Just Arsenal News

I have written articles about what the former Arsenal midfielder Stewart Robson has said before and it has pretty much been non-stop negativity, especially towards Arsene Wenger. Robson never played under the Frenchman, but he clearly considers himself an authority on him.

The Talksport regular has been telling us all season that Wenger should go and was clearly going to fail to finish in the top four this season. He didn’t accept that Wenger was working miracles on a shoestring budget and I think he was disappointed that the prof managed to steer his Gunners above Tottenham and keep up his fantastic Champions League qualifying record. He certainly didn’t say anything after the final day about how well Arsenal finished and that he was wrong. .......Read the full article here

Your high point, low point and funniest moment of the season. by NS

Well, it’s all over.

Overall, a frustrating season for Arsenal. That was a season of Deja vu for many. A promising start, strange team selections at the mid point, Rosicky returning late on, injuries to Diaby, captain sold and a monumental end to the season to catch and overtake Spurs to secure the 4th place trophy.

Watching Arsenal is a bit like watching Groundhog Day. Hopefully, the coming season will see some changes and a push to the next level. It’s about time.

There have been some highs. Some lows. And the odd funny moment. .......Read the full article here

It has been a testing time for everybody concerned with Arsenal Football Club this season, but the players made sure that it finished with a bang by beating Newcastle United at St. James’ Park yesterday. You could see the elation and relief on the faces of the Gunners and the Gooners who had traveled to see the game, but we really must do better next season.

From the position that Arsenal were in at the beginning of March, it has been a remarkable achievement. Morale was at rock bottom after a Champions League humbling by Bayern Munich and we were seven points adrift of the spuds after losing at White Hart Lane. We had also just been knocked out of the FA cup by Blackburn Rovers, so Wenger and the players did brilliantly to come back from that. .......Read the full article here

So we now face the final game of the season, and Arsene Wenger knows that Arsenal simply need to win at Newcastle to confirm our place in the Top Four for the 17th season in a row. But which team is Wenger going to pick?

There are certain to be changes from last week’s nervous home win over Wigan, as the Spaniard Mikel Arteta is nigh on a certain casualty. Wenger said yesterday: “For the weekend, we have the uncertainty over Mikel Arteta, who had to come off just before the end of the Wigan game with a calf strain. Honestly, his chances of being available are minimal. I have to be realistic and prepare for another solution.” .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger has not announced his Arsenal team sheet for the crucial last game of the season yet, but it does no take a genius to work out that Olivier Giroud will come straight back into the starting XI to face Newcastle United. The big French international was sent off against Fulham and the FA rejected the Gunners appeal, even though it was clear from the replays that he had got the ball and slipped.

Lukas Podolski has grown into the role in the three games Giroud has missed, especially with his double against Wigan, but he will be back out on the left again on Sunday, if he plays at all. The manager is usually cautious about saying whether a player will be in the team but, when he spoke about Giroud today, he used the word will rather than might. .......Read the full article here

Sharing is caring; Arsenal’s high scoring forwards by DG

If I were to ask you which Premier League team has four players that have scored more than 10 league goals this season, which would you guess? Man Utd only have two – RVP and Rooney. Man City? Two – Dzeko and Aguero. Chelsea actually manage three, but only if we include Demba Ba’s goals for Newcastle in the first half of the season. No, the only team to hold that particular record is Arsenal. Walcott has 14, which is quite impressive considering he missed a large portion of the early season. Cazorla has popped up with 12 which is a fantastic return from midfield, especially in his first season at the club. As well as these, both Giroud and Podolski have now netted 11 times each in the league. Spoilt for choice? You better believe it. .......Read the full article here

Theo Walcott is Arsenal’s top scorer this season with 21 goals so far. Olivier Giroud will need to score four against Newcastle on Sunday to equal that, so I think that Theo has got no reason to worry there. What he is worrying about, though, is breaking the 15 year run for the Gunners under Arsene Wenger.

Never in those 15 years have Arsenal failed to qualify for the Champions League, but the striker knows that anything other than a win at St. James’ Park could spell the end of that proud record. Theo believes, however, that the top four record and the fact that Arsenal have been finishing the season’s strongly in recent years is actually motivating the current team to do the same. .......Read the full article here

Arsene Wenger watched his side finally come good in the second half against Wigan last night, but he thinks the game was much closer than Arsenal’s winning margin suggests. He said after the game: “We had a quick start and a strong start for the first 20 minutes. We were really dominating and after that we became a bit conservative and pushed forward less and allowed Wigan back in the game.

“We were unfortunate to go to 1-1 because I think it was a free kick for us. It was a big blow for our team and you could see that when we came out in the second half – we were not as fluent or as confident as we wanted to be. Wojceich made a great save at 1-1. At that stage we were on the brink of conceding a goal. .......Read the full article here

This was always going to be ab open and exciting game, with Arsenal and Wigan needing to win for different reasons. Arsene Wenger made just one change, with Gibbs coming in for Monreal and the young England international did brilliantly against one of Wigan’s main threats Callum Mcmanaman.

Arsenal made a great start and looked like they were going to blow Wigan out of the water. Walcott was really in the mood and was tormenting them down the right flank. It was one of Theo’s crosses that produced the corner that led to the opening goal. Podolski, playing as centre forward got a proper striker’s goal from it. .......Read the full article here

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

As the season comes to a close, I feel it may be time to give your Arsenal player ratings for the season (I don’t want to think about tomorrow’s game to be honest!) It’s been a funny old season, with some players starting poorly and improving, some just not performing and some playing very well. Others have been wildly inconsistent.

Anyway, feel free to disagree, but here are my ratings for the season. Unless someone bangs in two hat-tricks for the Gunners in the last games, I doubt they will change. .......Read the full article here

It is normal for Arsenal fans to have two things to worry about at this part of the season. Firstly, there is the annual race to get into the Champions League places for next season, which has been tighter than ever this season and looks like it will be decided on the final day. Two wins against Wigan Athletic and Newcastle United will guarantee that we finish above Tottenham, but those wins will be far from easy.

The second major worry for Gooners at this time of year is whether we will be able to hold on to our best players. The answer to that in recent years has been a resounding NO. Arsenal have seen more talent leave the club than Simon Cowell. This year, however, there has been much less reason for concern at the Emirates. .......Read the full article here