Arsenal News – Page 21 – Home Of Arsenal

Arsenal News

The future looks bright after FA Cup success

Arsenal made history on Saturday, winning the FA Cup for a record 12th time. They began their 2012/13 campaign one cup win behind rivals Manchester United, but after successful cup runs in two consecutive seasons, they now boast unmatched success in the competition.

.@Arsenal #FACupFinal winners 1930, 1936, 1950, 1971, 1979, 1993, 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2014, 2015 #record pic.twitter.com/fLzohd81kR

— The FA (@FA) May 30, 2015

This past week has revealed a darker side to football, with the events in Zurich dominating the media. Saturday’s cup final helped to reinstall faith in the beautiful game with an honest display of passion from the fans, players and managers. Just less than 90,000 supporters descended on Wembley Stadium to witness Arsenal completely outclass Aston Villa in what turned out to be one of the most one-sided cup finals in recent years.

Arsenal News

Danny Welbeck has stated that his move to the gunners has been a crucial reason

Arsenal striker Danny Welbeck has stated that his move to the gunners has been a crucial reason behind his good form for the England national team. Since the move to the Emirates stadium, Welbeck has been playing more consistently. Even though he has been shifted out wide after the return of Olivier Giroud, the fact that he has been a regular starter has helped him improve his match sharpness. This was clearly evident in the recent friendly matches against Lithuania and Italy. Welbeck scored in the 4-0 win over Lithuania and it helped him become the top scoring qualification stages with six goals from just five games.

Reflecting on this good run of form, Welbeck says that he is not surprised with the fact that he is scoring more regularly. After a mediocre start to his Arsenal career, Welbeck continues to be the foil for Giroud. He has scored only eight goals in 28 appearances for Arsenal in all competitions, which is a record that does not screen of quality. However, most of Welbeck’s goals have come in crucial matches and he has been an excellent signing at just £16 million. Recently, he scored against his former club Manchester United in the 2-1 victory for the gunners.

Arsenal News

Edinson Cavani is most debatable Topic

The winter transfer window was shut down a few weeks ago but this doesn’t stop the rumors from pouring in involving the future of certain players and Arsenal is believed to be interested in signing a few players from different leagues around the world.

Edinson Cavani of PSG is a constant topic of discussion as the Uruguayan attacker is rumored to be leaving the French club at the end of the season. At this point in the season Cavani has made 22 appearances and scored 8 goals which just isn’t good enough for a player that was acquired for a transfer fee in the region of €64 million.

Another player who is on the radar of Arsenal and Arsene Wenger is Palermo’s Paulo Dybala who at the age of 21 is already being compared to Sergio Aguero due to their playing style being similar.

Arsenal News

Yearning for yesteryear

I feel I should start this post by making it clear the current crop of players gracing the Emirates every other week possess a high level of talent and we should be thankful for such fortune. After all, it could be much, much worse – by some twisted turn of fate we could all be Spurs fans (and that doesn’t even bear thinking about).

ARSENAL ALIVE

Arsenal managed to keep their hopes of reaching the Champions League knockout stages alive after a 2-1 comeback victory over Belgian club Anderlecht. The Premier League outfit were trailing 1-0 going into the final 10 minutes of the match.

Anderlecht were not given much hope of beating Arsenal prior to the match, but a goal from Najar in the 71st minute change the whole complexion of the match. Suddenly, the underdogs were given something to hold on and it looked like they would get a highly unlikely victory, which would also boost their chances of reaching the next stage.

Arsene Wenger’s team had suffered defeats in the away match against Borussia Dortmund. The 4-1 win over Galatasaray in the previous round gave them hope of maintaining their distance away from the third placed team. Arsenal were indeed coming into the match on a poor run of form that had seen them drop four points in the league from the last two matches. Despite this, they showed incredible resilience in the final 10 minutes to get all three points. Defender Kieran Gibbs provided the unlikely equaliser just a minute before injury time, while forgotten man Lukas Podolski came up with the winner a few minutes later.

After the match, Wenger admitted that using six attacking players in the closing stages was a gamble that one that paid off. “I know by experience that the nerves play a part in the last five minutes in the Champions League. And that we had to get into those five minutes without conceding the second goal. If they had scored the second goal, it was game over. I had hope. It didn’t look likely but it happened. We took all the risks and, in the end, it paid off. It’s a little bit of a gambling situation that happens in this kind of game and it worked tonight,” said Wenger.

Arsenal News

Arsenal Rumoured To Make Offer For Montero

Arsenal are thought to be one of the clubs to have made an offer for the Ecuadorian winger Jefferson Montero, who impressed at the World Cup 2014. Even though Ecuador were knocked out of the World Cup at the group stages, they came close to qualifying for the last 16 stage. It was only because of the 0-0 draw with France that they failed to achieve this aim. Ecuador were one of the poorest teams from Latin America a decade ago, but this current generation of players have transformed them into one of the strongest.

A high-profile player with the Ecuadorian ranks is Manchester United winger Antonio Valencia. It looks as if Montero will join the list after the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham have reportedly made an offer for him. He confirmed after the 0-0 draw with France that he will certainly leave the Mexican league in this transfer window. After having played with Villarreal in Europe, Montero came back to Mexican football in the last two years. Now, he reckons that it is time to head back to Europe and play for the big clubs.

Even though he admitted that he is likely to seal the transfer the next few weeks, the destination still remains a mystery. Montero refused to reveal the identity of the club close to signing him. “It’s certain that I’ll leave the league, but let’s see where I’ll go. We expect to sort it out within the next few days. I already have an offer, the club are handling it. Let’s see where I’ll go but for now I have some days off. I can tell you that it won’t be Mexico. It will be Europe and thank God we are working on it, I hope it works out,” said the striker about joining the Premier League.

Arsenal News

Insigne Honoured By Arsenal Interest

Napoli striker Lorenzo Insigne’s agent has claimed that his client is extremely happy and honoured to know that a club like Arsenal are interested in signing him. The 23-year-old has emerged as one of the key transfer targets for Arsenal in the summer. He will be taking part in the World Cup 2014 for the Italian national team. After making 36 appearances in the league last season, he scored just three goals. However, his overall contribution to the team helped them finished third in the league table. Moreover, Arsenal are looking at a striker who will be a backup to Giroud and not a first choice player.

It is believed that the 23-year-old fits exactly into those requirements and his price will also be much lower than top class centre forwards like Gonzalo Higuain and Mario Balotelli. Arsenal have also been linked with these players as well. Even though Lorenzo Insigne has a contract with Napoli for the next four years, he has been reportedly made aware of the interest from the Premier league outfit. His agent, Antonio Ottaiano, has stated that they have been aware of Arsene Wenger speaking in glowing terms of the striker.

This is likely to pave way for a bid after the World Cup 2014. “We take into account the praising reports that Wenger has given about the player. We are honoured that a club like Arsenal could have Lorenzo on their wish list. However, from here to take it to the next level, that is a possible transfer, there is a huge mountain in between named Napoli. The club consider him without a shadow of a doubt as one of their key players for their ambitious project,” said the player’s agent. Arsenal won the FA Cup title last season – their first major trophy nine years.

Arsenal News

Mertesacker Wants Arsenal To Win For The Fans

Arsenal defender Per Mertesacker, who helped the club reach the final of the FA Cup by scoring the equaliser in the semi-final, says that he wants the players to go out and win the trophy for the fans. A victory will finally ended the trophy drought which has been in the minds of long-suffering Arsenal fans. The club has not won a major trophy since the FA Cup victory in 2005. Even though there have been numerous occasions when they have come close, it has largely been a decade to forget for the club.

The FA Cup final this year is more crucial than in previous years since it would also determine the future of several players and also the manager. It is believed that Arsene Wenger is delaying the signing of a new contract in order to see the outcome of the final. A poor result could bring an end to his time in the club. Mertesacker scored in the 1-1 draw with Wigan, in which Arsenal went on to win the semi-final on penalties. He says that the fans deserve success for staying with the club even during the troubled times.

Mertesacker has gone on to become one of the important players for the club after becoming an Arsenal player in 2011.
“I had a hard first season but they encouraged me so I have to give them credit. Especially in my first season they always covered me and always backed me up and gave me that bit of confidence you need as a player. (Winning the cup) would mean a lot, that would be a big step for our team. We went through a lot of difficulties. We were top of the league, then we dropped points and then came back to fourth position. We want to keep our run now,” said Mertesacker.

Arsenal News

WENGER CONFIDENT

Arsene Wenger has once again expressed his confidence that the title still remains within the reach of Arsenal even after dropping four points in the last two matches. A thumping 6-0 defeat against Chelsea was followed by a 2-2 draw with Swansea.

As Arsenal prepare to face title rivals Manchester city this weekend, Arsene Wenger has been talking about being in the title race. A defeat will surely end any hopes of a title, but Wenger has recalled that there are still several matches left in the campaign and that Arsenal have enough opportunities to close the gap.

Astonishingly, bookmakers have made Arsenal last 100/1 to win the title this campaign after the latest round of matches. Wenger has won several titles with Arsenal in the past, but there have been several doubts raised about him in recent years. He has not led the club to the major title since 2005. His contract expires at the end of the campaign, with rumours suggesting that he may not actually renew it if Arsenal do not win a trophy this campaign. Despite their failings in the Premier league over the last few weeks, the club still remain in the hunt for the FA Cup.

They will take on Wigan in the semifinals of the competition.

“There is no other priority other than coming first. That is still our target. Champions keep going when everybody else would give up. We have an opportunity to show that we have that mentality. If people say Everton can catch us then we can catch the teams above us. We have not given up, believe me. It’s our attitude tomorrow which will show that. We play at the Emirates where we show big strengths and we want to show that again,” said Wenger ahead of the match.

Arsenal News

ARSENAL FALL BEHIND

Arsenal fell 4 points behind table leaders Chelsea after a 1-0 defeat at the hands of Stoke City, which is a result that meant they have only one win against Stoke in the last eight meetings at the Britannia stadium.

This defeat has also allowed Liverpool to overtake the gunners in the table, while Arsenal could potentially fall to fourth place with Manchester City win the two matches in hand. Despite this disastrous result, which has been termed as a major setback for the club by Arsene Wenger, midfielder Jack Wilshere says that he remains confident of winning the first league title since 2004.
Arsenal would have been extremely worried not just about the result, but also about the performance. They were extremely poor against Stoke for the entire 90 minutes. Even more disappointing for the gunners was their inability to create at least one shot on target in the second half. They were able to keep the ball as usual, but without creating any chances. This match was viewed as the precursor to the upcoming tough run of fixtures, which will see Arsenal take on the likes of Bayern Munich, Tottenham, Manchester City, and Chelsea.

Wilshere said after the match that the players knew that this would be a tough match, but they simply did not create enough to claim a win.
“We have to be prepared for it. We know what to expect when we come here, it’s going to be a tough game, we have to fight and win second balls and then we have to take the opportunities when they come. We didn’t do that today. We had a few chances in the first half and we didn’t take them, and you’re going to get punished here. We weren’t at our best. Sometimes in these type of games you don’t have to be,” said Wilshere.