
