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IT STARTED SO WELL…

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Arsenal’s start to the ongoing season was so promising. The way they played till the end of last year, people were almost certain that they would end their trophy drought this season. But, unfortunately, things changed completely for the Gunners in 2014. They horribly lost their form and from one of the top contenders for the Premier League title, they suddenly became a team struggling for a Champions League spot.

In Football, whenever a team fails, the manager has to take the responsibility because he is the man who is in charge of things, but, not everything is in the hands of a manager. Yes, he is responsible for the tactics being used out there by the players, he is responsible for the selection of personnel, but, he is not responsible for how the players execute a certain plan on the pitch.

In Arsenal’s case, most of their failures off late have come because of the poor execution of plans. The players whom the manager Arsene Wenger was banking upon have just not managed to deliver which is not his fault, but, unfortunately, it’s him who is being criticized or rather crucified by the British media.

If some reports are to be believed, now the Arsenal board is also losing patience and they might have to think again over the extension of Wenger’s contract.

The Gunners still can win a title this season though. They are in the semi final of the FA Cup where they will be facing the reigning champions Wigan Athletic. It’s very important for Wenger to win this tie and then, win the final too. If he does so, not only would he be able to silence his critics, but, he would certainly be offered a new deal by the Arsenal board.

YOUNG PLAYERS ARE PRIORITY

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Although Arsene Wenger is all set to receive a huge amount of money to spend in the transfer market by the Arsenal board but, he says that his priority will still be to spot young players with potential and give them opportunities.

The Arsenal academy has always produced some great young players and Wenger has a lot to do with that. He is very good at spotting talents.

Talking to the reporters on this topic yesterday, the Gunners boss said, “If you trust them (the young players) and give them opportunities, they will be keen to repay you. Also, they feel secure and remain loyal to the club. So, these are the advantages.” Continue reading YOUNG PLAYERS ARE PRIORITY →

OZIL UNDER PRESSURE

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Mesut Ozil has come under intense criticism in the last few weeks after a string of disappointing performances for Arsenal, which has also coincided with the club suffering numerous defeats. The club record signing has been excellent for Arsenal in the first half of the season, but he has been looking increasingly laboured since the 4-0 defeat against Liverpool. He was at fault for two of the four goals scored by Liverpool within 20 minutes. Ozil also missed a crucial penalty in the 2-0 defeat against Bayern Munich, which would have given the gunners something to fight in the second leg.

As it is, they are now favourites to get knocked out of the competition just as they suffered at the hands of the German outfit last season. This has led to Arsene Wenger dropping the 24-year-old for the match against Sunderland, which Arsenal managed to comfortably in 4-1. He said after the encounter that Ozil will certainly prove his quality once he returns from his short absence from the team. Wenger is of the opinion that the £ 42 million signing can do with some time out of the limelight.

Ozil was not the only player to get a rest in recent weeks. Wenger had given the entire squad two days off in order to recuperate.

“I never tell Mesut: ‘You have to win us the game,’. He shouldn’t do that. It’s down to the performance of the team. But maybe he feels that a bit in a different way than I do. I just want him to enjoy it and play well. It is difficult for him mentally to be confronted with that pressure every three days and in every single competition. But he will adapt. He had a difficult game [against Bayern] because he missed that penalty and it was on his mind,” said Wenger to www.ilovearsenal.net.

MERTESACKER UNSURE

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The Arsenal defender, Per Mertesacker, has said that it would be great for his club if his countryman Julian Draxler makes his way to the Emirates stadium in the mid season transfer window.

Draxler currently plays for the German club Schalke 04 and because of his recent performances; he has come into the limelight.

Arsene Wenger has not hesitated in spending big amounts on players of late. Even during the summer, he had paid Real Madrid a transfer fee of more than 40 million pounds to buy the German superstar Mesut Ozil and he is believed to be ready to spend a similar amount again to land another talented German player at the Emirates.

However, Arsenal is not the only club which has its eyes on Draxler. The Bundesliga reigning champions Bayern Munich is also in line to grab the 20 years old player and they are not financially weaker than Arsenal.

Draxler’s overall numbers at Schalke 04 look impressive. He has played 89 league matches for his current club and has found the back of the net 14 times.

When Mertesacker was asked about his club being interested in Draxler, he said, “If Julian arrives, it would be fantastic. He has been a fluent scorer for Schalke in the recent past. But, whenever the transfer window opens, a lot of talks go on. I just look forward to what happens.”

“There are already quite a few German guys at the club and people over here really appreciate our potential.”

Currently, in the Arsenal squad, there are 4 German players namely Serge Gnabry, Mesut Ozil, Mertesacker himself and Lukas Podolski.

Arsenal has got 48 points at the moment and they are still leading the league table. Manchester City is not too far behind though with 47 points in the bag.

FANTASTIC SEASON

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The ongoing season is proving to be a fantastic one for the Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey. He has scored a total of 11 goals for the Gunners so far this season out of which 5 has been the Champions League goals. He is being praised everywhere at the moment.

But, 12 months back, the situation was not quite like this for Ramsey. In the first half of the last season, he was going through a horrible phase and was facing criticism from all quarters. There was huge pressure on the Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, not to include him in the starting XI especially for the home games as he had become hugely unpopular among the fans. He was being booed in each and every home game. But, the credit should go to the French manager for the fact that he stood by Ramsey during that tough phase and he has been repaid by the Welsh international this season.

In one of his interviews recently, Wenger talked about Ramsey and he praised the 22 years old player for the way he has come out of that bad phase. Wenger said, “The way Aaron has bounced back, he deserves to be lauded for that. He refused to give up. He hanged in there and kept backing himself.”

“In the last 1 year or so, he has worked hard on the technical aspects of his game. You can clearly see that. The way he finishes now, there is a lot of improvement there. He has proved to everyone that he is good enough to be playing at this level.”

Ramsey is not a new face at the Emirates Stadium. He has been there since the last 5 years and he has already played more than 100 Premier League games for the Gunners.

FLAMINI RE-JOINS

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One of Arsenal’s major signing of the summer has been midfielder Mathieu Flamini, who has rejoined the club. The midfielder left the club back into those made on a free transfer for Italian club AC Milan. After spending much of the last few years on the bench at the San Siro, he has returned to hospital on a free transfer. Flamini had one of his best seasons in his career with Arsenal. His last season in the first spell with Arsenal was really memorable, but he was never able to replicate that with AC Milan.

After managing to secure his signature, Wenger has said that the midfielder came back to the Emirates stadium largely because he missed Arsenal’s style of football. The club may not have won a major trophy in the last eight years, but they are known as one of the clubs with a great football philosophy. At 29 years of age, Flamini has great experience to provide to the rest of the Arsenal team, which has young and upcoming stars like Jack Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey. The time spent at Milan has made Flamini more tactically astute according to Wenger, who is expecting big things from the Frenchman this season.

“Yes [he has improved tactically] because in Italy it’s all more calculated. In England it’s more drive and enthusiasm. He has a good mixture. He wanted to come back because he missed the way we play. It didn’t create any big headlines when he came back but I always feel the best way to make headlines is the quality of your display because people will notice. He integrated very well into the spirit, the solidarity and the hunger of the team,” said Wenger in an interview given to Arsenal Player.

Flamini signed a three-year contract with the London club.