Wenger

7th May 2016: Second still in our sights as we head to City + Welbeck warning

Posted on by TremendArse

Saturday greetings. Despite Leicester being crowned champions earlier and our top four place all but secured already, Arsene Wenger underlined the importance of winning at Manchester City tomorrow when he spoke at his pre-match press conference yesterday.

With Tottenham hosting a dangerous Southampton in the early kick-off on Sunday, before travelling to a Newcastle United side battling for their Premier League lives on the final day of the season, second spot is far from out of reach for Arsenal, even with just two games to go. But to give ourselves a chance, we’ll have to win both games and the boss says the “future of Arsenal Football club depends on this game”:

Sunday’s game is still important, even if Leicester are champions today and we are second best. It is still a very important game because part of the responsibility of being professional is to prepare the future. The future of Arsenal Football Club depends on this game. There’s a European Championship and there’s a Copa America [in the summer]. To get our players back, we made a schedule. It’s absolutely very difficult because the European Championship finishes on July 10. If you think that you have to give at least three to four weeks of holiday to the players who go to the end [of the tournament], that means they come back at the beginning of August. Our target now is to secure a position in the Champions League next year. If possible, to get second place or at least secure third place. On Sunday we can achieve that. We still have two games, and if we win those two games we will be alright.

In terms of how we might line-up, my guess is we’ll see a few changes to the starting line-up from last week’s win over Norwich. Gabriel will come in for the hamstrung Per Mertesacker of course, but I’m also expecting Danny Welbeck to be restored upfront in place of Olivier Giroud.

I think a change in central midfield is also very likely, with either Aaron Ramsey moved forward at the expense of say, Alex Iwobi, or dropped to the bench to make way for Francis Coquelin or even Santi Cazorla or Jack Wilshere. I hope so anyway!

This fixture last season was a springboard for a superb run of form in the calendar year of 2015 of course and Danny Welbeck, who missed out on the 2-0 win in January last year, says Arsenal’s game-plan that day was spot-on. He told Arsenal Player:

I remember watching it at home on TV with my family. The performance was outstanding, from the first minute until the last. It was a great team performance, everyone worked hard throughout the game and I think tactically we were spot on with how we approached the match. I’ve got some good memories [at Man City], and a couple of bad ones as well. I think it’s important to focus on the next game coming and make sure that it’s another good memory.

And although Manuel Pellegrini’s men come into the game off the back of a hugely disappointing Champions League semi-final loss to Real Madrid, Welbeck warns City will prove difficult opposition for Arsenal. The striker said:

For them to be going into a Champions League semi-final second leg and having the opportunity to progress to the final is a major situation. Them not qualifying will put a bit of a downer on their confidence but City have a great squad, a great team and have great players in and around the whole club. There’s a lot of players who can come in on the weekend and provide a very stern test for Arsenal.

Which is very true. Even without David Silva and Vincent Kompany, who are likely to miss the game through injury, City can still field a star-studded selection who may just want to thank Pellegrini for his management in what will be his final home game as City manager by putting in a top performance. Lets hope not.

COYG!

Back post-match.

6th May 2016: Ox ruled out of Euros + Arsene on Arteta

Posted on by TremendArse

Evening all. Some bad news to begin with tonight unfortunately because Arsene Wenger this morning revealed that Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain picked up an injury in training this week and has been ruled out of action until next season.

Having recovered from the knock he picked up against Barcelona in February, the Ox’s latest injury cruelly comes just as he was on the cusp of a first-team comeback. Here’s what the boss said:

We have lost Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain during the week because he got a knee injury. He has injured his medial ligament in his right knee and will be out for six to eight weeks I think. Alex was back in full training when he picked up this new injury, which is not linked to his previous knee injuries. After that, Santi Cazorla came through well in a game for the under-21s. Everyone else should be available. We lost Per Mertesacker, the season is over for him because of his hamstring. That means Gabriel will come in for him. It is very sad. He was physically ready and looking sharp. He had one week’s training last week, but he planned to play on Tuesday night but got injured on Monday morning.

And on the player’s hopes of going to the European Championships with England, Arsene said:

There’s no chance. I had a little conversation with Alex and with our medical team. They told me yesterday that he will be back at the beginning of July. It’s bad news. Alex was out for a while and he was not overloaded with games. You want a guy of 22 years of age to go to the European Championship. It’s very bad. He’s an impact player as well so he could have had a great contribution to England’s success. England had quite a few problems up front so I think it’s bad news.

Bad news indeed, but for the player and England more so than Arsenal given we have just two games of the campaign to go. Hopefully a proper break over the summer will help the Ox to come back fully fit and focused so he can enjoy a better season than he did this time around.

With his contract situation still unresolved and recurring rumours of a move away, perhaps committing himself to the club long-term and removing that uncertainty over his future would also be beneficial for his game. Anyway, get well soon Alex!

Elsewhere the boss had some warm words for Mikel Arteta, whose contract at the club expires at the end of the season with reports recently of interest from Manchester City in securing his services as a coach for next season. He said:

It is true that he is out of contract here and when his contract finishes it is a good opportunity for me to thank him for his contribution, not only as a player but also as a great leader. What kind of orientation will he give now to his career? I heard about [coaching] as a possibility, but he could inform you much better than I can. He is free to decide to do what he wants, he will certainly need some time to reflect on whether he continues to play. I still think he can play, in the last months he has come back to a very good physical level and he is a position today where he can continue to play and he would be a very good player everywhere.

And on the possibility of offering Arteta a coaching role at Arsenal:

You want your former players to be at the club but you also need the positions to fill. You cannot create artificial positions at the club. If you have coaches in the under-16s, under-15s and under-14s who are very good, you will not kick them out to make room for players who want to coach. If we have positions available, we always give a good chance to the players who played here. Let’s not forget I’ve given the opportunity to many, many players to obtain their licence here, to educate them. After that maybe there will be someone else. We always open the door to give them an opportunity to be educated. After that we need the positions available to give them the job. We don’t know what will happen with the coaches’ movement.

It’s hard to argue with that in fairness. As popular and professional as Arteta is, if there’s no opening available he’ll have to look elsewhere. Perhaps one day he might return to be our very own Pep. Or not. Who knows?

See you on Saturday.

4th May 2016: Champions League thoughts + Santi on comeback

Posted on by TremendArse

Evening all. Sergio Ramos has just seen a goal disallowed for offside as I start to write tonight’s post, but his Real Madrid side already lead 1-0 at the Bernabeu against Manchester City in the second leg of the second Champions League semi-final thanks to a goal by Gareth Bale.

A single goal in response will suffice for City to progress as things stand but from an perspective, although the game will now definitely be decided in 90 minutes, so no fatiguing extra time, Vincent Kompany picked up an early hamstring strain tonight so looks sure to miss the game against us on Sunday. Mixed so far then, as far as we’re concerned.

The first last-four fixture was decided last night of course, as Atletico Madrid secured their place in the final for the second time in three seasons on the away goals rule despite losing the second leg 2-1 to Bayern Munich. Personally, I hope City make it through so we get to witness a final we haven’t seen before but also because I just don’t like Ronaldo very much. Yes he’s an alright footballer I suppose and scores the odd goal I’ve heard but the Brazilian version was the first and infinitely more gifted as far as I’m concerned.

On to Arsenal now and the big news is Mohamed Elneny has won his second successive player of the month award on the official site. Go Mo! Actually, the real big news is that Santi Cazorla has taken another huge step towards a first-team appearance after playing for the under 21s last night and grabbing an assist. The Spaniard spoke to Arsenal Player after the game and revealed his delight at being back on the pitch. He said:

I’m very happy to be back. It is a great feeling after five months. I need to keep up the hard work with my team-mates in the first team and I want to play the last two games. I would like to help the first team at the weekend against Manchester City. [Arsène Wenger] has the decision, but I will try to play at the weekend. We need to win the last two games as we want to finish in the top four. We need to fight until the end to try to get second place. If we win the last two games, we can do that. I want to help my team-mates.

After such a long spell out out injured I’d be surprised if Santi’s deemed match-fit enough by the boss to start at the weekend but then who knows? Maybe he’ll play from the off and reproduce that sensational performance he came up with in this fixture at the start of 2015.

It’s still 1-0 in Spain. Gael, Bacary and co need a goal and soon.

See you tomorrow.

3rd May 2016: Leicester are champions + Wenger on striker selection

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Welcome back. So Leicester City are Premier League champions after Sp*rs drew 2-2 at Chelsea last night despite leading 2-0 at half-time.

I would revel more in Tottenham’s tragic failure to keep the title race alive but given we’ve been out of contention for a while now and lie below our neighbours in the standings, I’m left with little choice but to reign in the ridicule.

So I’ll limit myself to: “Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahhahahahahahahaha” and,”have you ever seen Tottenham win the league? HAVE YOU F*CK”, as well as, #61NEVERAGAIN.

Meanwhile, the Foxes’ fairytale campaign is complete, they’re champions of England for the first time in their history and have done it at a time when the relative riches of the country’s elite few clubs, and decades-long domination of the Premier League crown, makes Leicester achievement all-the-more astounding.

So I hope everyone associated with Leicester makes the most of their Black Swan season and enjoys every second of their status as champions for the next year or so, because unless they’re taken over by billionaire benefactors like Chelsea or Manchester City, they won’t be repeating this year’s feat for a very, very long time, if ever.

As much as Claudio Ranieri and his squad deserve boundless praise for their achievement, they were aided and abetted by a perfect storm of big-club implosions and transition phases. Except by Arsenal of course, because we were just typically championship-allergic as we have been for 12 years now. Still, what a story. Well done Leicester City.

But back to Arsenal and Arsene Wenger has revealed the reasoning behind his decision to reinstate Olivier Giroud as his starting striker in the last couple of games in place of Danny Welbeck, despite the latter having played very well on the whole since his return from long-term injury. He said:

Welbeck came in and played very well [on his comeback], like the players who have been out for nine months always do. You have to trust me on that, I know that well – after they come in they are super sharp and then after, against Crystal Palace, he had a very average game and looked a bit for one or two games that he paid for the physical energy he had given. So you let them rest one or two games and you bring them back in. [Against Norwich], when he came on, you could see he is a different animal again.

Arsene also discussed the form of Giroud, with the striker currently enduring the worst goal-less spell of his Arsenal career:

A striker wants to score goals and when he doesn’t, is it pure confidence or is it just to think, ‘How can I score again? They need goals. But he responds, he’s a guy who is mentally strong. Today he gave an assist, I put that in the same category as a goal.

Given the above, I’ll be shocked if Welbeck doesn’t start ahead of Giroud against Manchester City on Sunday but with a good few days until the game, there’s plenty of time to look at how we might line-up for the match at Etihad stadium in the days to come.

Back on Wednesday.

1st May 2016: Welbeck winner secures narrow win over Norwich

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Welcome to a brand new month on TremendArse. Just a very brief post for you this evening and where else to start other than our narrow 1-0 win over Norwich earlier, secured thanks to a second-half strike by substitute Danny Welbeck.

After a pretty dismal first-half performance by Arsenal in which the visitors looked the more threatening team, Arsene Wenger replaced Alex Iwobi with Welbeck ten minutes into the second period with large sections of the home support voicing their displeasure at the change.

Yet within five minutes the manager had been proven right in hooking Iwobi and leaving the struggling Oliver Giroud on because it was the latter whose clever knockdown was half-volleyed home by Welbeck in a crowded penalty area. Remarkably, that pretty much sums up the football because it really was forgettable fare.

So onto the protests – if you can call them that. It was more a tiny minority of fans holding up A4 signs urging the club to change it’s ways, being outnumbered and drowned out by cries of “come on Arsenal” and what is now an all-too-rare chorus of  “there’s only one Arsene Wenger”.

If the manager was dreading the 12th minute, by the 15th he was processing his surprise at the level of support he still commands. I know I was. It just goes to show that Twitter and the online Arsenal world really is a poor gauge of widespread fan sentiment at times.

Afterwards, the boss gave his take on the game, saying:

It was much wanted and much needed. It was difficult. We played against a team who were very well organised. We didn’t find a good pace in our game but we were serious and organised, and in the end we got the win. In the first half we needed to be patient, and we needed Petr once or twice. In the second half, it was a deserved win against a team that fights not to go down. It was a typical game that you get. We played Sunderland and Norwich and got two similar games.

He also discussed the atmosphere in the ground, labeling it ‘strange’:

It was a bit of a strange atmosphere. We have to live with that. Some fans were protesting, yes, but a big majority didn’t and the big majority was behind the team. They showed that they appreciate what I’ve done until now, so it’s alright. It was a difficult atmosphere yes, but we have just to live with that, give more, focus on our performance and try to make 100 per cent of our fans happy. That’s our target. The game was difficult in itself and the atmosphere was alright. I think the fans were behind the team and I believe as well we had not the stylish performance that could raise people off their seats. We had a serious and studious performance, a bit subdued at stages. We wanted absolutely to win the game and we did it.

My over-riding view right now is quite straight forward; one down two to go. Then we can put this season behind us, enjoy the summer when hopefully the manager will prepare for what may well be his last season in charge by going mad with his cheque-book like never before, and we build a team and squad that can finally land us a Premier League crown.

See you next week.

3oth April 2016: Protests prepared as we welcome Norwich

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Welcome back. We host Norwich later of course and although I usually wake on a match day with a feeling of excited anticipation, today I’m a little indifferent. The planned fan protests, together with the lowly opposition and the lack of title significance, has morphed the fixture into one I wouldn’t mind missing. I’m just not up for it like I usually am.

We’re nearing the end of the season and although we still need points to secure a Champions League place and could yet catch Tottenham in the league, the fact we can’t win it now has drained my interest. I must be a fair-weather fan.  Hopefully the players aren’t feeling the same way later though, because despite battling relegation, Norwich will be far from easy opponents, as Arsene suggested at his pre-match press conference yesterday. He said:

Norwich are a team who plays more so we have to stop them from combining well. For us, it is important for us to score early if possible to put them under pressure and play at a high pace. No, I don’t know (if Norwich are underdogs in the relegation fight). It is very difficult to predict at the bottom of the league what will happen because you have Newcastle, Sunderland, Norwich and it is very difficult to predict because as well it is a nerve problem.

In terms of team selection I’d bring back Francis Coquelin and Danny Welbeck and drop Aaron Ramsey and Olivier Giroud if I was picking the team but wouldn’t be surprised at all to see the latter pair keep their starting places from last week’s draw at Sunderland. Santi Cazorla should be on the bench and Jack Wilshere’s a potential starter I suppose but elsewhere the team pretty much picks itself.

The protests planned for the 12th and 78th minutes in reference to our 12-year wait for the Premier League crown will be a side-show today of course, unless they’re so dramatic that they drown out the action.

As I suggested earlier this week, I think the protests are justified and will ideally be drivers for more ambitious transfer dealings this summer by the club but I just hope they don’t a) adversely affect the players’ performance and b) aren’t abusive towards anyone. Calling for change is fine and indeed welcome as far as I’m concerned, calling someone a c*nt is not. Unless it’s Jose Mourinho. Then it’s fine and you might want to throw in ‘massive’ as a prefix.

Right. That’s all I can muster for today.

Back tomorrow.

29th April 2016: Wenger on planned protest and Austerity Arsenal

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Happy Friday. With a fans’ protest planned for tomorrow’s game against Norwich at Emirates stadium, Arsene Wenger’s pre-match press conference this morning was always destined to be a little tastier than usual, as he gave his take on growing discontent among Arsenal supporters.

Having blown an unusually presentable chance to win the Premier League title this season, making it 12 full campaigns since we were last champions, calls for the boss to step aside and for the club’s ownership to show more ambition in the transfer market have grown markedly. So what does Arsene make of it all? Here’s what he said:

I think this club has special values and we care about the club and our fans as well. We try to keep everybody happy. We have to put things into perspective and see how the club has evolved over the years. I believe that it was not always easy and the quality of the work we have done has got [the club] into a strong position where the expectation is very high. The frustration is very high when we don’t get what we want.

Pretty polite stuff so far and also hard to argue with in many ways. Arsene and Arsenal are undoubtedly being more harshly judged right now largely due to them having set the bar so high in the first decade of his tenure.

Two doubles, four FA Cups, an unbeaten league campaign, the club’s first ever Champions League final, some of the greatest players this country has ever seen being developed – perhaps the only way was down from those lofty heights. Anyway, Arsene then went on to remind everyone that the construction of a spanking new stadium financially restricted the club for several years, saying:

I wish when I go that the club goes higher up and wins the Champions League and the championship every year. I will be the biggest supporter in the stand because I will feel that I have contributed to that a little bit with the basis that we have built. You have to remember that when we built the stadium, we had five to seven difficult financial years, where we had to pay back. Out of five years, we had to be in the Champions League for three years and have an average attendance of 54,000 people. We didn’t know if we would be able to do that but of course we had to sell our best players every year and survive. We survived at the top level and did not do three years out of five. We did five years out of five. I think the club is now out of that period and is in a much stronger position. Today we are in a position where we can compete again financially with our main opponents. But during that time, it was very difficult.

Despite being a big fan of Arsene Wenger (how can any sane Gooner not be) and still wanting him to be our manager at a time when even some of his most loyal supporters are beginning to waver and call for a change in the dugout, the line about going through a difficult financial period is getting a little old now.

I think the job Arsene did over that period borders on the miraculous and he deserves immense credit for it, but for the last few years we’ve had money and still fallen short in the league. We’ve splashed the cash on superstars like Mesut Ozil, Alexis Sanchez and Petr Cech, yet remained as far from ending our title drought as during the years of Austerity Arsenal.

We’re still brittle, still lacking a really top goalscorer, still have too many players in the squad either not good enough or badly suited to our intended style of play and yet again, we’ve let a season fizzle out into a top four finish having led the league half-way through a campaign. Throw in the fact we failed to sign any outfield players last summer and it’s clear we could and should be doing a lot better. Kevin de Bruyne, for instance, would have been a brilliant signing in hindsight, even for the £55 million it took for Manchester City to get him.

The Belgian was available and in my opinion would have improved our attack immeasurably, yet with the likes of Theo Walcott and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain amongst others already vying for places on the flanks, we weren’t even in the race for him. And that’s what I’m  getting at in a round-about, inarticulate way – we should be far more ruthless in replacing perfectly good players when even better ones come up.

Barcelona had Alexis Sanchez but didn’t bat an eyelid in letting him leave so they could sign Luis Suarez because they rated the latter higher and because they prioritize winning matches and trophies above any individual’s career path. Arsene on the other hand, said in an interview just the other day that in his opinion, “real respect” for his work should be reserved for the way he’s helped players fulfill their potential.

There’s a balance needed ideally, because without Arsene’s desire to give youth a chance we may never have had the likes of Nicolas Anelka, Cesc Fabregas and Hector Bellerin play for us, but perhaps we’re too patient and too hopeful with too many squad members too often.

I’ve gone on a bit of a meandering rant so I’ll call it a day I think. I’ll look at team selection for the Norwich game in tomorrow’s post.

Until then.

28th April 2016: Cazorla in contention for Norwich + Ozil on his future

Posted on by TremendArse

Greetings. It’s Thursday already, May’s on the horizon, the European Champions are a mere matter of weeks away but most importantly of all, there’s just a few more games to go before we can put this mad, bad season behind us.

But first it’s Norwich at Emirates stadium on Saturday for the first of our final three fixtures of the season and as we build up to the game, Arsene Wenger has provided an injury update to the official site, saying:

We have no big problems injury wise and there is not much time to go. The players are all available now. It looks good for the [European Championship]. Ideally, the players are not injured. Their injuries are accidental and traumatic injuries. It is good they have hope to go to the European Championship.

With Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Santi Cazorla back in full training, the boss also discussed team selection for the weekend, suggesting he faces a good problem in picking his starting XI with so many players to choose from. He said:

It is difficult and easy because all the players are at a good level. Any decision will be good, and any decision will be is bad as well because you have to leave a good player out. No, I don’t know (the last time he had a fully-fit squad) because between you have some players who make their place in the team like Iwobi and Elneny who we brought in January so there is more competition for places now. It’s Oxlade-Chamberlain’s first week in full training now, so I don’t think I will select him this weekend. Santi might be in the squad this weekend, I don’t know yet. He is available. Everyone is available, but maybe Oxlade-Chamberlain is not competitive yet.

It sounds like Cazorla may be ready for a place on the bench at least against the Canaries and it will also be interesting to see if Jack Wilshere is deemed sharp enough now to play a full game.

Regular readers will no doubt be aware I’m far from a fan of Aaron Ramsey playing in central midfield and would much rather Jack being paired alongside Mohamed Elneny or Francis Coquelin in front of the defence. But with only two from five, if you include Cazorla, it will certainly be interesting to see what the manager goes with.

Moving on and Mesut Ozil has been speaking to Sport-Informations-Dienst about, amongst other things, his future with Arsenal following rumours of interest in his services from Barcelona, as well as ongoing contract negotiations to prolong his stay in north London. Here’s what our German schemer said:

I am very happy that I am able to experience this incredible city first hand and that I am able to play for such a big club. Everyone who has been here knows that there’s plenty to do in London. There’s no hurry (to sign a new deal), I still have two years on my contract. We will sit down at the end of the season. I will definitely return to Germany at some point. I feel at home there, and my family are all there. I’ve got a lot of options in a sporting sense. I’m not saying I’ll definitely return to the Bundesliga or that I will definitely go to Turkey. With that said, I’m not ruling it out. I may well see out my career here in England.

So certainly not the “Arsenal ROCKED as Ozil declines new deal and demands move away” reports we’ve seen recently, rather, just an honest answer from the player when questioned over his future plans. Arsene said recently that both Ozil and Alexis Sanchez were keen to stay at the club and nothing the former says above contradicts that.

See you on Friday.

27th April 2016: Pep in potential pickle as Wenger talks frustration

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Welcome to Wednesday on TremendArse. So both Champions League semi-finals rest on a knife-edge following the first-legs, after Manchester City played out a goal-less draw against a Ronaldo-less Real Madrid last night before Saul Niguez bagged a wonderful solo goal as Atletico Madrid beat Bayern Munich earlier this evening.

An all-Madrid final for the second time in three years may now be the most likely outcome, but I’d quite like to see City v Bayern, purely for the drama of Pep Guardiola’s last game in charge of the Bavarians having to be against his soon-to-be employers – and in what is the biggest game in club football. Awkwaaaaaard.

But back to us and Arsene Wenger has spoken at length to the May edition of Arsenal Magazine, explaining why he is ‘frustrated’ by his team’s failure to secure the league title in the last coupe of seasons. He said:

What’s quite frustrating for me is that I feel in the last two years, we have moved the game forward in a modern way of managing the team and the club. Maybe we have not been immediately rewarded in the championship, but we feel we are moving the club the right way. We always want to learn and to move forward, together. That’s one of the principles of the club. We want to be together but we want to move forward.

The irony that we’ve more-or-less stayed stationary in terms of Premier and Champions League finishes for over a decade can’t be lost on the manager, but to be fair to our increasingly-beleaguered boss, the club have clearly improved in other areas such as medical staff, youth recruitment and Academy structure etc etc.

Arsene also discussed his desire to keep the Arsenal fan-base satisfied and defended his team’s expansive style, saying he believes he is obligated as a manager to strive for an entertaining style-of-play. He said:

I always think that the respect for the fans comes when you have the desire as a coach to give them something on a Saturday afternoon that makes them happy. I believe that fans should always be able to wake up on a Saturday morning and their first thought should be, ‘Yes my team is playing to day, it could be great. Unfortunately we do not always manage to give them that, but at the least we should have the desire to do that. I also believe that the positive idea of a football club is to have a desire for style. If big clubs don’t have that, then I think something is missing. Throughout the history of the game, the big club sides and the big national teams always had that desire. Whether it is Brazil, or the big teams like Barcelona and Real Madrid. And I think Arsenal has a positive reputation on that front. The big English teams – Liverpool, Man United and so on – always had that as well. It is basically an obligation for you as a coach.

And finally, Arsene touched on why he thinks the ‘real respect’ for his work as a manager comes from helping players fulfill their potential, saying:

I want to help the players to achieve the best of what they can in their career. At the end of the day, we are not responsible for the talent we each have, but we are responsible for what we do with our talent. The respect I have for people is when you look back and say ‘This guy had nothing much more left within him than what he achieved.’ I would like that I am the guy today who helps the players to achieve all that they can achieve – to fulfill their potential. That’s where the real respect comes from – when you feel people have fulfilled their potential. When you think people have used 60 or 70 percent of their talent, even when they are very talented, there is something missing there that makes you think, ‘No my friend, you are wrong.’

*cough* Walcott.

*cough* Oxlade-Chamberlain.

Back tomorrow.

25th April 2016: Wenger on Sunderland + Wilshere on comeback

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Welcome back. It turns out Arsenal aren’t the only bottlers in north London after all, because Tottenham hilariously failed to beat West Brom at home tonight, which means a win for Leicester at Manchester United on Sunday, or defeat for Sp*rs at Chelsea a day later, will see the Foxes crowned champions.

As far as we’re concerned, tonight’s 1-1 draw at White Hart Lane leaves the door to second place slightly ajar, when just yesterday it appeared locked, bolted and more inpenetrable than a back four of Dixon, Adams, Bould and Winterburn. It’s still unlikely we’ll finish runners-up of course, but now ever-so-slightly more feasible.

I suppose to make it happen we’ll have to be calm and collected in our final three games (as well as far more creative and clinical in the final third), something Arsene Wenger reckons we weren’t at Sunderland yesterday afternoon. Speaking to Arsenal Player, the boss said:

I think we played very well in the first half. Unfortunately we couldn’t take our chances and in the second half we dropped a little bit physically, because we played three games in seven days and our cohesion was less good. We didn’t make enough with the possession we had and the chances we created, so we have to be supportive of the team at the moment and keep going. I think we had very good opportunities. We didn’t look calm enough when we had the chances. Sometimes we gave the ball a bit late but overall I think the first half was very interesting.

That’s one way to sum it up I suppose. Another though, would be to say we were less sh*t in the first half than we were in the second, were barely threatening as an attacking force for most of the game, fielded a midfielder who can’t pass in Aaron Ramsey, a striker who can’t score in Olivier Giroud, and in the end, had Petr Cech to thank for avoiding defeat against a team who began the game in the relegation zone.

Moving swiftly on and onto rare positive from yesterday’s game – Jack Wilshere’s first competitive appearance this season. The midfielder spoke to Arsenal Player after making a late cameo as a substitute in place of an off-colour Mesut Ozil and expressed his joy at making his long-awaited return to first-team football. He said:

It’s the best feeling. All those late nights and long days in the gym, this is when it really pays off. You can do all the training, you can play for the under-21s to build your fitness up, but what really matters is playing for the first team and getting back on the pitch, so I’m really happy. I felt good. In my first under-21s game, I didn’t really feel that great. In the second I felt better and in the third I felt as though I was able to get through 90 minutes and have an impact on the game. I spoke with the boss in the week, he felt the same and I travelled to Sunderland. It’s a big week for me in training, getting fitter and sharper. Hopefully next weekend I can get some more game time and go from there. I’m not saying that I’m there yet, this is just another step on my way to full recovery. There’s a few games left and after that, hopefully I’ll go away with England to the Euros. It’s an exciting time.

Needless to say if anyone (bar poor Abou obviously) deserves a bit of luck with staying injury-free from now on it’s Jack. And given Arsene seems to have grown bored with a double-defensive bolt, benching Francis Coquelin as he has in our last two games, perhaps Wilshere might be afforded a start in central midfield alongside Mohamed Elneny before the season’s out. I hope so.

Back tomorrow.