Just Arsenal News

It was not long ago that Freddie Ljungberg was suggesting that Arsenal should not really have been celebrating so hard after beating Newcastle United on the final day of the season. He was not the only person to suggest that fourth place is no reason to celebrate, for a team with the history of Arsenal at least.

He is right, of course, but he also seems to have realised that in the context of the last eight years and the way the season had gone until the last 10 games, it was understandable. The Swede also feels that Arsenal are over the hard times and have a great platform on which to mount a serious title challenge next season. .......Read the full article here

Why are Arsenal celebrating fourth place? by AH

This time last week Arsenal would have been a few hours away from kicking off against Newcastle United in the pivotal last game of the season, which if we won would secure us 4th place in the Premier League no matter the result of the Tottenham vs Sunderland match. Come the end of 90 minutes, and a very tense 90 minutes may I add, Arsenal were the ones celebrating as we oversaw Spurs and left them in our shadow for yet another year. .......Read the full article here

It has been reported that Arsenal are close to sealing the deal for The Montenegro international and Fiorentina striker Stevan Jovetic. While the Gunners sealed the final Champions League place in the Premier League with victory at Newcastle, Fiorentina missed out despite beating Pescara 5-1.

Jovetic scored in the game, but it could be his last in Viola colours, as Metro reports that his agent, Fali Ramadani, is in the Capital to put the final touches to a deal that could cost the Gunners nearly £25 million. It is thought that Arsenal’s willingness to meet the price of the Serie A club, along with their reluctance to see Jovetic go to another club in Italy, has almost ensured that Arsenal and not Juventus is the next club for the 23-year old. .......Read the full article here

There was very little to play for in most of the games yesterday, which is why the Arsenal v Newcastle game and the Tottenham v Sunderland game were shown simultaneously on Sky sports. The papers and football websites have been building up the tension between the two north London rivals and saying just how important fourth place in the Premier League was.

Most of the season we have been told, with relish, by the media that this is the spuds’ year and that it indicates a momentum or power shift and all that sort of twaddle. When the Gunners lost at White Hart Lane, nobody in the media or any of the football pundits gave us a chance. Surely, only a miracle could save us now. .......Read the full article here

Koscielny comes of age by DG

After yesterday’s Newcastle v Arsenal match report here, Neil wrote:
“Player of 2013 so far is Koscienly. Once Wenger went for him instead of Vermaelen…he proved that he is considerably better than any centre back around.”
Neil – I couldn’t agree more.

One of the most pleasing things about this season has been the signs of solidarity we’ve started showing at the back. Conceding 37 league goals this season may sound like a lot, but it’s a big improvement on the last several seasons. In our last eleven league games we’ve won 9 and drawn 2, conceding only 5 goals along the way. So where did it all start going right? To me, we started finally defending as a unit on the 13th March…when Wenger dropped Vermaelen for the crucial away game against Bayern Munich. We won 2-0…in the stadium that Barcelona lost 4-0 in a month later. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal fans should be used to having our hearts in our mouths towards the end of just about every game since Christmas, but with so much at stake yesterday’s game at Newcastle was even nervier than most. Laurent Koscielny’s goal calmed us all a little, but we still had to suffer right to the end of the 90 minutes.

Wenger was obviously relieved, but was proud that his team stood up and fought the nerves as well as our opponents. The manager was asked after the game if he was “happy and relieved”. “Yes I am.” he replied. “We knew before the game that we had to win and any other result could kick us out of the potential Champions League group stage. We were right because Tottenham and Chelsea won and we had the big disadvantage to play away from home. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger seems to have made his decision to include Jack Wilshere in the Arsenal starting line up today. Unless he is doing another of his old Jedi mind tricks, of course, and Mikel Arteta and his unmovable appear on the St. James’ pitch this afternoon. Assuming the Spaniard has failed to recover from his calf problem, it will be Jack who plays alongside Ramsey.

This has sparked a lot of concern among the Arsenal fans, as Wilshere is our talisman and we have already lost him for over a year with injury problems. We know that the 21-year old is due for a minor operation on his ankle this summer, so people are naturally worried that the injury could be aggravated today, perhaps meaning that he is not ready for next season. .......Read the full article here

Jack Wilshere is heading for a small operation in the summer to remove a pin from his ankle, but is still expected to play some part in today’s game against Newcastle due to the injury to Mikel Arteta.

He admits that this game is so crucial that there may be a few nerves amongst the Arsenal players, but says they just have to calm and professional to make sure of the three points, no matter what happens in the Tottenham game.

“The mood has got to be one of excitement because we know that if we win, we’re going to be playing in the Champions League or the Champions League qualifier at the beginning of next season,” Wilshere said on Arsenal.com. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger is famous for finishing in the Top Four, and more importantly for Arsenal fans, always finishing above our rivals Tottenham in every season since he arrived at the club.

Tony Adams, who was a big factor in Arsenal’s glory days under Wenger, has no doubt that the Gunners will win today and carry on that fine tradition of St. Totteringhams Day!

Adamssaid: “I am sure Tottenham will beat Sunderland. That will mean Arsenal have to win at Newcastle, but they have the capability to do that with the goal potential in the team. .......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

If you could bottle what it is that makes Arsenal put in a storming run at the end of the season, you would be a rich man. While Tottenham generally choke at the end to leave them disappointed and out of the Champions League, the Gunners come good and get the results we need, despite a mountain of pressure.

Arsene Wenger has been under severe strain at times this season, and it has shown. Now, however, he is positively relishing the situation and maybe that has transferred on to the players. Either side of the break on Tuesday, Wigan were looking good and the nerves were creeping in to the Arsenal team, but they responded brilliantly and now have to do it just one more time. .......Read the full article here