EVERTON VS ARSENAL 2-2 DRAW REVIEW

With the midweek game against Besiktas in mind and some of the Arsenal squad still to get up to speed, Arsene Wenger opted for a bit of an experimental selection for the away game with Everton. And with last season’s naive performance at Goodison still fresh in the memory, the Gunners were determined to be more solid and hard to beat.

It was working fairly well until Everton stunned us with the opening goal against the ruin of play. A bit of a defensive switch off and a great ball in from Gareth Berry left Coleman the freedom of the penalty area to head past Szczesny.

Then the old adage that goals change games came into play, with us looking more nervous and Everton with their tails up. We still played some good stuff and could have scored with a bit more luck and a bit more sharpness around the box from Ramsey and the Ox. Then our bad luck really hit home, with the Toffees getting away with a Lukaku foul and a Naismith offside to hit us with a real body shot on the stroke of halftime.

Wenger brought Giroud on for Alexis for the second half, hopefuly to save the Chilean for Wednesday rather than a knock. And the Frenchman nearly got us back into it straight away, but his well struck volley flew over. We were not quite firing in attack, but Everton were very good defensively, throughout their team. When we did get it right, they were always there to snuff out the danger.

Arsenal finally broke through with Cazorla feeding Ramsey from the left but there was not long left and Everton were doing their best to kill the game, but the big man showed his strength and Monreal found him with a pinpoint cross to get us a point.

This was miles from the drubbing we got there last season, but we nearly got nothing from the game and will need to bounce back well to make the Champions League group stage. And I think Giroud will be starting that game!

ARSENAL MADE END OF SEASON SIGNING (ALEXIS SANCHEZ)

Sanchez, 25, joins Arsenal from Barcelona where he made a total of 88 appearances, scoring 39 goals during his three seasons with the Catalan side.

With Barcelona, Sanchez won both La Liga (2012/13) and the Copa del Rey (2012), as well as the Spanish Super Cup on two occasions (2011, 2013), the UEFA Super Cup (2011) and the FIFA Club World Cup (2011).

Regarded as one of the world’s finest talents, Sanchez has just returned from the World Cup in Brazil, where he played an integral role in Chile qualifying from their group (which included the Netherlands, Spain and Australia) and reaching the round of 16. During the tournament, Sanchez scored two goals from his four appearances.

The striker, who has now made 71 appearances for Chile, scoring 24 goals, started his career with Cobreloa, based in Calama in north Chile, where he spent a season before moving to Santiago-based Colo-Colo, where he won the Chilean Primera Division in 2007.

After convincing performances in Chile between 2005 and 2007, Sanchez went on loan to Argentine side River Plate, where he added the Argentinian Primera Division to his honours.

Following his success in South America, Sanchez made a permanent move to Serie A side Udinese in 2008, where he spent three seasons, scoring 20 goals from 95 appearances, before making the move to Barcelona in 2011.

Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger said: “As many people have seen during the World Cup this summer, Alexis is a fantastic footballer and we are delighted that he is joining us at Arsenal Football Club.

“Alexis will add power, creativity and much quality to our squad and we are all looking forward to him joining up with us in a few weeks. He has consistently produced top-quality performances at the highest level for a number of seasons now and we are all excited to see him integrate into the Arsenal squad. I’m sure all Arsenal supporters will join me in welcoming Alexis to our club.”

Sanchez said: “I’m so happy to be joining Arsenal, a club which has a great manager, a fantastic squad of players, huge support around the world and a great stadium in London. I’m looking forward to meeting my new team-mates and to be playing for Arsenal in the Premier League and Champions League. I will give my best to Arsenal and want to make all the supporters happy.”

Sanchez travelled to London Colney on Thursday to complete his medical and will join up with his new team-mates at the end of July, after spending some time on holiday following the World Cup.

It is expected that Sanchez will make his first Arsenal appearance at the Emirates Cup, which takes place at Emirates Stadium on Saturday, August 2 and Sunday, August 3.

Sanchez’s Arsenal squad number will be revealed soon through Arsenal’s official Instagram account.

A full interview with Alexis will feature soon on arsenalwiki blog.

Everyone at Arsenal welcomes Alexis to the club and looks forward to seeing him in an Arsenal shirt.

Mesut-Ozil-set to return after hamstring injury, time-Arsenals-trip-Hull-Sunday.

Arsenal have a received a timely boost in their quest for a Champions League spot after Arsene Wenger said club record signing Mesut Ozil could return for Sunday's trip to Hull. 

Ozil picked up a hamstring injury in the Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich last month and Arsenal have only won twice since as their title challenge has ground to a halt. 

Wenger took the opportunity to leap to the defence of the £42.5million man, who has had a largely underwhelming season.

Wenger said: 'He had a period where he was tired because he was not used to playing a full season. 

'He's a fantastic football players and I would put him on the list to be player of the season next season.

Nacho Monreal is also nearing a return, but fellow left back Kieran Gibbs is out of the clash.

Meanwhile, Wenger spoke of his relief at Everton's shock 3-2 defeat by Crystal Palace on Wednesday night, a results which sees the Gunners cling on to fourth place. 

'It is, of course, a big encouragement but there's there's a lot of work to do for us,' he said. 'We have a big game at Hull. 

'Mentally we are in better shape than a week ago because we had two important wins and that puts us in a better condition on the confidence front.'

Wenger - We can repair the damage

Arsène Wenger believes his team should be judged on their season's work and not a handful of "accidents" on the road.
Arsenal have suffered heavy defeats at Manchester City, Liverpool and now Chelsea, conceding 17 times in those three away fixtures - but just 17 more in their 27 other top-flight games.
Wenger is concerned at Arsenal's failure to navigate tough away trips on Saturday lunchtimes but he has seen his team recover from serious damage before - and he's confident it will happen again.

An accident has happened, that doesn't mean that you're not a good driver

"An accident has happened, that doesn't mean that you're not a good driver," he told Arsenal Player.
"It just means that we have played about 40 games this season and it's not what happened on Saturday that reflects the quality of this team. We have 62 points that we earned hard with quality games and that's what we want to focus on, to get back to that quality. We go back to basics.
"Of course you need to analyse as well the fact that we were down to 10 men [at Chelsea] and the offensive quality of Chelsea on the counter-attack is very good.
"You have to put that into perspective, we just came out of two convincing results at Bayern Munich and at Tottenham with a very solid defensive performance so you have to think that [Chelsea] was an accident.
"How do you deal with the accident? You repair them, you repair the damage and you go for the next one. The response has always been very strong and I'm convinced it will be again on Tuesday."
 
Copyright 2014 The Arsenal Football Club plc. Permission to use quotations from this article is granted subject to appropriate credit being given to www.arsenal.com as the source

Arsenal Wenger celebrates his 100th game at Emirates Stadium. As he awaits to face Chelsea

The Frenchman is the longest-serving boss in the Premier League following Sir Alex Ferguson’s retirement from his Manchester United duties and even a nine-year silverware drought cannot change the legacy of a man who made history in north London and altered the face of English football.
His sides have played arguably the most attractive football England has seen, and he forced his way into the record books by leading the Gunners to an unbeaten top-flight campaign in 2003-04.
A virtual unknown in the Premier League when he succeeded Bruce Rioch in 1996, it would not take him long to make his mark and by the end of the 1997-98 season he had won the title and FA Cup.
The feat was repeated four years later and two more FA Cups came his way in the following three years.
Arguably his finest hour – the unbeaten campaign which earned his men the ‘Invincibles’ tag – could have been eclipsed in 2006 when Arsenal took on Barcelona in the European Cup final, but they fell to a 2-1 defeat despite taking the lead with 10 men, after goalkeeper Jens Lehmann’s dismissal.
Wenger has not had the pleasure of lifting a trophy since the penalty shoot-out triumph over United in the 2005 FA Cup final.
His volatile relationship with Ferguson thawed towards the end of the Scot’s Old Trafford tenure, although the cynics say that was mainly due to the Gunners’ inability to challenge United for major honours.
As the wilderness years have gone by Wenger has increasingly split opinion among his club’s supporters, but a significant improvement this term has put Arsenal in a position to lift the FA Cup once again and challenge for the title – although that could hinge on Saturday’s result.

How fitting it would be if the race for top spot was blown wide open by the visitors at Stamford Bridge on the manager’s big day, and at the expense of his nemesis in the opposition dug-out, Jose Mourinho.

ARON RAMSEY AND SANTI CAZORLA SIGN NEW CONTRACTS WITH ARSENAL

LONDON -- Midfielders Aaron Ramsey and Santi Cazorla have signed new contracts with Arsenal.
The Premier League club did not reveal details of the deals but manager Arsene Wenger said on Tuesday that both internationals are "key players for us" and "have committed their futures to the club."
The 29-year-old Cazorla joined from Malaga in August 2012
and was voted Arsenal player of the season last term. Ramsey scored 13 goals in 27 matches this season before the Wales captain picked up a thigh injury in December.
Arsenal also announced that 17-year-old Gedion Zelalem signed his first professional contract at the London club.
The Gunners are attempting to win their first Premier League title since 2004. They are third in the standings, four points behind leader Chelsea with a match in hand.

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2014/03/18/6246969/cazorla-and-ramsey-sign-new-deals.html#storylink=cpy

Full Arsenal injury update and it’s a nightmare!!!!!!

I have got a funny feeling of deja vu writing this, probably because Arsenal seem to have an injury crisis every bloody week. The number of casualties this week is eight, according to the official website, but that list does not include the January loan signing Kim Kallstrom, who although he is back in training will probably not be fir enough to start against Tottenham on Sunday.

Also, according to physio-room, Nicklas Bendtner has an unspecified problem. Maybe he injured himself during a rough sex session with a taxi. Anyway, it would almost be quicker to list the players who are not injured than those who are.

Arsene Wenger has revealed on arsenalwiki that he is hopeful of having both left backs available, as both Gibbs and Monreal are due for late fitness tests. Nothing is certain yet however. With Vermaelen back and looking sharp, defence is not really the problem. It is midfield where the Gunners have got serious problems.

Aaron Ramsey has suffered another delay to his long awaited comeback and he has been joined in the treatment room by Mesut Ozil. With Diaby and Wilshere in there you have got a pretty good unit. The German has got a hamstring problem which, unless we are lucky(yeah right) will keep him out for at least a month. So the great form being shown by Chamberlain is a great relief for Arsenal.

One piece of good news is that Yaya Sanogo is back and should be in the squad for Sunday. We saw what happened to Giroud’s form when he was not getting any rest so Sanogo’s fitness could really help. But with four big Premier League games coming up in a two week period, Arsenal could be in big trouble. Let’s just beat the spuds this weekend and I will be much happier.

Arsenal have agreed a new deal with highly-rated youngster Gedion Zelalem.

The 17-year-old is regarded as one of the best young talents to emerge at Arsenal in recent years and the club have moved to tie him down to a professional deal.
Zelalem, who made his debut in the FA Cup against Coventry earlier this season, is seen as a star of the future by Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger.

Gedion Zelalem: Rewarded with new deal

The skilful playmaker has been named on the bench for three Premier League games this season and has been a star performer in the Under-21 Premier League and FA Youth Cup this term.
Arsenal were keen to reward the German-born midfielder for his progress with a new deal and he is expected to be fast-tracked into the senior squad over the next year.

Michael Essien finally To Real Madrid

Real Madrid on Friday night completed the deadline day signing of Chelsea midfielder Michael Essien on a season-long loan deal.
Essien, who joined Chelsea in 2005, will be reunited with Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, who took him to Stamford Bridge in a £24million deal from Lyon.
The 29-year-old had been linked with a move away from Chelsea throughout the week, with Turkish club Fenerbahce believed to be keen on signing him.
Reports on Friday morning had suggested Arsenal were looking to sign the Ghana international on a temporary deal, but reports in Spain on Friday evening emerged, revealing Los Blancos were looking to sign Essien before the transfer window closed at 23:00 BST.
Mourinho's late swoop for Essien came as a result of Anzhi Makhachkala making a move to sign Lassana Diarra.
Chelsea manager Roberto Di Matteo had on Friday evening confirmed that Essien was looking to complete a loan move away from west London before the transfer deadline, and had ruled out a move across London to Arsenal.

END OF SEASON TRANSFERS 2012/2013

Arsenal have made late dash to fill the void left by Alex Song with a shock bid for Michael Essien claims the Arsenal wiki's, with the Gunners hoping to add the Chelsea midfielder on loan for the season. A series of knee injuries has left the 29 year old struggling for form and fitness and Roberto Di Matteo is reportedly open to the Ghanaian going out on loan


Finally, it is that time of the year again. Managers get busy on their phones, hooked in meetings and fretful over agents and tow, players and agents start acting pushy and pricey or just plain desperate, Chairmen and board members are expected to put their money where their mouths are, fans are spurred on by an enthusing excitement owing to a latent synergy arising out of the haunts of the thought-fox during which they turn managers of their beloved clubs. It is a sorority for footballing analysts, journalists and all those with the privilege of expressing their thoughts about the game on a public platform.
The woes of the previous season get washed away, and the desire for more glory gets rejuvenated. It's almost festivity, only not so entirely due to the skewness in the market and the obvious financial disparity between clubs. Still, it's pretty exciting and a readymade invitation for all football buffs to confabulate over. It is the beginning of the summer transfer window...
Top Deals thus far: Lukas Podolski (Cologne to Arsenal, £10.9m), Marko Marin (Werder Bremen to Chelsea, £7m), Eden Hazard (Lille to Chelsea, £32m), Shinji Kagawa (Dortmund to Man Utd, £16m), Nick Powell (Crewe to Man Utd, £4m), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier to Arsenal, £12m), Gylfi Sigurdsson (Hoffenheim to Tottenham, £6.8m), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Stuttgart to Reading, free), Jan Vertonghen (Ajax to Tottenham, £9.6m), Park Ji-Sung (QPR, £2m), Fabio Borini (Roma to Liverpool, £11m), Oscar (Internacional to Chelsea, £25m), Steven Pienaar (Tottenham to Everton, £4.5m), Santi Cazorla (Malaga to Arsenal, £15m), Romelu Lukaku (Chelsea to West Brom, loan), Robin van Persie (Arsenal to Manchester United, £23m), Alex Song (Arsenal to Barcelona, £15m), Nuri Sahin (Real Madrid to Liverpool, loan), Victor Moses (Wigan to Chelsea, £9m), Luka Modric (Tottenham to Real Madrid, £30m), Moussa Dembele (Fulham to Tottenham, £13m)

Club-wise

arsenal transfers

Arsenal (In:3, Out:21):
In - Lukas Podolski (Cologne, £10.9m), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier, £12m), Santi Cazorla (Malaga, £15m)
Out - Manuel Almunia (Watford, free), George Brislen-Hall (released), Gavin Hoyte (released), Sean McDermott (released), Rhys Murphy (released), James Campbell (released), Jeffrey Monakana (Preston, free), Ben Glasgow (Stoke, nominal), Alban Bunjaku (Sevilla, nominal), Joel Campbell (Real Betis, loan), Denilson (Sao Paulo, loan), Carlos Vela (Real Sociedad, undisclosed), Pedro (Atletico Paranense, undisclosed), Benik Afobe (Bolton, loan), Oguzhan Ozyakup (Besiktas, undisclosed), Robin van Persie (Manchester United, £23m), Kyle Bartley (Swansea, £1m), Alex Song (Barcelona, £15m), Daniel Boateng (Oxford, loan), Henri Lansbury (Nottingham Forest, £1m), Philip Roberts (Inverness, loan)