Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger

Arsenal manager, Arsene Wenger, has said that his team are ready to dry and do the unthinkable by beating Barcelona in the quarter final of the Champions League.

The teams are tied after the first leg ended up 2-2. However, the manner of the display from Barcelona has led many to say that Arsenal stand no chance of winning as they prepare to meet for the second clash.

Barcelona have been praised by all sections of the football community after their display in the first game at the Emirates. Arsenal managed to hang on by their fingernails and they seem up for a huge task.

Wenger said: “At 2-0 down, I felt we needed a miracle but always had hope,” Wenger said. “The players have come back from the dead once and can do it again. They know they escaped being out of the competition and we have a chance we have to take tomorrow. It’s Easter you know, a time of resurrection. That’s what we want to do.”

“The late comebacks this season show that this team has character. We’ve shown that consistently throughout the season. We were written off before the season started, but there are five games to go in the Premier League and we are still in there. In the Champions League, it’s the same. People have written us off, but we’re halfway through and will give a good game to Barcelona.”

“This team has character and when you have character you always have hope. What gives me belief is the quality of players I still have on the pitch. I still have some good players to leave out. They can turn up with a massive performance. With character and quality, you can fight anywhere in the world.”

“This Barcelona team are the best I’ve ever faced because they play at a higher pace collectively. And I don’t think we have ever been dominated so much at home. At the moment, Barcelona are the best team in Europe and we have to show that we can beat them. We have won away almost everywhere in Europe, but Barcelona is a place where we have not done it. I am confident despite the injuries we have that we can do it. This team has such a great mental strength and I believe they can fight against the odds.”

Arsenal will be missing some key players for the match, who would have ultimately given them a better chance of winning in Spain. Captain, Cesc Fabregas, will not play due to a broken leg, which will come as a bitter disappointment to him and fans of the club he is tipped to join this summer.

Arsenal will have to work very hard to keep all areas of this Barcelona side very quiet. How they get on remains to be seen but they are expected to give the match a good go in front of a very expectant and excited crowd.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, has confirmed what all Arsenal fans were probably afraid to hear.

The Frenchman has said that his side must not drop another point in the current Premier League campaign if they want to have any chance of getting their Premier League crown back.

Arsenal have been well in the spotlight and many have said that is about time they are taken more seriously. The club have surprised many this year with the way they have hung onto the coat tails of Manchester United and Chelsea.

Wenger said: “There are three teams in the race and it is down to the team who are the most consistent. We can only focus on our own performances. We know our route has to be perfect. To be perfect it is important we focus on our performances.”

“We need some help from the other teams, but we know that will only work if we are consistent and keep our momentum. We have created a fantastic momentum and we have created a great belief within our squad. The consistency of our run is the most important.”

“We want to keep the spirit, the hunger, the desire and the intelligence we have shown until now. For a long time we have fixed ourselves targets. We play every game like our life depends on it and it has been like that for a long time now.”

“We need to bring consistency to our attitude. We have a remarkable attitude, a remarkable spirit in the team, and must just continue like we do.”

Arsenal’s chances of not losing a single point will have been helped by the fact they have the easiest run in on paper. However, no game is easy when the business end of the season arrives.

Wenger will know better than anyone that his side have to prepare for each game in exactly the right way. Teams will want to take points from Arsenal in order to improve their own situations.

This means the club may have to rely on one or two results going their way if they are to win the league. If they keep things tight at their own end, then they will be giving themselves the best possible chance of success.

The club haven’t been helped by the fact that injuries to key players have kept them out of the Arsenal side for long periods of time. On the other hand this has meant chances for fringe players in the Arsenal squad, who have clearly proved they are good enough to compete at the very highest level.

Will Arsenal fail to drop a single point? It’s highly unlikely. Then again it is equally unlikely that the other title contenders won’t drop a single point. End of season football has a strange way of working and no one will know that better than the managers of England’s best sides.

Ryan Giggs will not play in the Carling Cup final against the same team that he broke his arm against on Wednesday night.

Giggs went into a challenge strongly against another Aston Villa player and immediately went down clutching his arm in pain. X-rays later showed the injury to be a break and United’s veteran will not be able to play a part in what would have been his umpteenth final.

This will be very bad news to a United side, which continue their latest spell through the transition of the current team. The news has created a gap for someone to come in and pull all of the strings in the middle of the United midfield.

Manchester United manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, said: “In terms of preparing for a European tie, we are pleased to have a free weekend. AC Milan are playing on Friday night. That is the kind of help European teams get from their countries. We don’t get that here.”

“By fortune, we don’t have a game on Saturday because we are out of the FA Cup and we are going to take full advantage of it. The players will have a couple of days off because they have worked hard and we will start again on Saturday.”

United goalkepper, Edwin Van Der Saar, is not worried that Giggs’ injury will affect United’s title push. He added: “There is a little bit of a gap between us but Arsenal are still around. But really, we are not looking to anyone else. We will concentrate on ourselves.”

The reason Giggs being injured will be such a blow to United is because he is the calmest and most experienced player in the side. It is important that Ferguson’s men can find someone else quickly, who will fill in the gap and do the same job that Giggs does every week.

Giggs will also be a big miss for United’s up and coming Champions League bout against AC Milan. The match is sure to be one, which United will need all of their experienced players for.

The Italian giants will not be brushed aside easily and have a number of players who could hurt United. However, Ferguson will see the game as a chance for someone to walk in and make Giggs’ place in the team their own.

The main point is that this is a United side, which have gone through their rough spell of the year and are still fighting on a number of fronts for even more silverware than they can currently lay claim to.

There is enough in the squad for the current Premier League champions to be able to compensate and as soon as Giggs recovers from this injury blow, he will no doubt be instrumental in making sure United see through the progression of the current team.

Giggs is old and experienced enough to know how to deal with this injury and make sure that he comes back stronger from it.

Manchester United cut Chelsea’s lead at the top of the Barclay’s Premier League to just one point despite being held by Aston Villa as title race heats up following the top two sides dropping points in midweek.

Aston Villa 1 Man Utd 1
The Red Devils’ 1-1 draw at Villa Park, achieved after playing the majority of the game with 10 men following the sending off of winger Nani, hacked at Chelsea’s lead after the Blues were beaten at Everton. A fine header from Villa defender Carlos Cuellar handed Martin O’Neill’s men a 19th minute lead but the champions needed just 4 minutes to draw level as James Collins deflected into his own net – United’s 10th own goal in their favour this season.

Everton 2 Chelsea 1
Meanwhile, Chelsea had a lead overturned at Goodison Park where a Louis Saha double cancelled out Florent Malouda’s opener to condemn the league-leaders to a 2-1 loss. The defeat is a major blow to boss Carlo Ancelotti, who could have seen his side move four points clear of United and nine ahead of Arsenal had they held onto their lead.

Arsenal 1 Liverpool 0
The real victors of the midweek programme, however, were Arsenal. The Gunners needed just one goal to halt a rejuvenated Liverpool side as Abou Diaby’s 72nd minute header sealed a 1-0 win at the Emirates. The win puts Arsene Wenger’s side back into contention for the title, albeit with just a glimmer of hope as they trail Chelsea by six points.

Wolves 1 Tottenham 0
Liverpool’s loss was a chance for Tottenham to leapfrog their top-four rivals back into the coveted fourth spot, but they failed after going down 1-0 at Wolves in a repeat of the scoreline when the two met at White Hart Lane earlier this season. Midfielder David Jones grabbed his second goal of the season with 27 minutes on the clock and Mick McCarthy’s relegation battlers held out to take three points off the North London club once again.

West Ham 2 Birmingham 0
At the other end of the table, meanwhile, West Ham conjured up a huge win with a 2-0 defeat over this season’s surprise package Birmingham. Alessandro Diamati’s perfectly placed free-kick gave the Londoners the lead shortly before the break while Carlton Cole’s second half header sealed a morale-boosting win for under pressure boss Gianfranco Zola.

Blackburn 1 Hull City 0
Elsewhere, Hull City were brought back down to earth following last week’s win over Man City with a 1-0 defeat to Blackburn Rovers at Ewood Park. The Tigers had George Boateng harshly sent off when already a goal down to Boaz Myhill’s 16th minute own goal, which was enough to settle the contest.

Man City 2 Bolton 0
On Tuesday night, top-four contenders Man City strengthened their case for the cause with a comfortable 2-0 win over a battling Bolton side. A Carlos Tevez penalty and an Emmanuel Adebayor volley in either half sealed the win, with 5th placed City holding two games in hand over Liverpool.

Fulham 3 Burnley 0
Elsewhere, Fulham heaped more misery on struggling Burnley boss Brian Laws as goals from Danny Murphy, David Elm and Bobby Zamora ensured an emphatic 3-0 win for the Cottagers. After a bright start under the guidance of Owen Coyle, who left for Bolton in January, the Clarets have now dropped into the relegation zone with their early season confidence out the window.

Portsmouth 1 Sunderland 1
Meanwhile, there were three red cards at Fratton Park where a 94th minute strike from Aruna Dindane sealed a point for crisis club Portsmouth in a 1-1 draw with Sunderland. Darren Bent opened up the scoring from the penalty spot before Ricardo Rocha saw red first then Lee Cattermole evened up the numbers with a second bookable offence. Black Cats substitute David Meyler was on the field just two minutes before being dismissed for an elbow in a feisty encounter which will give Pompey a glimmer of hope for staging an unlikely survival bid.

Wigan 1 Stoke City 1
Finally, honours were even at the DW Stadium as well, where Wigan were held to a 1-1 draw with Stoke City. Paul Scharner’s exquisite header handed the home side the lead after just 14 minutes but a quarter of an hour before the final whistle Tuncay Sanli rescued a point for the Potters with a header of his own.

The two points dropped leave Wigan just a point above the dropzone and boss Roberto Martinez will no doubt be concerned by the constant inability to gain some consistency.

Manchester City’s Billionaires proved too much for the young guns of Arsenal as they blew them away in a three goal second half display.

Goals from Carlos Tevez, Shaun Wright Phillips and Vladimir Weiss scored to set up a mouthwatering Semi Final against local neighbours and Champions United.

The first leg will be played at the City of Manchester stadium on the fourth of January and it looks sure to be a grudge match for the Blue half of Manchester.

After one of the most exciting derbies in history, City will undoubtedly want payback for the 4-3 defeat at Old Trafford after Ferguson’s team scored in the seventh minute of a criminally long extra stoppage time period.

United themselves booked their place in the semis with a victory over

Elsewhere, Portsmouth new boss Avram Grant watched his side lose yet again, this time at the hands of Aston Villa.

Although Pompey went ahead, through a Stilian Petrov own goal, goals form Emile Heskey, James Milner and Stewart Downing silenced the Fratton Park faithful. Veteran Nigerian striker Kanu added a faint hope on 87 minutes

before Ashley Young settled the Villa fans nerves and sent the Midlands club through to the next round.

They will face the winners of the tie of the round in Blackburn, who pulled off a shock penalty shoot out victory out of the hat. New signing Kakuta missed the vital penalty as Chelsea were stunned by the Lancashire side.

The score had been tied at 3-3 before a dramatic penalty shoot out was settled when

THE DRAW

MANCHESTER CITY v MANCHESTER UNITED

BLACKBURN ROVERS v ASTON VILLA

1st Leg matches due to be played week commencing 4th January 2010.

2nd Leg matches due to be played week commencing 18th January 2010.

BOOKIES’ FAVOURITES

The bookmakers have made Manchester United odds on favourites, but if City do manage to beat them then look for a City-Villa final and another possible penalty shoot out between two evenly matched sides.

Watching Paul Merson’s latest attack on Manchester City sent me back almost a decade in time to the days of Harry Enfield and his grotesque character ‘Loads a Money’.

How this ultra biased Gunner is still employed by Sky Sports is just a mystery to millions of watching fans across the globe.

It certainly isn’t for his eloquence of speech as the washed up Ex- England star stumbles through yet another incomprehensible utterance as though he’s just come back from lunch at the local pub.

The only conclusion I can think for the Toad of Powder Hall still being in a prime time television job is that he amuses host Jeff Spelling and the other pundits so much that they just can’t bear to be without him.

In fact, the Ex-England star looks so much like the Toad of Toad Hall in a monkey suit that maybe thousands of Children worldwide are to blame for a rise in viewing figures as they believe his segment to be a continuation of children’s programming.

In Toad’s latest instalment he analyses Man City’s performance against Hull City. In a game that City dominated but couldn’t kill off, Hull were awarded a penalty to level the score and steal a point.

When asked about the Sky Blues, Merson labelled the Blues as a coach of Hollywood superstars who had failed at top four clubs and were now cracking under the pressure of failing to deliver!

Now I don’t know about you Paul, but wasn’t Carlos Tevez a big hit and winner at Man United? Wasn’t Kolo Toure the last remaining member of ‘The Invincibles’ arguably the best Arsenal team of the last 30 years?

The next pearl of wisdom that made it’s way out of this sorry excuse for a man’s mouth was the bitterest attack on the Blues to date.

“I look at Man City’s team and not one of them could get into a top four side…”

So astounded were Matt Le Tissier and the other pundits at what was coming out of the Buffoon’s mouth, they were rendered speechless.

The silence was eventually broken by the tactful Stelling, sounding like a father to his teenage son, suggesting that Merson was exaggerating again and that of course Shay Given was good enough.

Merson’s response was typical of a man who has long since made brain-to-tongue communication redundant in his world.

“He wouldn’t get in ahead of Cech at Chelsea, but I’d ‘av ‘im at Arsenal…”

Are Arsenal not a top four side then Paul? The analytical genius obviously has a problem with City and one wonders if it is over more than just the Adebayor issue.

With a full three and a half minutes to talk, there is no shortage of material to illustrate how biased this man is and you just have to see it to believe it for yourself.

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, reacted furiously after his club’s win against Birmingham City at the weekend. For once the reaction had nothing to do with the performance of his side as the Frenchman said he was furious about some of the chants that were aimed at his striker, Eduardo.

Many people will not remember that Eduardo badly broke his leg playing against Birmingham the last time they were in the Premier League. Martin Taylor was the player responsible and that was the name being chanted by a number of Birmingham fans as they watched their side lose miserably.

Wenger said: “They will not be remembered for the quality of their taste with that kind of remark. Eduardo was here. I don’t know how he felt about the chants. I just put that in the ranks of stupidity.”

“That’s fantastic. It shows first that everybody goes forward and when everybody scores, the team has a good collective base. On a longer term, some will score more than others, but to know that everybody can score is fantastic.”

“After the last international break we lost at Manchester City. It’s difficult away from home.”

Birmingham boss, Alex McLeish, added: “They’re a beautiful footballing team. I threw the gauntlet down to the strikers, the McFaddens of this world. Cameron’s had experience in the Premier League and he’s now got to show that he’s a Premier League striker.”

It is not clear whether the Football Association will bother taking a look into the incident in order to try and work out who started the chants in the first place. The Birmingham boss certainly does not condone them and the fact is that the chants were made by a small few. There were probably fans sitting in the same section that told whoever was signing that they were out of order in the first place.

Sometimes the atmosphere and passion at a football match can go straight to your head and you start chanting or saying things that you would not have done when given the benefit of turning back the clock. This is probably one of those situations. There was no reason for the chants as Eduardo had not done a single thing to warrant the negativity from Birmingham fans.

Wenger will be happy that his side won the match and muted the chants of the idiotic fans. It is certainly not something that should be remembered and if Eduardo scores against them this season, we’d all forgive him for doing an Adebayor.

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, says that he has no plans to spend big despite the fact that his club have just announced record profits. Arsenal could spend up to £80 million on players if they needed the money in a very short time frame.

However, Wenger appears to be sticking to his guns and will not sway from his philosophy that pace and youth is the way forward. If you go and ask any Arsenal fan in the country what the one thing they dislike about their manager is, they will all say his reluctance to spend money.

Even more will tell you that this reluctance to spend money is the very thing that has held the club back from winning big trophies in the last few seasons. Even one or two of the Arsenal players, Andrey Arshavin and Robin Van Persie, have said that they wish their manager would spend more to bring in more quality.

Consistency seems to be the main problem for Arsenal. Against fringe teams in both the Premier League and Europe they are very good but once the opposition increases in quality, they are sometimes found lacking in many areas.

Wenger said: “There is money to spend but at the moment I am very happy with the squad I have. It’s not because I’m against spending money; I have nothing against spending money. It is not a personal thing, it is just that I have a squad that is strong enough to compete.”

“I do not spend money because out of tomorrow’s squad is [Samir] Nasri, [Theo] Walcott, [Nicklas] Bendtner. And people want me to buy strikers, but where do I put them? I don’t know. I have to then lose players who, for me, are world class.”

Arsenal’s Chief Executive added: “We anticipate it is likely we will make a profit out of that [Highbury Square] development, which will then be available to the football side. Exactly what the profit will be, and when it will be realised, will depend on the strength of the property market.”

So the current squad at Arsenal will be the one that wins any thing within the next two or three season, maybe with the odd addition but there should not be any expectations for expensive signings.

Wenger has never spent big money on a player and although he says that this is not against his nature, the fact is that he’s never forked out £30 million for anyone and instead likes to settle for a nice profit when he does eventually sell players on.

One of Arsenal’s next generation was caught up in a row over insulting a West Bromwich Albion player in Arsenal’s Carling Cup win last night. Jack Wilshere, is said to have insulted Jerome Thomas to the extent that the West Brom winger reacted angrily before being promptly sent off.

It was a strange dismissal and a shame because for the majority of the night, West Brom had carried themselves well but tempers were raised when Wilshere was seen to be shouting at Thomas just before the player grabbed him around the throat.

West Brom manager, Roberto Di Matteo, said: “It was a red card. My player went to shake the Arsenal player’s hand, he refused and then reacted. There was an exchange of words, then there was a reaction. I know what was said, but I’m not saying that. I’m disappointed that Wilshere didn’t accept his hand. He wanted to help him get up, actually.”

Arsenal boss, Arsene Wenger, added: “My eyes are not great and my ears are even worse. I couldn’t hear anything from the touchline, but I don’t know. He looked like he responded, reacted, and in these cases you always need to control your nerves. I don’t know if he has any excuses or not, but Jack was upset as well. He said he was kicked.”

“Jerome was a bit impulsive, very talented, sometimes nervy and impatient as well. He lacked confidence when he was younger, but he seems to have found that now.”

Besides from this single incident which obviously ruffled a few feathers on both sides of the fence, it was the football that did the talking. Carlos Vela and Mark Randall scored the goals that have put Arsenal into the next round and the side have proved that their youth team is still a lot better than the first team of a highly rated Championship team.

Di Matteo has said that the club may appeal against Thomas’ red card and submit the words that were said as evidence of provocation on the part of the Arsenal player. However, unless the referee says so in his report, the matter is unlikely to be a great one for debate at the Football Association.

The point is that young players are passionate and they get very excited at times during a game. Although Thomas is now a lot more experienced he should have known better and given back the verbal volley instead of reacting to it physically.

Arsenal manager,Arsene Wenger, has admitted that he will take much greater care this season in handling a number of his younger players. Wenger has been criticised in recent times for subjecting young players to too much pressure at an early stage in their careers.

One such player is Jack Wilshere, a highly rated teenager that is being tipped for club and international success in future seasons. Wilshere has performed in the Arsenal first team when many said he would not be able to handle the intensity and pressure of the massive situation that Wenger had dropped him into.

The Arsenal boss said: “I believe last year he paid a price physically for a very demanding start. This year he is strong, more mature, and I’m sure that he will show that tomorrow.”

“It’s difficult to treat players completely the same because you want to speed up a little bit their progress, but physically I will still treat them like anybody else. Most people once they get to 19 years of age without injuries are over-used. A big injury can always happen because you get over-use of the players.”

“We have four centre backs and he is one of the four because [Johan] Djourou is out for nearly the season. We know how good he is, but it is a new start, let’s say. He is still very young for a centre back. He’s 24 and he has the future in front of him. The best ten years are now coming for him. Philippe is an intelligent boy with a very good attitude and you don’t ever question that.”

Wilshere is still a very young man and his body is developing on a weekly basis. It is impossible for Wenger to think that he should be thrown in at the deep end against a lot of players who are physically big and strong.

On the one hand you do have to respect and admire Wenger’s football philosophy because it is a clever and smart one that is based on investing for the future. This is the way that he has developed every Arsenal side so far throughout his managerial career at the club.

On the other hand he needs to listen when people start telling him that certain players are too small or not maturely developed enough to be able to cope with the pace and pressure. The old age argument is that if you’re good enough you’re old enough but this does not detract from the obvious facts.