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DJOUROU WILL PLAY MORE

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The Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has told Arsenal FC News that he expects the defender Johan Djourou to get more game time in this season. The 25-year-old will be the fourth choice defender at the club for the central defensive position, but the Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has expressed his confidence that he expects the player to get more game time this season.

Arsenal have made a great start to the season in terms of defensive numbers because they are yet to concede a goal. The defensive partnership between Thomas Vermaelen and Per Mertesacker has been hugely impressive in the opening three matches of the season.

This has led to many believing that the players like Laurent Koscielny and Johan Djourou will not get major opportunities to play in the first team this season. The manager Arsene Wenger, though, reckons that there will be enough matches over the course of the season to ensure enough game time for the likes of Johan Djourou. The 25-year-old has been constantly linked with a move away from the club due to the fact that his place in the national team is under threat due to his lack of regular football. However, he has stayed at the Emirates stadium after the end of this transfer window.

“Because I love the player – and he loves this club. We extended his contract in January. Johan is alongside [Thomas] Vermaelen, [Per] Mertesacker and [Laurent] Koscielny as one of four central defenders. All four are internationals, so the fight for a regular place is intense. Over the course of the season they’ll all get games,” said that Arsene Wenger. Even though they have been extremely solid defensively, Arsenal have found it tough to score goals. Wenger reckons that it is due to the new look attacking line-up and he expects them to improve.

ARSENAL NOT AT BEST

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said that his side were certainly not at its best in the recent match against Sunderland. Arsenal began the new Premier league season with the home match against Sunderland. However, they could not win the match even with the attacking threat of both Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla. They were brought into the club for a combined £ 30 million, but they failed to combine effect against Sunderland. When asked about the prospect of not having Robin van Persie to change the game, Arsene Wenger said that they certainly miss the Dutchman, but will be able to recover from the loss.

Arsenal sold Robin van Persie for £ 24 million, despite the striker having only one season left on his current deal. This combined with the fact that the player was 29 years old made it one of the best deals in the summer. Robin van Persie, though, was a crucial element in Arsenal finishing in the third position last season because he scored more than 30 goals in the league alone. Wenger reckons that any team will struggle to replace striker of the quality of Robin van Persie, but expects Arsenal to adapt to the new players soon enough.

“I feel that Podolski is not [physically] ready yet, but he has the quality, and Giroud you could see has a presence when he is on the pitch in this position. We went for a different formula last year and the balance is not always right. In some games it works, in some not. Against Sunderland we maybe needed one more creative player to be a bit more accurate in the final third. There was not a lot of space left to our strikers, everything had to be created from our midfield,” said Wenger after the match.

WALCOTT BELIEVES

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England and Arsenal midfielder Theo Walcott has said that he believes England can lift the Euro 2012 if they can progress past Italy. England have qualified for the quarter-finals stage of the competition as the group winners following their 1-0 win over Ukraine in the final group game. The 2-0 defeat for France meant that they will be having the toughest match in the group stages because they will face current world champions Spain. England, on the other hand, will be up against 2006 world champions Italy. Theo Walcott reckons that if England produce one of the best performances in recent times against Italy, then they will gain a lot of confidence in the semi-final against either Spain or France.

He has also said that England have not been looking to avoid Spain in the quarter-final stage of the competition. The Spanish have been one of the favourites to win the Euro 2012, but they have been far from the best in the group stages of the competition. As a result, Theo Walcott believes that it will be tough to call between the two teams when they face each other in the quarter-finals. He also says that the same goes for the match between England and Italy.

“Did we want to avoid Spain? I think it doesn’t matter. Every team you come against is going to be challenging. Playing the world champions, the European champions, is always going to be difficult but we will take anyone at this moment in time. The Italians will be tough but we’ve got some great players in that dressing room and I think we can go far. I feel we believe we could beat anyone the way we are playing as well,” Arsenal midfielder Walcott said ahead of the match with Italy.

FOCUS ON WEST BROM

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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said that his players should not be concentrating on the Champions League as of yet, but should only focus on winning the match against West Brom. Arsenal will be making the trip to West Brom on the final day of the season knowing that they can still missed out on the top three positions, which will guarantee automatic entry into the group stages of the Champions League. It is estimated that clubs will receive around £ 25 million just for playing in the group stages, while reaching the semifinals and being successful will almost double the financial advantage.

Arsenal looked to have thrown away their chance to finish in the top three with two matches remaining after suffering a 3-3 draw with Norwich last weekend. However, they were like because Tottenham and Newcastle failed to take advantage of this situation. Tottenham only managed a draw against relegation threatened Aston Villa, while Newcastle were defeated by title chasing Manchester City at St James’s Park. It has now meant that finishing in the top three remains in the hands of Arsenal, but they are yet to win again without Mikel Arteta in the side. Speaking ahead of the West Brom match, Wenger has called for concentration from the side.

“We have a massive game in front of us, but I feel we are focused, switched on. I am confident we will do well. For us it is just to find the right mixture – to be focused, combative and relaxed, and especially be faithful to play our football like we want to. At the end of the day it will be down to playing well, no matter what is at stake. It is a fantastic opportunity for us, that of course we want to take,” said Wenger ahead of the match.

MANCINI NEEDS WIN AGAINST GUNNERS

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Manchester city manager Roberto Mancini has said that his club can lose the title this weekend if they do not win against Arsenal. There are only seven games remaining in the Premier league this season and United currently have an five-point advantage of Manchester city. Given that United play ahead of City this weekend, they are more likely to have an eight point advantage by the time City face Arsenal. In this situation, Mancini reckons that City will be out of the title if they do not win against Arsenal at the Emirates. Arsenal are themselves in a battle with Tottenham and Chelsea for the Champions League position.

The Italian, though, has said that he is not looking at the possibility of losing the title this weekend and continues to prepare with enthusiasm like for every other match. City had a five point lead over United during November, but that has slowly shrunken in the last few months. Since January, City have been extremely poor in the league. The Premier league remains their only trophy they can win this season. Defeat against Swansea and draws against Sunderland and Stoke city have certainly hurt the chances of City lifting the trophy this season.

“If we lose against Arsenal and they beat QPR – yes. I think always positive, I can’t think this. Against Sunderland we didn’t play very well, for me we were so flat in the first half. But we shot 25 times on goal, we had 65 per cent ball possession. Sunderland shot three times at goal and scored three goals. We did some mistakes defensively but we were unlucky,” Mancini said ahead of the match with Arsenal. Arsenal are currently level on points with Tottenham in the table, but crucially ahead due to a better goal difference.

SZCZESNY SAYS SORRY

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Arsenal goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny has come out with a public apology after jokingly calling his teammate Aaron Ramsey as a rapist. Aaron Ramsey posted a picture of himself taken in golf clothing, to which Wojciech Szczesny responded by saying that it made him look like a rapist.

Even though it was meant to be a funny comment, it has drawn a lot of attention on Wojciech Szczesny. This comment comes at a time when there have been a number of racist remarks in the Premier League. Luis Suarez has already been found guilty of racism, while John Terry has been accused of racism.

Even though this is technically not going to be considered racist, it is something that is capable of distributing the Arsenal season as a whole. After suffering a poor start to the season, Arsene Wenger will now be relieved that Arsenal are capable of finishing in the top four, which will guarantee Champions League qualification. Finishing outside the top four will in that Arsenal will have to settle for just the Europa League place. Hence, the Frenchman will be looking to avoid any controversies at this stage of the campaign. Fortunately, Wojciech Szczesny has come out with the apology stating that it was a comment that should never have been made.

“I’m sorry if anyone was offended by my previous tweets. There are some thing we should not joke about and I have crossed the line. Sorry!’” said a new tweet from the Arsenal goalkeeper, who has had tremendous response after performing so brilliantly. His performances recently have almost eliminated any talk of Arsenal looking to sign a new goalkeeper. Wojciech Szczesny finally seems to be the goalkeeper Arsene Wenger has been searching in order to replace David Seaman. This is not the latest incident involving an Arsenal player on Twitter.