Just Arsenal News

Arsenal moved closer to getting rid of one of Arsene Wenger’s most unsuccessful signings of recent times, as the French striker Marouane Chamakh revealed that he is willing to return to France with his old club Bordeaux.

Chamakh lost his confidence very quickly after arriving at Arsenal, and even on his 5 month loan at West Ham he only managed to make two starts for the Hammers. Now he has had enough and is going to ask Wenger if he will alow him to return to Ligue 1 this summer.

Chamakh said: “l will ask the question again,”

“Everybody knows that Bordeaux is the club closest to my heart.” .......Read the full article here

For the last couple of seasons Arsenal have started off very sluggishly and have had to spend the second half of the campaign playing catchup to retain their position as a Top Four club. Arsene Wenger believes that this is because of the seemingly endless cycle of selling our best players and then having to help their replacements settle into the squad.

But Wenger is certain that this summer will be different, and he doesn’t envisage Arsenal having to fight off any suitors for any of the biggest established players this time around. He said: “It is a very important thing because, last year and the year before the summers were very difficult because of the Fàbregas case, and last year the Van Persie case. And the Nasri case the year before,” .......Read the full article here

Last week, Alan Pardew joked that he didn’t care if Arsenal won 4-0 this week, so there has been much debate about whether Pardew’s Newcastle team will actually turn up and fight Arsenal for the three points today after securing their Premiership survival last weekend.

But today it has now been reported that the Toon owner Mike Ashley has set aside a MILLION POUND bonus to be shared amongst the non-playing and coaching staff at the club if they can galvanise the team to win their final game at St James Park. .......Read the full article here

Expect a hatful of goals in Arsenal’s final match by FD

Not long to wait now. This season’s closing day might not promise the kind of impossible drama that last year’s title decider served up, but Arsenal and Spuds fans are in for a potentially tense afternoon while waiting for the final whistle of the Premier League season to blow. .......Read the full article here

The myth of the decline of Wenger. By CI

Unlike many fans on the Just Arsenal website I am very pro Wenger. He has stuck with this club through thick and thin. When his best players, which he created, were leaving, when (and even now) we were having strong financial constraints. Would you really expect Wenger to willingly sell his best players and not replace them adequately? This is wholly down to the board, while Wenger has openly taken flak for something which I don’t believe is his fault. And I’m not surprised he hasn’t quit because of this pressure from the anti Wenger brigade. Seeing fans even fighting over his future, quite literally as seen in the game against Brighton. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal head up north tomorrow needing a win to secure a top four finish, while Newcastle have nothing much to play for, although this and other results could see them finish anywhere from 10th to 17th. Alan Pardew will try to upset Arsene Wenger and Arsenal and give the home fans something to cheer about.

Having said that, Newcastle have been as leaky as a Welshman’s allotment this season. Only the three relegated teams have let in more than the 67 Premier League goals the Magpies have conceded so far. The players also have the painful recent memory of our 7-3 victory against them at the Emirates. With Giroud back from suspension, Arsenal could have four players on the pitch who are all in double figures in the Premier League. Newcastle will have just one, Papiss Cisse. .......Read the full article here

Could Arsenal make a shock move for 33 year old Wigan defender Emerson Boyce? by SS

Arsene Wenger would hope to get Boyce cheap and use him as cover in a variety of defensive positions and to act as an experienced leader within the defence. Bacary Sagna looks set to leave the club this summer with Russian giants Anzhi and newly crowned French champions PSG interested.

Wenger is expected to bring in Sebastian Corchia or Lukasz Piszczeck to work with Carl Jenkinson to fill the right back position in the team. Despite Boyce being 33 years old, Wenger has always been very impressed with his stamina that he displays for Wigan by bombing up and down the side of the field week in, week out. .......Read the full article here

There is a growing buzz and expectation among the Arsenal players and fans that next season could be the start of a new period for the club. All the timings seem to be going our way, after eight years without a trophy. Arsene Wenger has worked miracles to keep the Gunners within the top four while having to sell the best players and pay off the debt from building the Emirates stadium.

It seems fortuitous, then, that Manchester City and United will be heading into next season with a new man at the helm. If City do appoint Pellegrini from Malaga, then neither of the Manchester clubs will have a manager with major trophy winning experience and it is safe to say they will both take time to settle. .......Read the full article here

Olivier Giroud is almost certain to be back in the Arsenal starting line up tomorrow and he will want to end the season on a high. At times this season he has struggled, especially in the first half, but the French international is now a key part of the team and one of the first men on the team sheet when he is available.

Arsene Wenger has had to treat him cautiously at times, leaving him out of a few games before the new year because his confidence was at a low ebb and the manager did not want the pressure to be too much. Part of the problem for Giroud was the weight of expectation and responsibility that came with replacing the departed captain Robin van Persie. .......Read the full article here

Wenger drops hint about bringing in top, top, top, players

The war of words has been raging ahead of this Sunday’s make or break, last-day round of Premiership matches. We’ve had to endure reading and listening to an endless stream of pundits with their various predictions about which north London team will hold their nerve and claim the coveted fourth Champions League spot.

In the battle of words between managers, the Arsenal boss is coming across the better, not least because AVB’s forecasting credentials have yet to recover after he suggested, following the derby match, that Arsenal were in a negative spiral. Yeah. Given our form since then, I think we’d take a season-long negative spiral like that! .......Read the full article here

It certainly gives the Arsenal players something to think about as we approach one of the most important final days of the Premier League in years, at least as far as the three teams involved are concerned. After City snatching the title from United in the most dramatic fashion last year, this year will be all about the battle for third and fourth place.

The season could even be extended if Arsenal win by one goal and Chelsea draw, scoring two less than us. So a 2-1 win for Arsenal and a 0-0 draw for them would mean we are tied on points, goal difference and goals scored. Instead of going on head-to-head record, the Premier League rules state thatb there would be a play-off to determine who finished third. Tottenham, as usual, do not get a look-in, a bit like the Champions League. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal have been in a three way tussle with Chelsea and Tottenham for what seems like ages now. There has never been such a close run race for the final two Champions League places and it is all going down to the wire. Chelsea are definitely in the top four, although the Gunners could go above them into third. So really, it is down to us and Spurs again.

Arsene Wenger, however, is not interested in how the spuds get on against Sunderland, because he knows that Arsenal have worked very hard to make sure that our destiny is in our own hands and that the players must focus solely on beating Newcastle United on Sunday. .......Read the full article here