Just Arsenal News

Arsenal’s answer to Hodgson by AH

In light of what Roy Hodgsen said about the lack of English footballers playing in the Premier League, Arsene Wenger spoke about the English talent he had in the Arsenal ranks. Wenger told Arsenal.com about the English divisions that implicate upcoming talent as well as the understanding that all the players want to play in the best league, suggesting that if all the highest quality of players are of different nationalities to English then its inevitable that there will be a decline in English players at the best clubs. However Wenger did make a very important point about English talent and the future. .......Read the full article here

Stage set for Szczesny! by AH

Arsenal are set to face Everton at the Emirates tomorrow which will surely be one of our most testing games in the end of season run in.

Arsenal are currently in 3rd place, whilst Everton lay in 6th. Everton’s league position show that they are not going to be easy and the players will need to be ready to face the tough challenge in what will a yet another nail biting 90 minutes. One player in particular will have to be Wojciech Szczesny who is likely to return to the team after a few mysterious weeks off. .......Read the full article here

The news that Arsenal are going to be facing Nagoya Grampus this summer is not only welcome to Arsene Wenger, who managed the Japanese club for two years before his arrival at Arsenal, it is also a home-coming for our very own up-and-coming Ryo Miyaichi, who can’t wat to play in front of his friends and family.

“I hope I can play in Japan as an Arsenal player,” Ryo said on Arsenal.com. “It would be a great moment for me.

“Arsenal have a huge number of fans in Japan – like in China and Malaysia as well. It will be a good time for the whole team. I spoke with my family and my friends and they are happy to see Arsenal in Japan. They want to see me on the pitch of course! .......Read the full article here

The amount of Arsenal rumours concerning goalkeepers, coupled with Wojciech Szczesny’s demotion to the reserves, seems to confirm that the Gunners are definitely looking for a new shotstopper this summer.

Most of these rumours seem to point to either Stoke’s Asmir Begovic, Sunderland’s Simon Mignolet or QPR’s Julio Cesar. There has also been many mentions of the Real Madrid veteran Iker Casillas, but as he has no experience of playing in the Premier League I am more likely to believe that Wenger would prefer one of the other three.

I have already outlined why I think that Begovic looks the most likely arrival but if Stoke really are demanding £15m then that may cause Wenger to look elsewhere despite him having an excellent record in the Premier League. .......Read the full article here

The famous Arsenal fan Carl Jenkinson has admitted that during his schoolboy days he studied some old Arsenal legends like Lee Dixon, who gave him something to aspire to as he woprked his way through the levels that ended up with him being a regulat Arsenal starter.

One of his favourite right-backs was the brilliant Lee Dixon who played for Arsenal for 14 years before retiring in 2002, making 458 appearances for the Gunners. Jenkinson said: “If I could have half the career Lee Dixon had, I’ll have done well,”

“That side was a special side and Lee Dixon is the sort of player who I look up to. .......Read the full article here

When Arsene Wenger agreed to let Johan Djourou leave Arsenal in January to play for the Bundesliga club Hannover, he may have been hoping that one of the young players coming through the ranks at Arsenal would step up and push for the first team. One of the most promising of the academy defenders is now likely to be playing against Djourou next season, as Martin Angha has signed a pre-contract agreement to play for Nurnberg from next season.

The 19-year old can play anywhere along the back four, although he usually plays in the centre. The Switzerland under-19 international has been with the Gunners since 2010, choosing Arsenal over Chelsea, Manchester United and Bayern Munich. Angha has progressed a lot since joining and is grateful for what the club has done for him. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal’s famous list of “deadwood” players seems to get bigger every year, but for some reason we can never get anyone to actually buy them off us and we have to struggle to send them out on loan every year. But we still do have some talented players out there that have a chance of coming back and becoming first team players of the future.

Let’s lok first at the experienced players that are on loan:

Andre Santos (Gremio) – No-one wants him back at Arsenal but can you believe he played the full 90 minutes in Brazil’s 4-0 win over Bolivia last weekend! .......Read the full article here

Bergkamp’s return to Arsenal set in stone! by PM

There is no doubt that Dennis Bergkamp is seen by Arsenal supporters as one of our greatest ever heroes along with other legends like Thierry Henry and Tony Adams, and it is great news that the Dutchman is going to be rewarded with a statue of his own at the Emirates this summer.

Bergkamp is currently working at Ajax developing the team’s philosophy with first-team coach Frank de Boer and has been rewarded with their third League title in a row this season, and this set-up is very similar to the Academy at Arsenal that is currently being overseen by Liam Brady. The Irishman is set to retire in the next couple of years and it is being reported that Bergkamp is seen as the perfect replacement to seamlessly slip into his role at the club. .......Read the full article here

If Bacary Sagna really wants to leave Arsenal after six seasons, there is not that much that Arsene Wenger can do to stop him, as he will be able to leave next summer on a free transfer. There is always the option of keeping the French international until then, or until the January transfer window, to allow Carl Jenkinson time to gain more experience, or to find a suitable replacement and get them settled in at the Emirates. .......Read the full article here

The importance of Alex Oxlade Chamberlain by KJ

The young Englishman was purchased by Arsenal from Southampton in the summer of 2011 for a fee believed to be in the region of £12million (plus add ons), and burst onto the scene against the likes Manchester City, Manchester United and AC Milan. This season has definitely been a difficult one for Chamberlain who has struggled to get game time but I believe he has an integral role to play during the latter stages of this season. .......Read the full article here

Which Arsenal youngsters can breakthrough to our first team? by KJ

After watching our U19s go agonisingly close to the Next Generation finals, it’s got me thinking, who would go onto to be first teamers? This has always been a problem for any team in the world. Your youngsters look brilliant for the reserves but then for a multitude of reasons, they rarely make it to the first team squad, let alone to being in the starting XI. I remember looking at the squad of players that won the FA cup in 2009 thinking that we had a very bright future with that lot and now we only have Wilshere and Coquelin left from that lot that are close to the first team. .......Read the full article here

The Arsenal NextGen run could not quite go all the way to the final, following defeat to Chelsea in the semi-final. The pitch at Lake Como was absolutely terrible, but the teams managed to put on a very good game with some real quality. After it finished 3-3 at full time, the game went to extra time, and Chelsea managed to grab a late winner with just five minutes remaining before a penalty shoot out.

Arsenal were very good in the first half, with a good shape and plenty of threat. We deservedly took the lead after 16 minutes when Gnabry fed Bellerin on the right and he produced a great cross which Akpom finished. Akpom nearly put Gnabry through for a second just minutes later, but Chelsea were also looking dangerous as the half wore on. .......Read the full article here