Just Arsenal News

Things could be looking up! By SB

Arsenal are once again a team. The performance against Stoke showed real cameradery, heart and pride for the mighty cannon. The boys looked like they were willing to fight for each other until the very death, which is what they achieved.

For the first time in a long time, when we scored the whole team joined in for the celebration, although it came with a slice of luck, they knew they thoroughly deserved it. It reminded me of the invincible days when we would score the whole team joined in on the huddle of glory. It brings a tear to a Gooners eye. .......Read the full article here

Michael Owen may have been lucky to escape a yellow or even a red card on Saturday after his angry punch thrown at Mikel Arteta towards the end of the bad-tempered game between Arsenal and Stoke, but he may regret that the referee didn’t deal with it immediately as he is now open to an investigation by the FA.

Owen’s manager Tony Pulis admitted that Owen shouldn’t have reacted so strongly, but he is waiting expectantly for the FA to make an announcement. He said: “Arteta’s challenge was a poor challenge but Michael shouldn’t do that.”

“That should be left to the referee. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal have long been regarded as purveyors of fluent and creative football, but have also been criticised for having a soft centre and not being able to cope with physical sides like Sam Allardyce’s West Ham and more recently Tony Pulis’ Stoke City. The Gunners beat Stoke this weekend in a tough and hard fought game, and Arsene Wenger was as pleased with the way that his players competed, as he was with the result.

Wenger believes it was a game which showed how Arsenal are toughening up and maturing. His words also suggest that we will be seeing more of this in the future as he builds a team capable of competing for the Premier league title again. Arsenal need more resilience and battling qualities to add to the creative side, and the Frenchman can see it starting to work. .......Read the full article here

A lot of teams come to Arsenal planning to be solid and hard to beat, but few have parked the bus quite as blatantly as Stoke City did yesterday. Arsenal finally broke the resistance with a deflected free kick from Lukas Podolski, but the linesman tried to incorrectly rule the goal out for offside. The referee overruled his assistant, and it was the correct decision, but Tony Pulis is unhappy (there’s a surprise) because he thinks the Arsenal players influenced Chris Foy’s decision.

“The disappointing thing for me is the number of Arsenal players that surrounded the linesman. I thought that was something you couldn’t do. .......Read the full article here

It was by no means a pushover for Arsenal in yesterday’s 1-0 win over Stoke, mostly thanks to some brilliant goalkeeping by Asmir Begovic, but Arsene Wenger is convinced that overall Arsenal deserved the three points against a typically aggressive visitor.

Wenger insisted after the game: “They made it difficult for us, they were well organised, defended very deeply and we didn’t find the space but kept going. We were a bit lucky on the goal but overall we deserve this win. We had chances, their keeper made some saves. We played in one half in the second half especially and overall we deserved to win the game.” .......Read the full article here

Arsenal under Arsene Wenger have generally been regarded as a team that produces great flowing football and have changed the way that the game is played in England. They have also been seen as a bit lightweight sometimes, and Wenger has had his disagreements with managers like Sam Allardyce when teams have set out to bully the Gunners by playing a very physical way. Tony Pulis and Stoke have been one of the main propagators of this approach, but Arsenal can get payback today and put the Potters in their place. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger will be having the sort of headaches he likes before today’s game against Stoke but he surely won’t be complaining! Thanks to Arsenal’s excellently reduced injury list Wenger will have Abou Diaby, Mikel Arteta, Jack Wilshere, Santi Cazorla, Aaron Ramsey and Thomas Rosicky to choose from for the three players to hold the midfield this afternoon.

And there is even a chance of Francis Coquelin joining the list for selection, but Wenger didn’t sound too hopeful when he said: “Arteta is back in the squad. He has a final test this morning. Coquelin is not far from returning at all, but it would be a gamble to take him. If not able for tomorrow, he will be for the next game.” .......Read the full article here

Arsenal vs Stoke preview, predicted line up and score line prediction by KJ

After what has been a very difficult month of both games and disappointing transfers (although I’m very happy with the signing of Monreal), we’ve finally got a few easy fixtures coming up that should close the gap between us and Tottenham at 4th.

We have a tough game today against Stoke City. We’ve struggled against Stoke at the Britannia but have a brilliant record against them at home. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger is preparing his Arsenal side to face Stoke City this weekend and is hoping that the Gunners can start playing just as well in the first half of the game as they usually do in the second half! In too many matches this term Arsenal have given away soft goals early on in the games and have had to fight back valiantly to get a result.

Wenger believes that this is due to a psychological problem with the team at the beginning of games. He said: “Somebody told me that we are second in the league on our second half of games, but 13th in the first half,” .......Read the full article here

Life must seem like a bit of a whirlwind for the new Arsenal left back Nacho Monreal. The 26-year old Spanish international was probably expecting no excitement in the transfer window as he was preparing to join the Gunners in the summer. Then Gibbs’ injury on Wednesday forced Arsene Wenger to bring forward the move, meaning Monreal getting on a flight to London yesterday and just managing to finalise the transfer before the deadline. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger should be able to select Mikel Arteta to start for Arsenal tomorrow against Stoke. The Spaniard is due for a final test today, but should be fine to regain his place tomorrow. His contribution will be vital if Arsenal are to have a good second half of the season, and he may well be the reason why Wenger did not buy a defensive midfielder as many thought he would. .......Read the full article here

Arsenal face another key month of fixtures in February, with further progress in the Fa cup and the Champions league at stake, as well as the important battle to get past Everton and Tottenham into the qualifying places for next season’s elite European competition. One thing that the Gunners have got in their favour is that four out of the five games this month are at the Emirates stadium. This is the time for Arsenal to use home advantage to the full, and banish the nervousness that has affected us so badly at times, especially in the first half of games. .......Read the full article here