Just Arsenal News

The former Arsenal and England striker Alan `smudger` Smith has been writing about his memories of the Gunners and his thoughts on the current Arsenal team. Smith left Arsenal shortly before Arsene Wenger took over in 1996, but he has always followed the Gunners and has suggested that the Frenchman is at a pivotal period in his Arsenal reign and could maybe do with being a little more flexible in his methods.

The Skysports pundit recognises that Wenger has done marvelous things for the club, including keeping them in the Champions League with hardly any money for the past eight seasons. He does think, however, that Wenger needs to be more open to new ideas if Arsenal are to achieve great success again. He is friends with Wenger’s assistant Steve Bould and the subject of Bould’s influence in training came up again. .......Read the full article here

It is an often used adage in the world of football that goalkeepers have to be a little bit crazy, and the Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny can certainly tick that box on his c.v. You have to love him, though, because he often comes out with things that most other players would not dream of saying, whether they think it or not.

Another reason we Gooners like the Polish international is because he really feels for the club. He joined the club as a boy and has been a Gunner for seven years now, often declaring that he would like to stay at Arsenal for the whole of his career. He backed Arsene Wenger and the club ahead of his own father recently, after Szczesny senior cticised them when the keeper was dropped. .......Read the full article here

Steve Bould has been taking charge of the press duties for Arsenal this week, apparently Arsene Wenger has not been very well. The assistant is understandably happy about the improved defensive performance in the last three games, because he was a part of the famous Gunners back four that reveled in 1-0 victories.

Bould, however, believes that the most important thing that Arsenal have been doing recently, as opposed to earlier in the season, is starting games well on the front foot and getting an early lead. That allows the team to relax a little and not press forward too much, while bring the opposition out in search of a goal and freeing up space for Arsenal to enjoy possession and create chances. .......Read the full article here

There was a lot of talk in the build up to Arsenal’s trip to White Hart Lane a month ago that the derby could be a turning point. A win for the Gunners would have halted Spurs’ run of form and lifted Arsenal spirits after two poor games against Blackburn and Bayern effectively ended the trophy dreams for another season. It didn’t quite work out as planned, obviously, but that game has been a turning point because Arsenal have won three in a row. .......Read the full article here

If Arsene Wenger holds any serious hope of signing Robert Lewandowski for Arsenal, he had better get his skates on and talk to somebody at the strikers club Borussia Dortmund. The general manager of the Bundesliga team, Michael Zorc, told the Kicker that they would hold on to their star until his contract finished in 2014 if they could not get a transfer sorted out by May.

“We have clearly positioned ourselves,” said Zorc.

“We hear there is interest but until now we have not received any offers.” .......Read the full article here

Steve Bould seems to be in charge of Arsenal at the minute, at least when it comes to facing the media. Hopefully Arsene Wenger is off somewhere sorting out a big name signing, but I may be slightly optimistic. Anyway, Bould has taken the chance to lavish praise on one of Arsenal’s most maligned players of the season, Aaron Ramsey.

Bould was known for being a tough competitor with a strong character during his 11 seasons playing for the Gunners, and he can see the same qualities in Ramsey. The Welshman has certainly not had it easy in his fledgling career, but the assistant manager believes he has now proved himself through his effort and ability. Bould fully expects the 22-year old to go from strength to strength and be a valuable part of the Arsenal team for years to come. .......Read the full article here

Bould but Necessary Risks This is a Guest Post by Nilo from A Gentlemen’s Arsenal

Having watched the Munich and Swansea matches I realised that the Arsenal team was playing a very conservative game, keeping a compact formation throughout both matches. These performance reminded me of our first 3 draws this season, in the first 3 matches.

I’ve always said that our holding midfielder or defensive midfielder should maintain a close distance to the defence and not leave them exposed like Song did many times last season. That error was only compounded by the fact that our defence always played a high line which basically invited counter-attacks (Blackburn FA Cup this year anyone?). To top that off, our full-backs always seemed to bomb forward at the same time, leaving our centre-backs at the mercy of the inexplicably efficient hordes of strikers in the Premier League and Champions League. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal started off this season looking defensively solid, keeping clean sheets in the first three games and not losing or conceding more than one goal until the end of September. With the former Gunner from the famous Arsenal defence, Steve Bould, working as Arsene Wenger’s new assistant it looked like last season’s defensive woes were a thing of the past.

Fast forward to last week and two goals gifted to Spurs was the latest in a series of calamitous mistakes that have wrecked any chances of winning a trophy and put Arsenal in serious danger of finishing outside the Champions League places. There have been stories of rifts between Wenger and Bould and rumours that the defence is not worked on in training, but the captain Thomas Vermaelen denies this. There has been criticism of the individual players as well as the whole team, and the Belgian knows they need to sort it out. .......Read the full article here

Following the gift of two goals to local rivals and direct competition Tottenham at the weekend, the Arsenal defence has come under the microscope again. It is not the first time this season that the Gunners have been shockingly exposed at the back, although the defensive record is actually pretty good. Arsenal had the second meanest defence in the Premier League going in to the derby. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal must sort out the defence by JG

The big debate now is the problems with our defence, after a demoralising performance in Europe, in this portion of our team.

Vermailen does not suddenly become a bad player, and you do not play for Germany over 40 times and remain first choice, as Mertesacker has by being a poor player. Koscielny has also played well for us in the past, and has great speed of foot and mind. The whole problem is the protection of the back four and confidence in the whole defensive regime. .......Read the full article here

Nigel Winterburn’s damning verdict on our defence by NS

Tonight, I had the pleasure of Nigel Winterburn answering my email on TV. I am most proud. Basically, it was about our defence. I asked him to make a comeback for the Bayern game. Earlier in the show, Nigel made some brilliant points.

He said that the big problem with our defence is that BOTH full backs go forward at the same time. He said that you leave yourself wide open when you lose possession and he is correct. He also said that both our centre halves drop off, and most teams play against Arsenal with one striker. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger expects a few hard questions every now and then, especially when his Arsenal team are in a poor run of form or have suffered a bad result. The calm and collected Frenchman is finding it harder and harder to stay relaxed, however, in the face of increased pressure and what he sees as impertinence and bad journalism.

Yesterday he gave a press conference and was asked by one reporter whether the defeat by Bradford would affect Theo Walcott’s decision about staying at Arsenal and signing a new deal or moving on. If looks could kill, the journalist would be lying in an oak box right now. .......Read the full article here