Just Arsenal News

Arsenal fans and Arsene Wenger can breathe a sigh of relief after the England under 21 manager Stuart Pearce revealed that he would not be taking Jack Wilshere with him to the European championships in Israel this summer. The young midfielder is eligible to play, as is Danny Welbeck from Manchester United, but they are both regular players in the senior squad now.

You can’t really blame old Psycho Pearce for trying. He wants the best players available to him and Jack is certainly that. Plus he has the same tigerish spirit that Pearce used to show when playing for England. I’m sure that Jack would have happily gone, because he loves to play football and gives his all for club and country, but the senior manager Roy Hodgson has stepped in to spare the nerves of Wenger, as Pearce explains. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger made seven changes but still fielded a strong Arsenal team as he looked to get into the last eight of the FA cup at the expense of championship side Blackburn Rovers. Vermaelen and Koscielny must have no injury concerns because they both started, with Coquelin brought in at right back.

The midfield trio of Arteta, Diaby and Rosicky was picked to give a good blend of defensive, passing and defensive qualities, while Gervinho and Oxlade-Chamberlain started either side of Giroud. Chamberlain started on the right, and he was bright and keen to take his chance, linking up well early on with Rosicky. He needs to work on his corners, though, a number of early ones failing to beat the first man. .......Read the full article here

With a few injuries to worry about, but a week before the next Arsenal match, Arsene Wenger could pick his strongest side possible to get a result from a tough visit to Sunderland. Lee Cattermole returns to an already physical side so the Gunners can expect a midfield battle. That may be why Ramsy will partner Arteta and Diaby will start on the bench.

Great news at the back as Koscielny passed a late fitness test so will partner Mertesacker in the centre, giving us a good combination of speed and height with plenty of experience. Cazorla comes in for Oxlade-Chamberlain, so there is plenty of creativity in the team. .......Read the full article here

What happened to Chamberlain? by KJ

The summer of 2011 was pretty hectic as an Arsenal fan and ultimately was an extremely negative experience. We lost not one starter, not two starters but three starters in Clichy, Fabregas and Nasri. It wasn’t helped by the fact that one of our biggest signings that window (before the mayhem on deadline day) was an 18 year old Englishman from league one that cost us more than £10 million.

Fortunately, as the season went on, Wenger was vindicated in his decision to pay such a high price for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. He went on to perform MOTM performances against the likes of Manchester City, Manchester United and even AC Milan. .......Read the full article here

The news will not surprise Arsenal fans, but could be seen as a bit of a kick in the teeth for some of the other young players in the England international set up. Roy Hodgson has picked a squad to face Brazil in a friendly next week, but has left out a number of younger players, who will drop back down to the under 21s for the upcoming European championships this summer. Wilshere is not one of them, because he has already proved himself for club and country. .......Read the full article here

Theo Walcott was one of three Arsenal players selected for the England squad to face Brazil in an international friendly next week, Jack Wilshere and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain were the others. Walcott will hope to play as a striker, but is much more likely to operate on the right. This is where he plays most often for the Gunners, but Walcott thinks that should not always be the case.

Speaking after scoring the equalising goal with a great strike against Liverpool, Theo urged Wenger to start using him more often through the middle, especially against certain teams. The chance to play as a striker was one of the things that Walcott wanted to have before signing his new contract, but he knows that it will not happen all at once, but he is obviously ready and willing to take on the role more often. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger has a selection problem for Arsenal with the visit of West Ham to the Emirates tomorrow. It is vital that the Gunners make the most of this game in hand to keep right up with Everton and Tottenham in the race for a top four finish. With Mikel Arteta injured, Wenger has used Francis Coquelin and Abou Diaby behind Jack Wilshere in the midfield. Both of those players look likely to miss tomorrow’s match and Arteta has not recovered, so Wenger has got to reshuffle his pack. .......Read the full article here

Why Arsenal getting Zaha could be risky by KJ

It’s been a frankly terrible start to the window considering how obvious some of the gaps in our squad are. We are lacking a decent striker, a defensive midfielder, a wide midfielder/winger and possibly a second choice keeper. It’s already half way through the transfer window and there’s been no positive activity on our part.

At one point, it looked like Zaha was going to Manchester United but now after yesterday’s loss, it looks like Arsenal are back in the running for Wilfried Zaha. .......Read the full article here

Reading vs Arsenal preview, predicted line up and score line by KJ

It is time for Arsenal to show some consistency for the umpteenth time. It’s getting a bit boring watching us win a match to only watch us lose the next. Wenger needs to make sure that the next four games are 12 points in the bag – nothing less.

This would’ve been a routine win for every Arsenal side under Wenger except this one. We just seem to lack a match winner; someone who can stand up when the chips are down.
I still expect us to dominate the game tomorrow and I highly doubt it’ll pan out like the last game we played at the Madjeski stadium. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal 2 – 0 West Bromwich Albion. Finally. by KJ

It’s been quite a bit of time since we’ve won at the Emirates in the league (the 5-2 win against Tottenham was our last) but we’ve finally got the much needed win today. It was fortunate to say the least but we aren’t really going to complain about it considering the luck the likes of Man Utd get.

We started out pretty well and piled on the pressure. Gervinho was very impressive attacking but his final ball like usual was terrible. He really is a handful for the opponents but he constantly lets himself down with his final product. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger had almost a full Arsenal squad to choose from, with Walcott and Diaby the exceptions. Podolski and Rosicky were on the bench and Gervinho and Oxlade-Chamberlain started either side of Giroud. Good work by the Frenchman gave Gervinho a chance from a corner in the first five minutes but he flashed wide when he should have hit the target at least.

West Brom had to make an early change and brought Popov on for Ridgewell. West Brom were struggling to get into the game and the referee had to warn their keeper for wasting time after just 15 minutes. A great burst down the right and cross from Chamberlain nearly led to the opener but Cazorla couldn’t control the volley. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal vs West Bromwich Albion preview, predicted line up and score line by KJ

It’s been a very testing November as an Arsenal fan and December has looked the same. However, Wenger and the squad have an opportunity to make it right providing we get the all-important win against an in form WBA side.
The confidence at the moment is understandably (but inexcusably) low because of bad performances. We need a win to spur this team on at the moment. We lack the passing ability that Arsenal is renowned for under the Wenger era. It is surprising to say the least considering that this is technically Arsenal’s best midfield under Wenger. I hope the midfield of Arteta, Wilshere and Cazorla ticks. I’m not sure what is really missing, maybe it’s the lack of physical presence? Maybe Arteta isn’t as good as we first thought as a defensive midfielder? .......Read the full article here