Just Arsenal News

This is the big one for Arsenal. After Newcastle United won at the weekend, they are safe from relegation, while Wigan have to win both of their remaining games to stand any chance of being in the Premier League next season. So both teams absolutely must win at the Emirates tonight.

It will be a test of nerve as well as ability, which Arsenal have shown a lot of since losing the North London derby over two months ago. The Gunners unbeaten run has put a top four finish in our own hands and now we have to keep it together and finish the job. Wigan, however, have shown their own resilience in the face of adversity, losing just once in the same time period and producing a great performance to lift the FA cup. .......Read the full article here

After last night’s game, Arsenal have got a reprieve and are now masters of their own destiny. Two wins from the last two games against Wigan Athletic and Newcastle United will ensure a top four finish and continue the incredible run of qualifying for the Champions League under Arsene Wenger. As the Gunners are just two points behind Chelsea in third place and they have two hard games against Aston Villa and Everton, as well as the Europa League final against Benfica in between them, there is still a chance for Arsenal to snatch third place. .......Read the full article here

Things are getting very tight at the top of the Premier League. Arsenal have got four games left to ensure a top four finish and qualification for the Champions League next season. Arsene Wenger was dealt a blow yesterday when the FA deemed the red card and three match ban for Olivier Giroud would stand, leaving the professor with a tough decision to make.

I know that a lot of Arsenal fans are glad and think we will be better off without the French international striker, but he has been an integral part or Wenger’s plans for most of the season and the team will now have to adapt to a new front man. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger has got a number of selection decisions to make for Arsenal’s trip to Fulham tomorrow. These may be affected by the relative fitness of some of the players, but for the purposes of this article I am going to assume that, barring Diaby and Fabianski, there are no major injury concerns.

Assuming that Wenger does not have a radical change of heart, he will be playing a 4-3-3 formation, probably with Giroud in the middle and Cazorla or Podolski on the left. This leaves the position on the right of the big Frenchman, and there are three Gunners vying for a start in this role, Theo Walcott, Gervinho and Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain. .......Read the full article here

When Arsenal host Premier League strugglers Reading at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday, it appears that Arsene Wenger will have more selection problems than we thought. The Gunners have five players unlikely to be available for the game, which might actually make the manager’s job easier for him.

“We have a little problem with Diaby but I cannot tell you more,” said Wenger. “But he is out for the weekend. Gibbs is sick and in bed. I don’t know if he’ll be involved or not. At the moment we don’t know. We haven’t seen him in the last three days.” .......Read the full article here

The most important thing for Arsenal last night was that none of the players on international duty around Europe picked up any injuries. That is great news for Arsene Wenger who has a fully fit squad to choose from, apart from Wilshere and Walcott who will be back very soon.

Szczesny didn’t get a game, but the transfer target Victor Valdes of Barcelona got the nod ahead of Reina and produced some fine stops for Spain. Cazorla was rested, as was Giroud, while Monreal and Koscielny played the full game as Spain beat France 1-0. It was a cross from the Arsenal left back, finished by Pedro, that earned all three points. .......Read the full article here

Stuart Pearce has lost his battle with Roy Hodgson over the Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, but the manager of the England under 21 side is still hoping to get another Gunner from the first team to join his squad for the European Championship in Israel this summer.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was the star of the show for England against San Marion on Friday, and he already has 10 caps and two goals at senior level. He is still eligible for the under 21s, though, and Pearce wants to talk to Hodgson about getting permission to use him. .......Read the full article here

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 played down the recent firestorm of criticism that the Arsenal players and himself have been the target of recently, but he was obviously pleased and relieved to be answering questions about the good things the Gunners had done last night rather than fending off negative questions.

There is a feeling in football that you learn more from individuals and teams from defeats than from easy wins. Maybe the recent poor run of results will actually be good for Arsenal in the long term, as it has shown Wenger which of his players are mentally strongest and may have produced a feeling of togetherness in the face of adversity, as Wenger suggested. .......Read the full article here

Wow, what a relief, Kieran Gibbs is in the squad for Arsenal vs. Montpellier in the Champions League tomorrow. Theo Walcott will miss out due to a knock picked up against Tottenham, but Gervinho has also recovered from injury to make the squad.

We should probably expect Gibbs to take a game or two to get back to 100 percent, but it means Arsenal have their first choice back four in place, and no Andre Santos in the squad. The 23-year old has not played since the Werst Ham game on October 6th and Arsenal have really missed him. Hopefully Gibbs will contribute to the defence getting back to the form we had earlier in the season. With goals coming from everywhere, that will be a winning formula for the Gunners. .......Read the full article here

The hype surrounding the young Crystal Palace player, Wilfried Zaha, is reaching epic proportions. Arsenal fans out there should just sit back, relax and watch the circus, because there is more chance of Nicklas Bendtner beating Ronaldo and Messi to the Ballon D’Or than there is of Arsenal signing Zaha in January.

I like the kid, he is a very good player and should have a bright future ahead of him. He is, however, only 20-years old, has not played 100 league games in the second tier of English football yet, and has just been given his first international cap in a friendly, as an 83rd minute substitute. Oh, and Palace are talking about £20 million. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger can now forget about interruptions to his Arsenal preparations for a few months and focus on the small matter of beating Tottenham and getting the Gunners back up the league table where we belong. Fortunately, there have been no more players injured during this latest and most pointless group of international games.

I don’t know whether to laugh or cry about the Santi Cazorla situation. The Spanish playmaker has looked like he could do with a rest during the last couple of games, as he has played every Premier and Champions league game and is still coming to terms with the frantic pace of English football. Spain’s manger picked him, however, so Cazorla took an 11 hour flight to Panama, where he sat on the bench for the whole game before his 11 hour flight back. Very useful, I’m sure. .......Read the full article here