Arsenal’s north London derby day fixture had the potential to destroy the club’s season, and hand an added emphasis to Spurs’ achievements this season, and after half an hour it didn’t look good for Gunners fans. However, when faced with adversity, Arsene Wenger’s men showed a will to win, determination and a drive that has been missing for large portions of the season, and defied the Betfair football odds to claim a well-deserved 5-2 victory.
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Arsenal travel to take on AC Milan at the San Siro on Wednesday night, and Arsene Wenger will be hopeful of getting a similar performance and result to the one recorded the last time The Gunners visited the Giuseppe Meazza. The north London club beat Milan 2-0 away from home at the same stage of the Champions League in 2007/08, and there is no reason why those lucky supporters with Arsenal tickets won’t witness a similar outcome this time round.
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Arsene says our frustrating pocket Russian still deserves to drink freely from the milk of human kindness.
And who could argue with that…
This article titled “Andrey Arshavin deserves Arsenal fans’ respect, says Arsène Wenger” was written by Jamie Jackson, for The Guardian on Friday 3rd February 2012 23.02 UTC
Arsène Wenger has told Arsenal fans to show some respect to Andrey Arshavin after the midfielder was booed when he came on for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain in the 2-1 league defeat by Manchester United last week.
Wenger, whose side have lost three of their last five league games, backed the under-fire Russian, who has been vilified by some fans for his inconsistent form this season.
He said: “At the moment we play a little bit under difficult circumstances but we have to realise that we have to support our players. I personally have a huge respect for Andrey Arshavin and if you would see him behave every day you would have one as well. I understand everybody’s frustrations because I’m quite tolerant – but there is still a difference between frustration and lack of respect.
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Especially with his injury record.
Pic from his new site robinvanpersie.com
Looks like Dennis Bergkamp wouldn’t have passed up that volley Theo Walcott missed at Bolton.
Bergkamp still got it by soccermr
Arsene objects to Manchester City’s public pursuit of Samir Nasri
This article titled “Arsène Wenger: Manchester City’s Roberto Mancini is ‘out of order’” was written by David Hytner at the Meihu Sports Centre, Yiwu, for The Observer on Saturday 16th July 2011 16.39 UTC
There was a storm before Arsenal brought the curtain down on their Asia tour, featuring thunder, lightning and torrential rain, yet it was nothing like the one afterwards, when Arsène Wenger raged at a familiar slight.
The manager has digressed regularly from the real business here, which has been to promote the club’s brand to the captive audience in Malaysia and China, to insist that the captain Cesc Fàbregas and Samir Nasri are staying put in north London. Fàbregas, who has not been in Asia because of injury, is dancing once more with Barcelona, while both of the Manchester clubs want Nasri, who is into the final 12 months of his contract.
Wenger began the tour by declaring his determination to keep Nasri this summer was so absolute that he would be prepared to lose him on a Bosman free transfer next year, and he ended it with a stinging rebuke to his Manchester City counterpart Roberto Mancini, who has said that he still hopes to sign the midfielder by the end of the month.
“This comment is out of order,” Wenger said, before addressing the issue of its disrespect. “I cannot say otherwise. These comments are not allowed. They are against the basic rules of football and he should be informed [of that].
“I don’t know what should be done. I don’t spend my time worrying about what other people say because we are focused on our game. But what we want is respect and we don’t make these comments about players who are under contract at other clubs. It’s time football in England came back to these basic rules.”
Nasri was the focal point at the outset even if, in between the explosive weather and post-match quotations, the match was something of a damp squib. He was again handed an advanced midfield role in the middle of Wenger’s 4-1-4-1 formation, strengthening the impression that, if Fàbregas were to leave, Nasri might be asked to step into his boots.
The story of the first half was the pace and incision of Hangzhou Greentown, the Chinese Super League team, together with some dreadfully sloppy Arsenal defending. Thank goodness it is only pre-season. Sébastien Squillaci got another dishonourable mention.
Greentown had the first chance with just 90 seconds on the clock, Wang Song breaking clear only to be denied by Vito Mannone’s legs, and Paulo Pezzolano hit the post shortly before the opening goal after being given too much time to line up a curling shot. A minute later they scored through Sebastián Vázquez’s close-range finish, and there were soon sightings of Wenger’s outstretched arms on the bench. Carlos Vela’s bundled equaliser on 45 minutes, after Andrey Arshavin and Robin Van Persie had combined, had scarcely been signposted.
It felt strange to see Arsenal turn out in a neat-and-tidy athletics stadium, given the clamour from the fans in China to see them. The capacity was 45,000 and it was significantly under half full, although virtually everybody was supporting Wenger’s team. For Arsenal, though, the live broadcast rights to the game across China were everything. Rather more watched from their armchairs.
Arsenal’s marketing department has been excited at how the tour has helped to make the club more visible in China and increase their reach. One of many remarkable statistics was the one million users who logged in to a web chat with Vela and Aaron Ramsey, whose nickname in these parts is Mr Handsome.
There is no doubt that Arsenal have felt the love from the locals. They have choreographed their tour to perfection, making capital from even the little touches. The players’ names on the back of their shirts here were in Mandarin.
Wenger made 11 half-time changes, the arrivals including Ramsey and Theo Walcott, and his new-look line-up dominated the second period. Yet they spurned a stream of chances to win, with Walcott the chief culprit.
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This article titled “Andrey Arshavin’s goal completes the Arsenal recovery against Barcelona” was written by Kevin McCarra at Emirates Stadium, for The Guardian on Thursday 17th February 2011 00.32 UTC
Arsenal may not have won the Champions League tie but they approach the return with a serenity that is no longer within Barcelona’s reach. The visitors lost a lead and then the match. In that run of events an initially effortless side became careless and vulnerable. They ought to reproach themselves and there is now penance enough in a return at the Camp Nou that will be stressful for Barcelona no matter how it is eventually resolved.
For the time being Arsène Wenger can settle for feeling proud of the maturity of Arsenal players whose temperaments did not shrivel even when Barcelona were at their most intimidatingly fluent. Instead Arsenal persevered in looking for weaknesses and eventually located them. Robin van Persie tied the score in the 78th minute with a drive from a tight angle on the left that ought never to have beaten Víctor Valdés at his near post.
There was further proof to come of Barcelona fallibility. Five minutes later Cesc Fábregas set Samir Nasri moving on the right and the cut-back was swept home perfectly by the substitute Andrey Arshavin. Barcelona had come as close as seems feasible to resembling normal, intermittently accident-prone human beings. Chances were squandered as if it could be taken for granted that there would be many more to come for Lionel Messi and others.
That assumption turned out to be a delusion and now there are matters of bare fact to occupy them. The centre-half Gerard Piqué was booked and will be suspended for the second leg. The Barcelona manager, Pep Guardiola, must therefore hope that the captain Carles Puyol’s recovery from a knee injury does not falter between now and 8 March.
There was proof in abundance of Barcelona’s technique and imagination, yet they were not ruthless in taking the full benefit. They had been 2-0 ahead here a year ago before drawing the first leg of the quarter-final but went on to rout Arsenal 4-1 in the return. That may account for the complacency when Barcelona neglected to drive home the advantage of David Villa’s opener last night.
Arsenal’s emergence as the single likely challenger to Manchester United for the Premier League title ought to have told Barcelona that there is more of an edge to Wenger’s men nowadays. With an away goal recorded in a narrow defeat Guardiola’s side deserve to remain favourites for the quarter-finals but that assertion is open to more debate now than anyone anticipated.
Meeting Barcelona is a predicament for virtually all teams but Arsenal’s case is unusual. Rather than being the normal contrast of styles, this encounter saw Guardiola’s side taking on opponents who would like nothing better than to emulate their methods.
Arsenal withstood that comparison. Even when the visitors took the lead through Villa in the 26th minute it came in a spell where they might just as easily have fallen behind. Neither team was particularly convincing when seeking to thwart the other. Their heart is not in such work.
That openness made for a frenetic yet also adroit spectacle. Barcelona could well have had a lovingly crafted opener after a quarter of an hour. Andrés Iniesta picked out Messi and he laid the ball back to Villa before breaking free on the return. It may only have been the wish to take the goal with a flourish that undermined him as a dinked shot went beyond the far post.
Arsenal were at least as effective then in unpeeling a back four. Following good work by Theo Walcott, Fábregas lobbed a pass to Van Persie, who rattled a shot that was saved by Valdés. Even if Wenger’s men blundered in their effort to spring the offside trap, Messi sending Villa in for the opener, Arsenal had been trying to dictate the terms of the match and so break a Barcelona rhythm that is as natural as a pulse.
There had been indications from early moments that Barcelona are less sure in defence without Puyol. In that aspect the visitors could be seen as fallible human beings. They were not in full command when a run like Walcott’s unpeeled the right side of the defence in the 55th minute, although his low ball was cleared. There was enough disquiet in Barcelona for Piqué to receive his yellow card, after bringing down Fábregas.
There was a gathering conviction to Arsenal and, in consequence, the odd indication of alarm in the visitors as the second half assumed its shape. It took 20 minutes or more before Barcelona enjoyed a studied period of possession as they probed around the edges of the Arsenal penalty area. Two substitutions reflected managerial outlooks.
Guardiola’s preference was conservative, as Seydou Keita took over from Villa, while Wenger pitched on the creative Arshavin for the holding midfielder Alex Song. The match had turned pensive. That was natural after two sides who had regularly swept around this pitch realised that they resemble normal footballers in one respect. They, too, can get very tired. Arsenal still mustered a perseverance that took them to victory.
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