Just Arsenal News

The fans and former players of Arsenal will all have been pleased about the way the Gunners fought back from a seemingly impossible situation to clinch fourth place in the Premier League, qualifying for the Champions League and finishing above our north London rivals again.

As the dust settles, though, and we start to take stock, there are certainly concerns. The thing that really gets under the skin of the former Arsenal striker Ian Wright, is that the trophy drought has continued. Wright, as an Arsenal fan, understands the importance of beating Tottenham, but that gap in silverware is embarrassing, especially for a club of our size. .......Read the full article here

Obviously Chelsea are extremely happy that they have won yet another European trophy this season, despite the fact that they were only in the Europa League after being knocked out of the Champions League in the Group Stages.

Wenger thinks that this should not happen, and the teams that are given another chance in the Europa League are basically being “rewarded for failure”.

He said: “You have two teams in the final who were in the Champions League, their target at the start of the season was the Champions League, not to win the Europa League,”

“We raised that question many times at UEFA: is it right to reward teams basically for failure? .......Read the full article here

The Emirates cup will be back at Arsenal this summer after missing last year because of the London Olympics. It will be played at the start of August and, along with Arsenal, will feature Napoli from Serie A, FC Porto of the Primeira Liga in Portugal and Galatasaray from the Super Liga in Turkey.

These are all good teams and will provide a useful test for the Gunners. It should be a great couple of days for the fans and will help to get the players match fit for the coming season. It is a season which the Gunners are under severe pressure to mark with a trophy. .......Read the full article here

Yes, Arsenal SHOULD Give Wigan a Guard of Honour by FD

So the newly crowned FA Cup winners arrive at the Emirates tomorrow in a last-ditch bid to maintain their Premiership status for another season. Nobody can doubt they deserved to win that match at Wembley against a disappointing Man City side. But expecting players who’ve just won a major trophy for the first time in their lives to raise their game for an even more important clash just a few days later, is underestimating the emotional impact, let alone the physical one, that famous victory would have had on the team. .......Read the full article here

Wigan won the FA Cup for the first time in their history yesterday (take that Ca$hri!) but their manager, Roberto Martinez, will not allow the players to celebrate just yet as they have another Cup Final coming up on Tuesday against Arsenal. Nothing less than three points will be enough to save the Latics from relegation, and Martinez is making sure his team stays focused by ordering to turn up for an iced bath tomorrow morning!

Martinez said: “From a physical point of view I don’t know how quickly we can recover from this. We are playing on Tuesday against Arsenal with a squad where we have six or seven players missing through injury. .......Read the full article here

What should Arsenal expect to achieve next season? by FD

Like any Arsenal fan, I’m all too aware of how many seasons we’ve gone without adding to our silverware collection. That minor detail hasn’t prevented me from approaching each new campaign with a feeling of optimism – well, OK, perhaps last year’s RVP defection dampened those sunny spirits a little.

But I believe the success we’ve enjoyed, especially in the first flush of the Wenger Era, has instilled an expectation in the minds of most Arsenal fans. It’s not arrogance that leads us to associate our club with the giants of Europe – we’ve consistently held a place in the Top 6 EUFA rankings – it’s the belief that a standard has been set. Arsenal belong in that category. .......Read the full article here

If Arsenal finish 5th….what should happen? by NS

I’m a glass half full kind of chap (honestly!) and I feel we still have a good chance of making top 4, but what if we fail?

Wenger has, to his credit, always got us in the top 4. It does seem that the club’s priorities have changed from winning titles to getting top Four (Wenger trophy!).

Personally, I’m a Wenger fan but even I admit that 5th should be curtains for him.

Why? Well, 5th was on the cards when you sell your only experienced defensive midfield player and fail to replace him. .......Read the full article here

Santi Cazorla has been one of Arsenal’s most consistent players this season, but the Spanish international knows that the team as a whole has not been nearly consistent enough this season. The talented midfielder attributes that to the team getting used to each other early in the season and is sure we will do a lot better next time.

The Gunners are actually top of the form table for the last six games, with four wins and two draws, while over the last 10 games we are joint top with Manchester United. That has propelled us up the Premier League table into strong contention for a top four finish and suggests to Cazorla that Arsenal will put up a much better challenge for honours next season. .......Read the full article here

Everybody concerned with Arsenal Football Club is concentrating on one thing at the moment, finishing in the top four ahead of Tottenham or Chelsea, or preferably both. This will make it a good finish to another disappointing campaign, though, and it is just not good enough for the fans or the players.

Mikel Arteta took a pay cut to join the Gunners, apparently, and must have hoped that he would have helped us to some silverware by now. He has, of course, had the chance to play in Europe’s elite competition, but giving the Guard of Honour to Manchester United on Saturday has just reinforced the need for Arsenal to put up a proper challenge to win the league ourselves next season. .......Read the full article here

Van Persie’s return by Dan S

There’s a cruel irony that Robin Van Persie’s first game as a Premiership Champion should come against his former employers of 8 years.

His former Arsenal team-mates having to give him a guard of honour is hard enough, the fact our former captain may now score the goals to cost us a top 4 finish would be rubbing it in our faces.

Some managers in games where a player could be signalled out for abuse from fans choose to leave said player on the bench but such has been the Dutchmen’s professionalism that if he doesn’t start on Sunday it is more likely Sir Alex Ferguson’s desire to field his fringe players from now till the end of the season, rather than any worries that his top goals scorer is not mentally tough enough. .......Read the full article here

Our very own young superstar Jack Wilshere is hoping to drive Arsenal on to win trophies in the next few years, and he is in no way happy to just fight for third or fourth place in the Premiership, and he sees no reason why this team can’t achieve that.

He was asked if he was happy that Arsenal have finally moved above Spurs into Third position in the table, and he replied: “It’s great, especially considering the position we were in before,”

“We’ve shown a lot of character. But while it’s good to look at now, we want to be better than that. We don’t want to be happy with third in the league. .......Read the full article here

When Theo Walcott signed for Arsenal back in January 2006, he could not have expected to still be without a winners medal seven years later. Unfortunately that is the sad truth, and the 23-year old would trade any and all personal accolades to get his hands on a trophy for the Gunners.

Theo was speaking about reaching the personal milestone of 250 Arsenal appearances against Sunderland, an achievemnet of which he is understandably proud. The England international has taken on more responsibility this season, and is providing the goals and assists that his talent merits. He seems much more mature now, and knows that as one of the senior Gunners, at least in number of games, it is up to him to inspire and motivate his team mates. .......Read the full article here