Just Arsenal News

Wigan star set for Arsenal by SS

Arsenal are apparently preparing an early summer bid for Wigan midfielder James McCarthy. The young midfielder has been in good form this season and continued to grow as a player as he has done since his arrival at Wigan.

He was the subject of bids from many top English clubs when he was younger but he chose to move to Wigan in the hope that he wouldn’t be left in the reserves until his early 20′s. He made the right choice to move to Wigan because he has had plenty of game time in the last few seasons and has been an architect of Wigan’s famous end of season survivals. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal have got one more game to go without the big front man Olivier Giroud. The French international will be available to play in the last game of the season against Newcastle United at St. James’ Park, or whatever the hell it is called these days. It is as inevitable as death and taxes that Giroud will come straight back into the starting line up, because we have seen how much the Gunners have become set up to playing off him. .......Read the full article here

Scoring too early Cost Us by Dan S

While watching Arsenal’s game with QPR I was amazed at the criticism the team was receiving from Gooners on Twitter and Facebook. Such was the extent of negativity that many seemed less confident of us finishing in the top 4 then they were before the game kicked off at Loftus Road.

Given QPR’S problems this season clearly many assumed a convincing win once Theo Walcott opened the scoring after just 20 seconds. But if anything it was too early for the Gunners to score. With the home side already relegated the biggest danger we faced yesterday was taking our opponents lightly, scoring so early, guaranteeing almost no atmosphere around the ground meant that’s exactly what happened. It almost became too easy for our players which meant we lost concentration and took our foot off the pedal, something which has been our achilles heel this year. .......Read the full article here

In the second half of the season, many Arsenal fans were clamouring for Lukas Podolski to be given more time on the pitch, then when he was finally reinstated to the starting XI, the calls started for him to be given the chance to replace Giroud as the out-and-out centre-forward.

Now the fans have finally got what they want but, but after two matches as the main striker, suddenly Podolski is making Giroud seem like he is a natural goalscorer! So the experiment doesn’t seem to have worked and Arsenal are struggling to score goals again. Many pundits have been trying to excyuse Podolski with the rumours that he is set to have some surgery on his ankle in the close season, but Wenger denies that and has vowed to give Podolski time to develop in the central role. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger takes his Arsenal team on the short journey to Loftus Road to face QPR today and one of his main messages to the players this week will have been to expect a tough game. The Frenchman knows that a team playing under pressure to stay up can suddenly play much better once they are down and they relax.

“It can happen, yes, that they play under less pressure, with less fear. It can of course be very dangerous,” said Wenger.

QPR have some good players, although they haven’t been showing it much recently. With Remy, Zamora and Taraabt, they have pace and skill up front, while Granero and Jenas add a touch of class in the middle and Samba and Bosingwa are both quality defenders. .......Read the full article here

There has been a lot of talk this week, and at various times throughout the season, about Arsene Wenger and whether he should stay in charge of Arsenal. The talk this week was started when it was reported that he may be heading to the Qatari owned Paris Saint-Germain. The super rich leaders of the French league seem to be connected with just about every big transfer rumour, so we should not be surprised, but Wenger and officials at Arsenal have made clear that it will not happen, at least not this year. .......Read the full article here

With the unlucky Arsenal hitman Olivier Giroud unavailable after his red card against Fulham, Arsene Wenger must yet again decide who to play in the centre-forward position against QPR this weekend. Last week the Frenchman gave Lukas Podolski a go at proving his worth in the centre against Man United, but he was mostly anonymous against the newly-elected Premiership Champions.

This has prompted Theo Walcott to once again re-iterate his desire to be given a chance, and he believes he has performed admirably when played down the middle earlier this season. He said: “I played a few games there and I would like a few more towards the end of the season,” .......Read the full article here

Why Arsenal Fail by NS

First of all, we have the obvious answer. We sell our best players. Even to our rivals. It’s like Winston Churchill selling Adolf Hitler his Spitfires and destroyers.

Secondly (another obvious one) is the owner. I’m not going to go on about him as enough has been said already. He’s not helping, put it that way and I’m no fan of his. Some say it’s Wenger not spending the money he’s given. We may never know.

Finally, I will get to my third point. Wenger may not have any control over the first two points, but he can do something about the third one. .......Read the full article here

News surrounding Lukas Podolski by AH

There is a lot of news surrounding our German striker Lukas Podolski today, both for good and bad reasons. It has almost been a year since Lukas Podolski’s transfer to Arsenal was announced, with the deal being struck months before the summer transfer window and he has since become one of the more important players on our team.

For me, Podolski hasn’t impressed like I thought he would, however this is down to a number of reasons that may not be completely his fault. Wenger plays him on the wing, and this isn’t helped by his limited playing time. When he does play he usually makes a distinctive impact on the game, however against Manchester United last Sunday at the Emirates, he failed to offer much and was quickly lost in the game. .......Read the full article here

Earlier in the season, when Arsenal were negotiating with Theo Walcott and his representatives about a new contract, we kept hearing that it was not about money, although he did manage to get a nice wage increase. Arsene Wenger and Walcott both said that some of the talk was about the England international’s desire to play as a centre forward.

It seemed for a while as if Wenger was putting Walcott on trial to see if he could do it, and he responded well, scoring plenty of goals and earning himself the deal he wanted. I can’t remember him playing through the middle since. .......Read the full article here

Cazorla Out Wide? A Guest Post by Josh Brooks

A tactic the boss seems to be using increasingly over recent weeks is playing Santi Cazorla wide left. When Cazorla first signed for Arsenal I didn’t expect him to play through the middle as often as he did during the first half of the season. Although I do realise that we had limited alternatives, Cazorla came with a reputation of a wide player who liked to drift inside, not as the central attacking midfielder that we have seen for the majority of the season. .......Read the full article here

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is the first to admit that this season at Arsenal has been a disappointing one for him. This is mainly because he has not really pushed on after a great debut campaign when he signed from Southampton for around £15 million just before turning 18.

Now 19-years old and having scored just two goals for Arsenal this season, his best game recently came for England against San Marino. Alex is aware that he has not done enough this season, but he is determined that he will correct that next season.

“It has been difficult,” said the youngster. .......Read the full article here