Former Players Views

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Former Arsenal striker Tony Woodcock is hoping the Gunners’ Champions League heroics will galvanise them to show they are battlers rather than bottlers in their pursuit of a coveted top-four place in the Premier League.

Woodcock saw Arsenal’s Champions League hopes ended in nerve-jangling fashion by AC Milan at the Emirates but he is hoping that the 3-0 win inflicted on the Italian giants will inspire Arsene Wenger’s team in the closing stages of the domestic campaign.

Arsenal are currently fourth place in the Premier League standings, just four points behind arch-rivals Tottenham, and Woodcock is hoping Wenger’s charges will use the AC Milan game as the platform to prove their doubters wrong and ensure Champions League football returns to the Emirates next season.

“From an Arsenal perspective you have to hope that the AC Milan win will have galvanised the club,” Woodcock told Goal.com.

“I would hate to think it has taken too much out of them. I would like to think it has galvanised them to say to themselves 'right, we can perform better than we have for parts of the season and it is now time to really put our bodies on the line and push for the finishing post'.

“There are question marks about Arsenal as the end of the season approaches. There are questions over Arsenal’s ability to really dig in and I am hoping that the last three wins – including the clean sheet against AC Milan, which was very important – will really focus their minds as the end of the season nears.

“It would be nice to see Arsenal end the season on a high rather than allowing the season to fizzle out in a pretty disappointing fashion as has happened in the last two years.

“They might not be able to get their hands on a trophy, but the win over AC Milan should focus their minds on the importance of bringing Champions League football back to the Emirates next season.”

Arsenal face Newcastle on Monday night at the Emirates but their tails will be up following wins against Tottenham, Liverpool and AC Milan which came on the back of a 4-0 defeat by the Serie A side in Italy and a 2-0 FA Cup defeat by Sunderland.

“Three weeks ago it was all doom and gloom and let’s get rid of Arsene Wenger,” Woodcock added. “It just shows why good managers refuse to go over the top in the good times and in the bad times. You need to have substance there so you can see what is happening at a club.

“They are in fourth spot at the moment and I would like to think there will be some determination to hang on to the place. I am sure that Chelsea would love to be where Arsenal are at the moment and Tottenham are just four points above their local rivals. Now we are coming to the end of the season it is about results rather than style and there is a lot of work to be done.”

“Two or three weeks ago the press were questioning Arsene Wenger and now things have all turned around with them beating Tottenham, Liverpool and almost creating a bit of Champions League history against AC Milan.

“Arsenal is a very stable club. They have always been in good hands and the club is run well as a business. The ups and downs will not be interesting the powers-that-be at Arsenal.

“I am sure that they know that there is work to be done to challenge Manchester United and Manchester City, having said that, in the last two seasons with six games to go they have had it in their own hands to be champions but they let things slip.

“Of course they need to improve and of course they need one or two players but they will know all that and will be completely aware of what is needed moving forward.”

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/...-show-they-are

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Former Arsenal manager Bruce Rioch believes Arsene Wenger will convince Robin van Persie to stay at the Emirates because he will learn from the departure of Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri.

Rioch, who preceded Wenger as Arsenal manager, is certain that the Frenchman will do his utmost to keep the Dutch international this summer and is bullish about his prospects of persuading him to commit his long-term future to the Premier League club.

Van Persie, who has scored 31 goals this season, is out of contract next year and has put off talks over a new deal but despite the growing uncertainty Rioch is backing Wenger to keep him at the Emirates and avoid a repeat of last summer’s transfer activity that saw key figures Fabregas and Nasri leave the club.

“They lost their key player in Fabregas and to a certain extent Nasri which sent a signal out and it is not a very good signal when you lose your best players,” Rioch told Goal.com.

“It may have happened at Manchester United with Wayne Rooney but it was dealt with swiftly and effectively to keep him at the club and the impact it has had at the club as been terrific.

“The dilemma for Arsene is not just adding to the team and re-building it but hanging on to Van Persie. That is one of the greatest dilemmas that he faces.

“But Arsene is the sort of manager who is always learning and he will want to make sure the mistakes of last summer are not repeated. He will do his utmost to keep Van Persie and I would back Arsene to convince him to stay on.”

The 28-year-old Van Persie, who is rumoured to be interesting Manchester City, has proved to be a talismanic figure since taking the captain’s armband from Fabregas.

Arsenal are on the brink of elimination from this year’s Champions League as they prepare to face AC Milan on Tuesday night in North London, attempting to overcome a four-goal deficit.

However, Van Persie’s goals have kept Arsenal on course to qualify for next season’s competition by virtue of a top-four place in the Premier League and Rioch believes that replacing him would cost an astronomical amount.

“The great Arsenal team that Arsene had some years ago of Thierry Henry, Dennis Bergkamp, [Marc] Overmars, [Robert] Pires, [Fredrik] Ljungberg, [Sylvain] Wiltord, [Patrick] Vieira and [Emmanuel] Petit – can you imagine how much each of those players would cost today to purchase,” Rioch added.

“Thierry Henry in his prime would be at least £50 million and Vieira would be £30-40m , Petit £30m, Bergkamp £40m. And they don’t have that revenue to spend on players that are going to cost that amount of money.

“Unfortunately that is how people are measuring the club – by the great players that they had in the past but they are just so expensive to bring in now and finding a replacement for Van Persie would cost the earth.

“Therefore over the years he has had to buy carefully and develop and go for potential rather than ready-made in some cases and of course you pay the cost for that and the cost is that although they have been in the Champions League every season they haven’t won a trophy.

“Along the way you lose your best players such as Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri and now they have the scenario with Robin van Persie so it is a difficult scenario but I think Arsene will have a strategy to make sure things work out well on this one.”

Rioch, who heralded a new era at Arsenal when he brought Bergkamp to the club, believes that bringing in a new striker could help Wenger get Van Persie to stay put.

“Arsene had a difficult period at the start of the season, he came through that but it is evident that they need another goalscorer,” Rioch continued.

“You can’t rely on Van Persie to be the sole provider of goals at your club. You need more. That is one of the key areas that they haven’t resolved.

“They brought in Gervinho and [Marouane] Chamakh but they haven’t actually produced the goals that are necessary. Theo Walcott hasn’t produced the goals that I thought he was capable of. They lack sufficient goal-threat.

"You can’t depend on one player for that. It is not enough at the top level. You have to have more than one. That is one area that needs to be put right.”

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/...arsenal-former

[Cripps_orig]

YES, Arsenal were brilliant. People were off their seats as they nearly pulled off a miracle.

But it will count for nothing if the Gunners are not playing in the Champions League next season and don't bring in players in the summer to support Robin van Persie.

When you see Arsenal play like that at home, against an AC Milan side I reckon could still do well in the competition, it just makes the way they capitulated in the first leg harder to take.

Of course the boys put up a brave effort, but they just left themselves too much to do. It's such a sad way to go out.

Milan are one of those teams that if you have a go at them they have a few shrinking violets — and that's what we saw last night.

I would have gone there and kept it tight. If it had been 2-0 I would have fancied us. It's so frustrating because we are not a million miles away.

We just have to look at it and hope we qualify for the Champions League next year.

And if Arsene Wenger spends a couple of quid, buys some quality players, we can have a proper tilt at it.

Top four is of paramount importance now. One of the directors said the other day fifth place would not be a disaster.

Maybe. But you cannot keep someone like Van Persie if you are going to be offering the Europa League.

And great efforts like last night's are all very well, but Arsenal need to be playing in these sort of games again next season.

Everybody, not just me, knows the club need to bring in a couple of players. It would be a lot to ask Van Persie to once again take on the burden of this season.

He needs help. So that Arsenal can have a real go at the Premier League and the Champions League.

Whatever Arsenal do, you can bet Manchester City will be strengthening their squad. Chelsea will have to, Liverpool, Spurs, Manchester United — all Arsenal's rivals — will be stronger, so they must be, too.

Let's look on the bright side. Arsenal now look like a completely different team to the one which lost so badly in Milan and went out of the FA Cup to Sunderland. Winning can become a habit, just like losing can, and the Gunners have to build on this.

Confidence is an amazing thing. People expect Arsenal to win more games than they lose, so when you have a bad run or a poor result everyone is going to point the finger.

I have faith in Wenger and come the summer there will be a couple of good signings and Arsenal can really go for it.

Because last night showed what they can do — and what they could do.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...h-verdict.html

Another great Wrighty article.

Other than having faith in Wenger.

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CESC FABREGAS has urged Arsenal fans to keep their faith in Arsene Wenger.

The former Gunners skipper, who left for Barcelona last summer, knows that the supporters' patience has been stretched to the limit by a seventh successive season without a trophy.

And he is also aware of the growing fears that star striker Robin van Persie could soon follow him through the Emirates exit in search of greater glory.

Yet Fabregas is adamant things WILL turn around for Arsenal and says no one should doubt the man who propelled him to stardom.

The Spanish international said: "Arsenal have great players, great fans and a great manager. They'll turn it around. There is no point to keep comparing the team to the Invincibles. That will not get you anywhere.

"Some very important players like Jack Wilshere, Thomas Vermaelen, Bacary Sagna and Abou Diaby have been injured for a long time and so they have to be patient.

"I still have a huge affection for the club and it definitely makes me sad whenever I see them lose. But Arsene Wenger knows the club and players and will turn it around. Being a manager is a very difficult job and you are always criticised when things don't go well.

"But that happens at every club in the world and I have the perfect example of that at Barcelona, where the team has won something like 15 of the last 17 trophies yet people are now upset because this season we are second in the League to Real Madrid.

"In Spain there is 1,000 times more pressure on the manager.

"In England the fans will give the boss time and remember what he has done in the years before. In Spain they don't even remember what you have done last week. It's crazy."

Fabregas, 24, spent eight years at Arsenal but won only a single FA Cup in 2005 before his £29million move to the Nou Camp. Yet he denies it was the lack of silverware which drove him away.

"It was a very difficult and very personal decision for me," he says.

"I didn't leave because I was unhappy or wanted more money. I just wanted to play for the club I'd loved since I was very little.

"I was at Arsenal for eight years and always gave it the best I could. But then I had the chance to join Barcelona and took it.

"If it wasn't Barcelona, I would have stayed at Arsenal. For sure. It's not just about winning trophies or not. Every club has seasons when it doesn't go your way.

"When I was little, Barcelona went five years without anything and it seemed like the end of the world. Now it seems they are the best team in the world. Football changes quickly. Arsenal will be back to the top soon."

Fabregas is still in contact with his old team-mates and tries to watch their TV games.

He revealed: "I spoke to Mr Wenger a few months ago when I went back to see everyone at London Colney and I said something to him for his birthday.

"I still have my house in London and friends so I come back as often as I can.

"Some people see me and say 'Come back to Arsenal' and others 'Go back to Barcelona'. There are always opinions for everything.

"But once you make a decision the most important thing is to be happy with it yourself. My last season at Arsenal was very difficult because I kept picking up injuries.

"I definitely regret playing at Barcelona in the Champions League last season because I was injured for 50 or 60 minutes and maybe if I hadn't done that we might have gone through.

"But I felt that I wanted to help the team on so many occasions and some of the time it didn't work."

While Arsenal went out of the Champions League to AC Milan this week, Fabregas was part of the Barca team who thrashed Bayer Leverkusen 10-2 on aggregate. The Spanish champions are hot favourites to lift the European Cup again in May as English clubs struggle to make any impact.

Fabregas said: "It was definitely a surprise when Manchester United went out in the group stage.

"But this is just one season out of many successful ones. If it happened for many years then you could say the balance of power has shifted. But not yet.

"In any case, Chelsea could still make it through to the quarter-finals."

Fabregas has already won the UEFA Super Cup, Spanish Super Cup, FIFA World Club Cup and is in the final of the Copa Del Rey with Barca. Not bad in just seven months.

But he says simply winning trophies is not enough. He said: "A lot of English fans wouldn't like the way we play because we maintain possession and maybe they don't have this patience to keep the ball.

"But what makes this club so special is that just winning is not enough. You must win in style. If you hit the ball high in the air from the centre-back to Leo Messi, they would not like that."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...it-around.html

**** needs to STFU and concentrate on being Reals bitch

[Xhaka Can’t]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...it-around.html

**** needs to STFU and concentrate on being Reals bitch

Mourinho's the bitch whenever they meet.

[Olivier's xmas twist]

Mourinho's the bitch whenever they meet.

Been that way for agess too.

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ROBIN VAN PERSIE must be Arsenal's top signing this summer — according to Ray Parlour.

Gunners legend Parlour reckons his old side simply HAVE to keep the free-scoring Dutchman at the Emirates.

And he insists Arsene Wenger should pay whatever it takes to ensure Van Persie, 28, commits his long-term future to the club.

Van Persie sits atop the Premier League scoring charts with an incredible 25 goals already this season.

But he is out of contract in June 2013 and has so far refused to discuss terms over a new deal.

Arsenal boss Wenger is prepared to let Van Persie run his contract down but Parlour reckons there is no chance the club's board will allow him to leave for free.

Parlour, who won three Premier League titles with Arsenal, said: "For me, the biggest signing they can make this summer is Robin van Persie.

"He's in a very strong position with one year left on his contract. Arsenal can't afford to let him go on a free transfer, so they couldn't keep him for a season.

"He'd be a massive loss if he left but if he doesn't sign a new deal this summer, they'll have to make a decision to sell him."

Arsenal have agreed an £11million fee with Cologne which will see German star Lukas Podolski join the club this summer as Wenger looks to beef up his attacking options.

But after losing Samir Nasri and Cesc Fabregas last summer for big money, Gunners fans are worried that Podolski is being lined up as a replacement for Van Persie — rather than a partner for him.

Parlour added: "For me, you need both of them.

"If you want to challenge the likes of Manchester United and Manchester City you need quality strikers. If they can keep both of them, it could be vital.

"They ran out of steam against AC Milan in the Champions League and they didn't have the impact players on the bench.

"Marouane Chamakh and Chu-Young Park — are they good enough to play on a regular basis?

"Podolski's experienced but not too old. At 26, you're in the prime of your career. He's played in big games.

"It's an opportunity for him to come to the Premier League and really turn it on next season."

But Parlour has urged Wenger to spend BIG on a host of new recruits in order to boost Arsenal's chances of success next season.

He reckons the North Londoners are in need of "four or five" new players and earmarked a replacement for Andrey Arshavin and a new defender as priorities.

But with Jack Wilshere expected to return from injury soon and the emergence of teenage star Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain, Parlour predicts a bright future for his old club.

He said: "It's exciting. With Wilshere coming back and four or five players added in the summer as well, it could be a really good season for Arsenal next year.

"Oxlade-Chamberlain has been an absolute revelation for Arsenal.

"Next season will be tougher but he's a great young player and I would play him in centre-midfield.

"He's a bit different to Wilshere and Aaron Ramsey so that nucleus of youngsters is very important to Arsenal's future.

"I would take him to the Euros. I was surprised he wasn't in the last England squad against Holland.

"It's good to bed these players in now so in the World Cup 2014, he would be used to being an England player. I would definitely put him in now."

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...y-Parlour.html

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THEO WALCOTT should be given a new contract as soon as possible — according to Arsenal legend Ian Wright.

Man-of-the-match Walcott was back to his best in the thrilling 2-1 win over the Newcastle at the Emirates last night, setting up both goals including Thomas Vermaelen's 95th-minute winner.

The England winger's present deal is up at the end of next season and Wrighty reckons Arsene Wenger should get his act together and sign him up.

Wrighty said: "We're talking about a 22-year-old England player. I'm very excited about him, he's fantastic.

"People say he's not consistent enough but I think the only reason why that is is because right-wing is not his natural position.

"I think he's a striker who runs on to things and getting in between central defenders he would cause havoc.

"It's paramount that they sign him up and get it done quickly. He's going to be an England player for many years to come so the sooner they sort him out, the better."

Arsenal once again had to come from behind as Hatem Ben Arfa's superb individual goal put the Toon in front after 14 minutes.

But just 53 seconds later Robin van Persie levelled things up before Vermaelen poked home in the last minute of stoppage time to seal a dramatic victory for Wenger's men.

Wrighty was speaking at the Absolute Radio Rock 'n' Roll Football Lads' Night In event with Club Wembley raising funds to support The Prince's Trust.


The Prince's Trust has worked with 65 Premier League and Football League clubs to deliver programmes for disadvantage young people, with more than three in four of those helped moving into work, education and training.

Over the past 15 years, The Trust's Football Initiative has used the appeal of the game and the practical support of professional football clubs to help disadvantaged young people turn their lives around.

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...tract-now.html

Wrighty

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Arsenal legend Ian Wright has backed his former side to pip north London rivals Tottenham to third spot in the Premier League.

Spurs had looked favourites to finish third after opening up a 10-point gap on the their neighbours but a slump in form has seen Arsene Wenger’s side close to within just a single point, and the former Gunners hero believes that Arsenal’s superior mentality could prove vital.

"This is where their squad's going to be tested and this is what I say to the Tottenham fans," Wright told Absolute Radio.

"You just have to wait and watch them get reeled in because even Manchester City, with the money they've spent and everything, are getting reeled in.

"Tottenham are having a great season, but the fact is they don't know how it is to finish it off at this stage, which is the problem they're going to have now. They lost against Everton, they got murdered against Arsenal and lost to Manchester United.

"When you pull that many points back, it gives Arsenal more than a good chance of finishing above Tottenham.

"Arsenal know how to finish the season and stay in that top four, while Spurs are still finding out what it is like to be in there, stay in there and the pressure of having to win games.

"I think Arsenal know that and it has just been good to stay close enough to get the points where they can and now we're one point behind and right amongst them. I think we can finish third, no problem."

Arsenal are 8/1 with Paddy Power to win their next Premier League match 2-1 against Everton.

Wright also questioned why Spurs boss Harry Redknapp would want to walk away from his position at White Hart Lane to fill the England vacancy, adding: "Harry's got a lot of the journalists where he wants them so he's kind of sweet with everybody.

"But if England don't play well in respect of the tactics and that, they'll turn on Harry just like they'll turn on anyone.

"It's a nightmare job and, of course, it's meant to be the job you aspire to as a manager.

"It's meant to be a job you take at 60 or 65, of course it is, but why would you want to take that kind of job at 65? It's just health problems nowadays, Harry's had problems recently, what does he want that job for?"

http://www.goal.com/en-gb/news/2896/premier-league/2012/03/13/2964644/ian-wright-backs-arsenal-to-pip-tottenham-to-third-spot

Wrighty

[Olivier's xmas twist]

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...tract-now.html

Wrighty

Nah wait till the end of the season tbh.