Song's high note sounds little off key to Wenger

The Arsenal fans are often accused of being some of the quietest in the country, but they found their voice after their 88th-minute winner, belting out the refrain, "We've only got one Song" in honour of their match-winner, Alex Song.

Arsenal themselves were slightly off tune, missing the invention of the suspended Jack Wilshere and with Cesc Fabregas not quite at his best. Yet they created more than enough chances to win the game by a distance and would have done so but for the form of the West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green whose performance almost earned his side an unlikely point. Almost, but not quite. Despite the array of attacking talent on the pitch for Arsenal, the game was won by two of their more defensive players. The left-back Gaël Clichy pushed forward and moved inside before laying an inviting ball across the goalmouth which Song converted with his head.

Their manager Arsène Wenger was mightily relieved, although he warned that Song gets forward a little too regularly for his liking. "We didn't do anything stupid and tried to be intelligent and that is why we scored," Wenger said. "Song had three good chances, he has added that to his game. He has got the taste to go forward, sometimes a little too much for a holding midfielder."

Arsenal, returning to the Emirates on the back of a pair of crushing away victories, 3-0 at Manchester City and 4-0 at Newcastle United, started brightly but lost their way.

West Ham stood up well to the task of keeping Arsenal at arm's length from their goal, with striker Victor Obinna asked to play wide on the left of a five-man midfield. With Scott Parker bristling with aggression and Mark Noble full of running, West Ham maintained their shape with a discipline that belied their position at the foot of the Premier League.

Green was the game's outstanding performer, providing evidence that he is moving on after his World Cup howler for England against the USA. He pulled off three quite outstanding saves in the first half to keep West Ham on level terms.

Green dived at full stretch to deny a shot from Fabregas which crowned an incisive passing move involving Song and Bacary Sagna. Minutes later he swooped low to his right for a one-handed reflex save in answer to Song's drive from the angle. And before the half was out Green had tipped away Sébastien Squillaci's arching header following a corner.

The match continued in much the same vein in the second half, as the level of Arsenal frustration began to grow. Samir Nasri struck the bar with a glorious swerving free-kick from 35 yards and Marouane Chamakh could do no better with a header than guide it straight into the arms of Green.

Wenger introduced Theo Walcott and the winger went close when he fired a shot across Green which struck the far post and rebounded into the arms of the grateful keeper.

Arsenal however did not panic and were rewarded with Song's goal that keeps West Ham rooted to the bottom of the League. Hammers manager Avram Grant tried to cling to positives. "We are not in a situation where we cannot do it," he said. "Even if we were in April it would not be the end of the world. We need to turn good performances into results."

Source: Mark Fleming, The Independent on 30 Oct 10

Alex Song's late header for Arsenal breaks West Ham's stout resistance

When you knock on the door as loudly as Arsenal did here in the second half, the law of probability dictates that it has to open eventually. But football does not always work like that and, for so long, it looked as if West Ham would deal another blow to the credibility of Arsenal's title challenge. The ghosts of West Brom could almost be heard to clear their throats.

Rob Green, the West Ham goalkeeper, was ready to take the acclaim as the afternoon's hero. He made a string of excellent saves, most notably from Cesc Fábregas, while the woodwork came to his rescue on a further two occasions.

At the very death, however, just as tempers and nerves were fraying intolerably among the home support, Green's resistance was broken. Whether he ought to have come for Gaël Clichy's tantalising cross was a moot point. What was indisputable was that Alex Song had sensed his moment and nothing was going to deny him. Having arrived at speed, he plunged low to guide a diving header into the net and, at a stroke, spark wild scenes of delight and relief.

"It's always a relief when you score late on," said Arsène Wenger, the Arsenal manager. "But you can see we have matured. When it does not work for us, the players remain calmer. We have a good chance of the title but we have to show consistency first. We still need to step up a gear. I feel that Song has the taste to go forward, he has added that to his game, even if it's a bit too much for a holding midfielder. But that's our game."

West Ham prop up the table going into November, which is never a good omen in the battle against relegation. Avram Grant, the manager, said that history did not interest him, that there was plenty of time to turn fundamentally decent performances into points. He was particularly pleased with the "fighting spirit" of his players, which was epitomised once again by the captain Scott Parker, who was magnificent.

But there have to be deep concerns in the East End. Despite a bright start, in which Mark Noble featured prominently, West Ham never looked to have the ammunition in the final third to hurt Arsenal. Lukasz Fabianski did not have to make a serious save.

At the other end, meanwhile, they were played through too easily, particularly on their left side, where Herita Ilunga was exposed on a number of occasions. Arsenal sleepwalked through the first-half but they still looked the more threatening team and Green needed to make three smart saves.

Wenger said that he almost took off Fábregas at half-time, as the captain had some tension in his hamstring which will need to be monitored, but he saw his players show greater urgency in the second period, when they swept forward in waves. The in-form Samir Nasri rattled the crossbar with a 35-yard thunderbolt of a free-kick while the substitute Theo Walcott hit the inside of the far post.

The thought that it might be one of those days for Arsenal gathered pace when Green kept out Walcott's deflected shot and then brilliantly repelled Fábregas. Song, though, had other ideas.

Source: David Hytner, The Guardian on 30 Oct 10

Late Song goal breaks Green resistance

Alex Song's late header gave Premier League title chasers Arsenal a narrow victory over West Ham to deny the bottom club a deserved point at Emirates Stadium.

Robert Green, in front of watching England manager Fabio Capello, had pulled off a string of fine saves to keep the Gunners at bay.

However, with just two minutes left, Song dived to head home Gael Clichy's cross as Arsene Wenger's improving side kept up the pressure on leaders Chelsea.

Arsenal had plenty of momentum going into this afternoon's game after following up impressive Champions League performances with victory at Manchester City and marching into the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup.

However, Wenger had warned against complacency, with the Irons looking to battle their way clear of the relegation zone. Arsenal started brightly, with Andrey Arshavin put away down the left a couple of times, but the Russian was unable to make the most of the openings.

On nine minutes, Song tripped Frederic Piquionne conceding a free-kick on the left, which Scott Parker - so impressive during the Hammers' Carling Cup win over Stoke - whipped in and Lukasz Fabianski punched clear.

At the other end, Arshavin's deflected cross flew through the West Ham six-yard box before Song sent a bullet header over.

Piquionne burst clear down the right wing, but then after getting to the box, the former Portsmouth frontman seemed to run out of ideas and Arsenal cleared before former Gunner Luis Boa Morte drove a 20-yard effort over.

Bacary Sagna arrived on the end of Song's through pass to pull the ball back for Cesc Fabregas, who swept it goalwards, but Green produced a superb reflex save to deny the Arsenal captain.

West Ham remained positive, though, as Mark Noble ran at the Arsenal defence, and his 22-yard strike was straight at Fabianski.

Gunners fans were starting to get restless as half-time approached, with West Ham continuing to frustrated the home side.

Green again denied Arsenal when he kept out Song's angled drive and from the resulting corner, the often-criticised England keeper flicked over Sebastien Squillaci's looping header.

The hefty challenges continued in the second half, this time Parker on Denilson, taking the legs of the Arsenal midfielder as he followed through, but again there was no action from the referee.

Arshavin broke clear down the left and darted to the edge of the West Ham penalty area, but dragged his low shot wide.

Boa Morte was cautioned for pushing over Denilson as the Brazilian charged forwards.

From the resulting free-kick, around 35 yards out, Samir Nasri crashed the ball against the crossbar, with Green beaten.

The Emirates Stadium faithful upped the tempo as Arsenal went on the offensive.

After a goalmouth scramble, play was held up to allow Parker treatment as he had been struck in the face by Fabregas' shot.

Arshavin then went tumbling as Manuel Da Costa looked to have tugged his arm, but the referee waved away penalty appeals.

With 23 minutes left, Wenger turned to Theo Walcott as the England man, who had scored twice in the midweek Carling Cup win at Newcastle, replaced Denilson.

Chamakh got on the end of Arshavin's free-kick into the box, but could not guide the ball either side of Green.

Fabregas sent Walcott away down the right, and he dashed into the area, before sliding the ball under Green - only for it to come back off the inside of the far post and bounce to the grateful Hammers keeper.

Green again came to the Hammers rescue when he saved Walcott's deflected effort before then keeping out Fabregas' snapshot as the Gunners pressed for a late winner.

However, the Irons keeper was finally beaten with just two minutes left when Song headed in Clichy's cross at the far post as Arsenal took all three points.

After the match, manager Arsene Wenger breathed a huge sigh of relief after snatching late victory over Premier League strugglers West Ham.

"When you win with two minutes to go, it is always a relief," Wenger said. "We needed to be patient, intelligent and not to make a mistake at the back against a team who had a strong spirit and were well organised. We did not do anything stupid, kept trying to be intelligent and that got us the goal.

"I was thinking it was one of those days when the ball went onto the post and came back into the goalkeeper's hands, that is not a good sign. But we kept going and out of this game we have once again shown a great attitude."

Arsenal had plenty of momentum going into this afternoon's game after following impressive Champions League performances with victory at Manchester City and marching into the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup.

However, Wenger had warned against complacency, with the Irons looking to battle their way clear of the relegation zone.

"We have matured, you see that in the game the way we handle it when it does not work for us, the players remain calmer than before," Wenger said. "We have a good chance [for the title], yes, but we want to show consistency first. We go step by step and we still need to step up a gear to completely achieve that.

"But on the other hand you feel there is more to come out from this team, we have good potential on bench today and some players to come back. If can jeep a good injury record then we have a chance."

Wenger added: "It is too early in the season, but I have belief. We need to show from game to game we can handle every single game with a different aspect which the Premier League has - today we played against the team bottom of the league and it was a real battle. We have to show can compete like that in every game."

Wenger hopes captain Cesc Fabregas will be fit to travel to Shakhtar Donetsk for next week's Champions League game.

"Cesc played a bit within himself. He had a bit of tension in his hamstring. Let's hope he has no setback," Wenger said. "At half-time, I had a hesitation to take him off. Then I left him on, I thought 'just for 10 or 15 minutes', but in the end he got better and better."

The final result was somewhat harsh on West Ham, who had fought a brave rearguard action and also looked dangerous on counter-attacks as well as at set-pieces. However, Hammers boss Avram Grant maintains all is not lost, his side still just three points from safety.

"When you come to just two minutes from the end, and it was 0-0, Arsenal almost did not create many chances, because we defended well and played well, so we are very disappointed," the Israeli said.

"We have played a game against a very good team who just beat us in the last minutes, so we can take a lot of positive things and also from many things which have happened in the past week.

"I don't want to talk about history, whether things are possible or not possible. We are not in a situation where we cannot do it - we can do it. We need to win games, we have deserved to win games and will try to do it in the next game.

"We are not yet in November, so we have time to do it. There are six or seven months until the end of the season. Even if we were in this situation in April, I would not think it was the end of the world."

Grant added: "We are not in a good situation in the league, but we are in a good situation with our performances so we need to take more points like we deserve.

"I really believe we can do it because the team have a good spirit and it was an heroic performance today. We know the difference to us winning games is not so big, so let's continue to fight. The players are not giving up, they are fighting, it is a good basis for the future."

Source: ESPN Soccernet on 30 Oct 10

Wenger's reaction to the Arsenal 1-0 West Ham United match

on whether he was relieved...
Yes because when you win with two minutes to go it is always a relief. We needed to be patient, intelligent and not make a mistake at the back against a West Ham team who had a strong spirit and were well-organised. We showed patience because in the first half it was difficult to get into the flow of our passing so we had to wait until they got a bit fatigued. West Ham kept going and we did as well. We kept the structure of our game right, we didn't do anything stupid, we kept trying to be intelligent and that in the end got us the goal with two minutes to go.

on a new dimension to Song's game...
He is [adding that to his game] because when you sum up his game today he had three good chances: the goal he scored, the one on his right boot and the header in the first half that touched the bar. He has got the taste to go forward, even if I think a little too much sometimes for a holding midfielder! But that is part of our game as well.

on whether he thought they might drop points...
The special moment I thought about that was when the ball hit the post and then bounced back into the goalkeeper's hands. That is usually not a good sign but even more so when Carlton Cole came on because you think that he has the ingredients when everybody else goes forward to score you a goal [on the break]. But we kept going and out of this game we can say we have once again shown a great attitude and we have matured. You can see that when it doesn't work for us the players remain calmer than before.

on being equipped to win the title...
I believe we have a good chance, yes, but we want to show consistency first. We go step by step. I believe we still need to step up a gear to completely achieve that. But on the other hand you feel as well that there is more to come out from this team because we had a good potential on the bench today and we still have some players to come back. So if we can keep a good injury record then we have a chance. It's too early in the season [to be sure] but I have belief. We have to show we can handle every single game with the different aspects that the Premier League has. You saw today that we played against the bottom team in the Premier League and it was a real battle. We have to show we can compete like that in every game.

on the return of Jack Wilshere and Denilson's form...
Denilson had three good games this week - he played the whole 90 minutes at Manchester City, the whole 90 minutes at Newcastle and he did quite well today because he defended very well at the moment everybody went forward. But Jack can play with Denilson, he can play with Song, I have good potential for rotation and don't forget we have Diaby who can come back too.

on keeping three straight clean sheets...
That's new, that's new for me! A day where I don't have to look on the television slow motion to see why we conceded a goal does not happen often so I am very happy with that.

on his concerns during the game...
You always have concerns because you would always like to finish teams off in ten minutes but football doesn't work like that.

on Cesc Fabregas' fitness...
He played a little bit within himself because he had a little tension in his hamstring. Let's hope he has no setback. I hope he will be alright [for Shakhtar]. At half time I had a hesitation to take him off but I left him on for ten minutes or 15 minutes and in the end he got better and better.

Source: Arsenal.com on 30 Oct 10

30 October 2010: Arsenal 1-0 West Ham United, Emirates Stadium

Alex Song powered home a last-gasp header to end Arsenal’s frustration at Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

For 88 minutes, it seemed to be one of those afternoons for Arsène Wenger’s side. Although not at their best, they created a plethora of chances only to be kept at bay by a mixture of wayward finishing, bad luck and, most importantly, West Ham keeper Robert Green.

The England man made decent saves from Song and Sebastien Squillaci in the first half and even better stops from Theo Walcott and Cesc Fabregas in the latter period.

It looked like being enough until Gael Clichy angled in a cross from the left and Song stooped to crash home his fourth strike of the campaign.

The goal – and the points – kept Arsenal right up with the title pace.

Wenger’s men are still second and doing all they can at the moment. Of course they have not been faultless this season but they have won at tough grounds, beaten a title contender and built up a strong home record. Today they did something else - squeezed a result in tight circumstances when they were not so fluent.

They will have to do much more of the same to lift the Premier League trophy in May but dogged determination is a key part of any title-winning season.

And Arsenal displayed that in abundance this afternoon.

The heavens opened minutes before kick-off. It was a soggy end to a week that had given Arsenal inspiration and aspiration in equal measure.

They had won 3-0 at Manchester City last Sunday and followed that up with a 4-0 drubbing of Newcastle in the Carling Cup. For the latter game, Wenger had played a stronger side than usual but there were still significant changes.

Compared to the Eastlands game, Wenger made one alteration this afternoon. Laurent Koscielny replaced Johan Djourou to complete an all-French backline. Despite their midweek heroics, Theo Walcott, Wojciech Szczesny and Nicklas Bendtner were on the bench.

Jack Wilshere sat out the last game of his suspension. Robin van Persie (ankle) and Aaron Ramsey (leg) were not ready but are set to return to full training next week. Abou Diaby (ankle), Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles) and Manuel Almunia (elbow) are a little further away from fitness.

This was a meeting of in-form versus no form, second top versus rock bottom. However you could not have told in the opening 15 minutes.

Yes, Arsenal had ample possession, threatening when Song nodded over and Arshavin’s shot was deflected wide.

However West Ham’s ambition was far above their League position. Mark Noble troubled Lukasz Fabianski into punching away a couple of free-kicks, Luis Boa More fired over and Frederic Piquionne made one jinking run to the byline that the keeper snuffed out.

The game was pacy and passionate enough but it was ‘bity’. By the midway point, neither side had really fashioned a ‘move’.
That changed in the 24th minute and it so nearly saw Arsenal take the lead.

Song threaded a ball through for the overlapping Bacary Sagna in the right-hand channel. He stretched to the byline and cut the ball back into the area towards Fabregas. The captain’s contact was good but Green threw himself to his right and plucked the ball out of the air.

The chance changed nothing. Arsenal were on top but there was a tension in their game. West Ham seemingly sensed that and broke with invention.

Nine minutes from the break, Noble raced clear once again and thundered a shot into the chest of Fabianski.

Just before the whistle, Song exchanged passes with Fabregas on the right of the area but the Cameroonian’s low shot was blocked by Green. From the resulting corner, Squillaci saw his header was tipped over the bar.

It was stale-mate for Arsenal at the break. Wenger’s men had been out of sorts but, in fairness, West Ham had done their best to put them in that position.

There was a general unease at Emirates Stadium as the team went into the tunnel.

However Arsenal would emerge for the second half with much more purpose. In the opening minutes, Arshavin dragged a shot across the face of goal and then Nasri looked to extend the best scoring run of his career by smashing a drive against the bar from 25 yards.

The home side were trying to up the ante.

Just before the hour, Fabregas and Denilson both saw shots blocked in a frantic ping-pong passage of play on the edge of the West Ham area. The Spaniard’s drive thundered straight into the face of Scott Parker, who needed a few minutes of treatment before he recovered.

Midway through the half, Arsenal won a free-kick and Wenger took the opportunity to bring on Walcott. After the ovation had died down, Arshavin floated in the ball and, for once, Chamakh could not convert his header when well-placed.

However Walcott would soon make his mark.

Fabregas swivelled a wonderful pass into his path on the right wing. The England winger roared clear of his marker to face Green. His low cross-shot beat the keeper’s outstretched right hand, hit the base of the post and then bounced back into the grateful arms of the West Ham No 1. A huge let-off.

The second half had been much more one-sided than the first. But West Ham were still prepared to chance to their arm.

In the 74th minute, Manuel da Costa’s powerful downward header was clutched among the flailing legs but Fabianski.

Shortly afterwards, only Clichy’s cover header prevented Valon Behrami converting a left-wing from Herita Ilunga.

Those chances prompted Wenger to throw on Bendtner. Arshavin made way.

Eight minutes from time, Green made another super save, this time from Walcott’s deflected drive.

The England keeper made another fine stop shortly afterwards when he turned aside a close-range shot from Fabregas.

It seemed that Green would be Arsenal’s tormentor until Clichy’s cross found Song.

It was a rapturous finish to a game that had seemed to be slipping from Arsenal’s grasp.

Source: Richard Clarke, Arsenal.com on 30 Oct 10

Gibbs out for Gunners

Arsenal will be without left-back Kieran Gibbs for the visit of Barclays Premier League bottom club West Ham after the England defender suffered knee ligament damage in the Carling Cup win at Newcastle.

Goalkeeper Manuel Almunia (elbow), defender Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles) and midfielder Abou Diaby (ankle) are still not yet match fit, while Jack Wilshere serves the last of his three-match ban.

Long-term absentees Aaron Ramsey and Robin van Persie are scheduled to return to full training at the end of next week.

Ahead of the game, Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has admitted it was simpler when a player was just ruled offside, but feels English officials are doing the best they can to deal with the interpretations of difficult new FIFA guidelines.

The Gunners benefited from a controversial decision during their 4-0 Carling Cup win at Newcastle in midweek, Theo Walcott being allowed to go on and score despite Nicklas Bendtner appearing to come from an offside position and block defender Mike Williamson.

Both Tottenham and Everton also saw dubious goals allowed in their respective Barclays Premier League games with Fulham and Everton.

Wenger accepts the directives on when a player is active or not have added to the already testing job for referees and their assistants.

"It was easier for the referee certainly, but I must say to their credit the linesmen have improved tremendously in England to judge the offside,'' the Arsenal manager said.

"I see many games in Europe and I think they get it right in England more than anywhere else.''

Wenger continued: "It is very difficult to interpret because you are offside if one part of the body you can score with is offside and that's not always very easy to see.

"Sometimes it is the second part of the action, when the guy can take part of his initial offside position away and that looks a little unjust.

"The rule is you judge the situation when the ball is played so that means phase two is again phase one because you judge again when the ball is played - so phase two does basically not exist.

"That is why sometimes you can feel that a guy takes advantage of his offside position.

"The only thing sometimes I am not happy with is that if a guy who is central is 10 yards offside and he scores a goal from a first touch after a cross from the wing, you should maybe consider that is a bit unfair.''

West Ham captain Matthew Upson looks certain to miss out with a hamstring injury he received against Newcastle last week.

Upson has had intensive treatment this week but manager Avram Grant admitted he was reluctant to risk the defender.

Striker Frederic Piquionne is also doubtful with a leg injury but Grant reported no other major worries although he admitted his squad were "tired'' after their Carling Cup victory against Stoke.

Grant insists his West Ham side can conquer their fear and start climbing the table.

Winger Valon Behrami admitted this week that his team-mates were "a little bit scared'' when they took to the field after having taken just six points from their first nine matches.

But Grant believes the trip across London to take on Arsenal is the perfect stage to strip out any psychological problems.

He said: "It is good that Behrami was very honest. Maybe some people are scared. When I was in top teams (Chelsea) I saw that they were scared to lose the semi-final of the Champions League.

"It is not so negative, it does not need to affect you on the pitch. If you can do your job on the pitch that is important. I don't think any team at the bottom or the top go on to the pitch thinking they can win without any fear. We had zero points after four games. We had reason to feel fear and maybe some did feel it. But we are trying to build a winning mentality. You need to have the desire to win every game.''

Source: ESPN Soccernet on 29 Oct 10

Match Preview: Arsenal vs West Ham United

For years, Arsenal fans have been able to see the potential their side possess. According to Arsène Wenger, they may be about to start seeing the silverware as well.

You can forgive the manager for glazing over when the phrase “five-years without a trophy” is tossed towards him in press conferences.

Of course, it is a cast-iron fact but the Frenchman has always rightly responded by pointing out the Club’s forward movement throughout that period – on and off the pitch. Plus, the little matter of a decade in the upper echelons of European football.

However a trophy is still a trophy. Football should be about glory and, in reality, that means winning. Right now it is clearly the be-all and end-all for Wenger. On all-fronts.

A stronger-than-usual Arsenal side progressed to the Quarter-Finals of the Carling Cup on Wednesday and, next week, they hope to secure passage to the Knockout Stages of the Champions League with victory at Shakhtar Donetsk. In between, on Saturday, they entertain rock-bottom West Ham at Emirates Stadium.

When Arsenal lost at Chelsea at the start of October, it was suggested their failings were all too familiar. However they end the month looking stronger than ever and with the results to prove it.

“There is more waiting to come out of the team because we are looking like we are improving on all fronts,” said an ebullient Wenger at Friday’s press conference.

“I feel the ingredients of teams I had before, who were successful, are in there. It is just how much we can get them out.

“If you look at the UEFA [co-efficient] table you will see Arsenal in the top eight in a very strong position. And you look who is around us - what money they lose and spend every year - you will see we have not done too badly.”

Goals are always a reasonable barometre of Wenger’s Arsenal. This season they have hit 26 in six home games and 12 in their last 270 minutes of football overall.

“Yes we scored five, three and four in our last three games,” said the manager. “It shows that we have the potential.

“The secret is that we play for each other. We play united. And if we manage to do that anybody in our team can score because we are always going forward a lot. The basic target for us is to keep playing for each other.”

Arsenal will be without Kieran Gibbs for “a few weeks” after the left-back damaged knee ligaments at Newcastle in midweek. Robin van Persie (ankle) and Aaron Ramsey (leg) return to full training next week. Abou Diaby (ankle), Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles) and Manuel Almunia (elbow) are still absent. Jack Wilshere will see out his suspension for being sent off against Birmingham in the last Premier League game at Emirates Stadium.

His dismissal was a disappointing end to an otherwise redemptive afternoon. Defeat at Chelsea, followed by a shock 3-2 reverse against West Brom at Emirates Stadium, had left Arsenal in need of a win – any size, any shape.

The mood is very different now but the memory has lingered with Wenger.

“It was a lesson learned and it confirms to me that if you are not 100 per cent focused, you will drop points against any team in this league,” he said. “In fairness to my team, West Brom is the only game since the start of the season where we didn’t perform well and that is credit to them. But as well, it shows that, just once, if you are not completely there you are caught. I think we have got the lesson now.

“We focus highly on tomorrow and go step-by-step to try to put every energy in every single game. The success of our season is as well how intelligent we are and tomorrow is a good opportunity to show it. Let’s go for it 100 per cent.”

Wenger’s words were in response to a prevailing press room mood. The one that labelled West Ham a ‘gimmee’ in the same way it had the West Brom game a few weeks earlier.

Roberto Di Matteo’s men have since backed up their performance at Emirates and climbed the table. West Ham can go in no other direction. They have made the worst start in their 115-year history. In nine games they have scored seven goals and gained six points – both are the lowest in the division.

Despite that, Wenger believes there is a way back.

“I see them getting out of the drop zone because they have quality players,” said Wenger.

“If you lose one or two games you will quickly be down there. The difference in the league now is not too big. I think they can get out of there.

“The basic target of any manager is to have success with the resources he has at the club and, on that, Avram Grant has done well.”

Meanwhile, Wenger’s resources have developed in the past week. At Newcastle, Theo Walcott and Nicklas Bendtner returned with goals while Wojciech Szczesny showed himself to be a capable keeper. Right now, it seems Arsenal have depth.

You sense this is a crucial little period for Wenger. In the next three Premier League games they face the bottom two sides plus a Newcastle team, who were reasonably represented in the 4-0 drubbing on Wednesday. In between they can put to bed Champions League H.

The ‘big’ periods in fixture lists are viewed as a flurry of big name teams. But, of course, dropped points in highly winnable games will be just as costly.

This season has hardly been plain-sailing but Arsenal have been successful enough and put themselves in position to finally kick-on for that elusive trophy.

If they maintain their recent poise, they might just find it.

Source: Richard Clarke, Arsenal.com on 30 Oct 10

This Arsenal team can match the Invincibles, says Arsène Wenger

Arsène Wenger maintains his latest generation of Arsenal youngsters have all the ingredients to emulate his team of "Invincibles".

The Gunners moved into the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup with a 4-0 victory at Newcastle on Wednesday night. And Chelsea's lead at the top of the Barclays Premier League was reduced to five points following a 3-0 win at 10-man Manchester City last Sunday, which continued the momentum from a 5-1 trashing of Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.

Wenger has not tasted success in the domestic championship since Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira swept all before them in the unbeaten campaign of 2003-04, while their last trophy was the 2005 FA Cup. But the Arsenal manager insists all that is about to change.

"There is a lot more to come out of this team," said Wenger, whose side host West Ham tomorrow. "I feel the ingredients of teams which I had before who were successful are in there. It is just how much we can get them out and of course we need to keep all of our players fit.

"As long as the attitude is right and at the end of the season when you look back you think 'This team has given absolutely everything they could', you will be proud of them."

However, Wenger accepts that just landing the Carling Cup would not be good enough. "There are some basics which have to be respected," he said. "It is important that priorities are there. For us it is vital to always be at the top level, and the top level is being in the Champions League.

"If you ask all of our fans, they will want to win every single trophy. They will not rule out the Champions League, nor the championship, and for me they are right because I am exactly the same, which is why I say let's give our best in every single competition and see where we stand at the end of the season."

The young goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny impressed in the win at Newcastle and Wenger confirmed a new deal had been offered to the 20-year-old.

"He wants to stay, I want him to stay, so basically plus, plus, plus should be plus," Wenger said. "I want to play him, but our job is about competition. He has the qualities to fight for the position, and that is what I wish. He is a very talented young goalkeeper. He wants to be successful here and I want him to be successful here, so normally it should work."

With 12 goals in their last three matches, and Theo Walcott back in contention, Arsenal will be expected to beat West Ham, who also booked their place in the last eight of the Carling Cup this week but sit bottom of the Premier League.

However, Wenger maintains there can be no complacency, especially after the shock home defeat to West Bromwich before the last international break.

"I think we got the lesson," Wenger said. "In fairness to my team, that is the only game since the start of the season where we did not perform well, but as well it shows that just once you are not completely there and you are caught."

Source: Press Association, The Guardian on 29 Oct 10

Arsenal at last feel Lukasz Fabianski will no longer cost them dear

The goalkeeper known as Bambi finally looks strong enough to be the club's No 1.

According to the embellishment, which is typical of these tales, Lukasz Fabianski had a tear in his eye. We are not talking about the Arsenal goalkeeper's infamous Champions League night in Oporto, or the FA Cup semi-final horror show against Chelsea; rather an incident from his formative days as a Legia Warsaw player.

His team-mate could hardly believe his eyes. He was leaving the cinema with his young family when he spotted Fabianski in a nearby seat. He was alone. The film was Bambi.

Unfortunately for the goalkeeper, footballers rarely keep these things quiet and let them lie. The subsequent dressing-room inquest was relentless and unforgiving, yet Fabianski was unrepentant. Bambi is his favourite film. What was wrong with that? From then on, Fabianski became known as Bambi, not only to his Legia team-mates but also in sections of the Polish press.

The episode tells us two things about the man who is currently Arsenal's No1 and who hopes to remain as such when Manuel Almunia finally recovers from his elbow injury in one or two weeks' time. In a profession and, more specifically, a position in which brashness and even a little bit of madness is the norm, Fabianski is different. The 25-year-old is no Artur Boruc or Tomasz Kuszczak, his rivals for the Poland jersey, of Fiorentina and Manchester United respectively. He is quiet, shy and somewhat sensitive. He is simply a nice, down-to-earth bloke.

Secondly, Fabianski certainly has the courage of his convictions. His problems at Arsenal, whom he joined from Legia in the summer of 2007, have been linked to confidence and the difficulty of showing his quality when the pressure has been on. He has never truly, until perhaps now in these past five weeks, felt like the club's No1 and when sporadic opportunity knocked previously, he was overwhelmed.

"The confidence problem is a very interesting subject in top-level sport," said the Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, today. "You feel it goes quickly and comes back slowly. Of course, Fabianski's mistakes affected him."

It feels, however, as if Fabianski has turned a corner. Clanger-free in his six appearances this season, he was excellent in last weekend's pivotal 3-0 victory at Manchester City, winning plaudits, particularly from back home in Poland, where the media coverage was euphoric. "Fabianski is No1," the newspapers said. They even printed comments from Arsenal fan sites, which had saluted the death of 'Flappyhandski', another of the goalkeeper's unwanted soubriquets.

Fabianski is not the sort of player to make bold statements about what he intends to do but he has always believed in himself and felt that, given the right set of circumstances, he could establish himself as Arsenal's first-choice goalkeeper. Wenger will face a difficult decision when Almunia returns to fitness and he says it is a decision which cannot be hedged.

Turning up the heat further is the third-choice goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, another Pole from Legia, who emerged with honours from the midweek Carling Cup win at Newcastle United. The 20-year-old is out of contract at the end of the season but Wenger has offered him a new deal and is confident that he will sign.

"When everyone is available you have to make a choice because you cannot play in goal and feel that every mistake you make, you are out," Wenger said. "It is a little bit a special position on that front."

The Frenchman's words carry extra resonance as Arsenal prepare to welcome West Ham United and Robert Green, the goalkeeper who was dropped from the England team at the World Cup finals after his blunder in the opening match against the USA cost the team two points. Fabio Capello, the England manager, was criticised for going into the tournament without a clear  No 1.

Wenger, though, appeared in no mood to nail his colours to the mast just yet. "The question will certainly be raised in Fabianski's mind; 'Will I continue to play when Almunia is fit?' But at the moment, certainly, he feels that he will play in the next game at least," Wenger said. "Even if he doesn't feel the No1, he feels that he will play in the next game.

"Fabianski has always felt that if he could get a run of games, he could show how good he was. He is what I call a natural goalkeeper; the rhythm of the game runs though his body. And on the pitch, I tell you, he is louder than you think."

Source: David Hytner, The Guardian on 29 Oct 10

Walcott at the double

England international Theo Walcott cemented Arsenal's place in the Carling Cup quarter-finals with a fine double as Newcastle's luck deserted them.

The Gunners surged into a 2-0 lead courtesy of an unfortunate Tim Krul own goal and a controversial second from Walcott to condemn the Magpies to a third defeat in four attempts at St James' Park.

If there was a touch of misfortune about the opening goal in first-half injury time - Ryan Taylor's defensive header hit the unwitting Krul and dropped into the net - there was more than a hint of injustice about the second when Nicklas Bendtner, who had run from an offside position, collided with Mike Williamson as he attempted to get to Walcott.

But Bendtner's 83rd-minute strike and Walcott's finish two minutes from time oozed class as the Gunners powered their way into the last eight.

Alan Smith had earlier hit the bar as the home side recovered from a whirlwind start by the visitors, but the home fans among a crowd of 33,157 left knowing their team had been out-played and hoping for a very different result on Sunday when arch-rivals Sunderland make the short trip to Tyneside in the Premier League.

Hughton, who went into the game with speculation over his future once again rife, had made no secret of the fact that the Carling Cup was little more than a pleasant distraction during a season in which the only objective is top-flight survival.

In the circumstances, it was little surprise that he rested nine of the men who fought out a 2-1 win at West Ham on Saturday evening with one eye on the weekend.

Arsene Wenger made the same number of changes, but the relative strengths of the respective squads was made abundantly clear when the Frenchman was still able to name the likes of Laurent Koscielny, Denilson, Walcott and Tomas Rosicky in his starting line-up.

Wenger has given the competition a higher priority this season and his side could have been all but in the last eight within five madcap minutes of a thrilling first-half.

Carlos Vela forced a save from Krul within 22 seconds of kick-off, and the Dutchman was in action again with five minutes gone to deny Bendtner, who had already seen Williamson block two efforts from the Dane.

In the meantime, Newcastle midfielder Haris Vuckic had shot into the side-netting, and as the half wore on, the Magpies started to come into the game.

Indeed, they could have taken the lead themselves with 14 minutes gone with the visitors' goal coming under intense pressure.

First Nile Ranger ran on to Danny Guthrie's ball over the top and rounded keeper Wojciech Szczesny, only for Koscielny to block his shot.

But Arsenal failed to clear their lines and when the ball fell to Smith 25 yards out, he unleashed a thunderbolt which looked destined for the back of the net - he is yet to score a competitive goal for the club - until Szczesny managed to tip it on to the bar.

As the game settled down, Newcastle were repeatedly at full stretch, but coping as they worked hard to close down space in midfield and plug the gaps at the back.

Bendtner twice shot straight at Krul and Emmanuel Eboue fired wastefully into the side-netting during the closing minutes of the half, and it looked like the sides would go in level at the break.

But with only seconds of added time remaining, the home side's luck deserted them. They half-cleared Walcott's corner, but when Rosicky helped the ball back into the danger area, Bendtner headed towards goal, where Taylor's attempted clearance hit Krul and rebounded into the net.

Newcastle went close to an equaliser four minutes after the restart when Ranger's persistence forced Koscielny to concede a corner. James Perch met Guthrie's set-piece with a firm header, but guided the ball just over.

But their hopes were dashed when the Gunners extended their lead in controversial fashion with 53 minutes gone. Walcott ran on to John Djourou's defensive header from an on-side position, but Bendtner, who had been offside, appeared to block Williamson as he attempted to cover across.

However, referee Andre Marriner allowed play to continue and Walcott calmly chipped Krul to make it 2-0 with Newcastle protests counting for nothing.

Ryan Taylor might have pulled one back eight minutes of time, but was denied by Szczesny from point-blank range, but Bendtner made sure seconds later with a fine right-foot finish.

Szczesny clawed away Taylor's 86th-minute free-kick to deny Newcastle any reward for their efforts, and Walcott wrapped up the win with a pacy run and finish two minutes later.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger believes Theo Walcott is ready to ''go to another level'' after his double helped the Gunners to a 4-0 win in their Carling Cup fourth-round tie at Newcastle.

''Walcott is more composed in front of goal this season. His first touch is better. He is an intelligent boy and because of that he will always improve,'' Wenger told Sky Sports 2.

''He was flying at the start of the season and now he is just coming back from injury. You can see today that he is ready to go to another level.''

Wenger added: ''You are always happy when your strikers score. They got through the game without injury and now physically they have a couple of days to recover. I'm glad they both got through the 90 minutes.''

Arsenal's night was soured by a knee injury to full-back Kieran Gibbs, who went off before the break with a knee complaint. Asked if it was serious, Wenger said: ''We hope not. It's a knee, we hope its not a twist of medial ligament. I'm cautious. The way he walks now doesn't look too good.''

Walcott believes Arsenal will end their five-year wait for a trophy if they can continue to produce the same type of performance that saw off a Newcastle side that beat Chelsea in the previous round.

''People may say that this is a Mickey Mouse cup, but we want to win trophies,'' he said. ''We want to look back on the trophies we have won in our career. At the moment it's none, but if we keep playing like that I'm sure it will come.''
 
Source: ESPN Soccernet on 28 Oct 10

Arsenal build on lucky rebound to swagger past Newcastle United

For a side that are supposed to be taking the Carling Cup seriously this season Arsenal enjoyed an unusually frivolous passage into the quarter finals.

There were frequent spells when Arsène Wenger's players could barely string two passes together and numerous alarming moments when their defence came undone but they still managed to satisfy those shareholders clamouring for silverware by somehow conjuring four variously comedic, controversial and classically sublime goals.

If Wenger may use the DVD from this uncharacteristically messy, if slightly thrilling, match to demonstrate just why his creed of possession retention matters so much, Chris Hughton will be desperately hoping for a restorative home win in Sunday's all important derby against Sunderland.

At least rumours that his job was in jeopardly were quashed by Newcastle's board on a night when even Wenger acknowledged Newcastle were not quite as easy a hurdle to surmount as the scoreline might suggest.

"We were lucky to get the first goal just before half-time which put us in a position where we could break much more as Newcastle had to attack," said Arsenal's manager who was delighted to see the returning Theo Walcott score twice but still took the precaution of liberating Cesc Fábregas from the bench to seal victory.

"You can see Theo's composure on the ball and first touch have improved, he has tremendous pace and power but he's a very intelligent player," Wenger added before admitting he was "concerned" by the arguably reckless nature of some late Newcastle tackles.

The game was conducted in breathless, almost ridiculously open fashion. Much of the defending was so kamikaze that were George Graham still Arsenal manager he would surely have been apoplectic within five minutes.

With markers dragged out of position at will and inviting gaps opening up some of the English game's most promising young creators strutted their stuff with abandon – before typically freezing with the goal at their mercy.

One moment proved emblematic of Newcastle's night. It involved Nile Ranger – drafted into Hughton's side as one of nine changes following last Saturday's win at West Ham – looking absolutely brilliant one second and a complete novice the next.

After collecting Danny Guthrie's pass, bursting beyond Johan Djourou, drawing Wojciech Szczesny way off his line and sportingly staying on his feet in the wake of what looked like clear contact as he rounded Arsenal's third choice goalkeeper, Ranger then took an eternity to switch the ball onto his stronger foot, thereby permitting Laurent Koscielny to nip in and block.

If both Hughton and Wenger watched in sheer disbelief, Alan Smith appeared similarly amazed that he had not broken his Newcastle scoring duck after seeing his vicious 25 yard strike bounce back off the crossbar. Meanwhile Haris Vuckic also loudly cursed his luck after whipping a decent shot fractionally wide.

Wenger, too, had significantly revamped his side but apart from the returning Walcott Arsenal included considerable experience in the shape of Denílson, Tomas Rosicky, Emmanuel Eboué and Nicklas Bendtner.

Tim Krul swiftly saved smartly from both Carlos Vela and Bendtner before the latter subsequently dragged a dangerous shot wide. "We began well but couldn't finish," lamented Wenger.

Such anxieties were assuaged in first half stoppage time by a visiting goal thoroughly in keeping with the harum scarum spirit of things. It began routinely enough with a Walcott corner which Newcastle struggled to clear and, following some penalty area chaos, was eventually headed towards goal by Bendtner.

Next came the comedy turn. Although Ryan Taylor was stationed on the line, his intended clearance ended up hitting Krul on the back of the head and rolled into the back of the net.

Despite Arsenal still struggling to establish their customary passing rhythm, Walcott propelled them towards the next round, dinking the ball over the advancing Krul after running onto Koscielny's header.

Newcastle though were furious as Bendtner, who had been trundling back from an offside position collided with Mike Williamson, the defender tracking Walcott. Williamson might never have caught up but he was still the victim of a cynical looking bodycheck.

Undaunted, Hughton's team continued to create a host of half chances but when Danny Guthrie gave the ball away Fábregas's fine pass enabled Bendtner to shoot imperiously into the top corner.

Arsenal were home and dry but Walcott rubber stamped the win by showing Newcastle's defence a clean pair of heels before shooting low beneath Krul.

Source: Louise Taylor, The Guardian on 27 Oct 10

Wenger's reaction to the Newcastle United 0-4 Arsenal match

On a pleasing win…
I am pleased with the performance. Saying that, the first goal was certainly the turning point in the game because we had a lot of domination but didn’t take our chances early on in the game. Then Newcastle defended with numbers behind the ball and it became difficult to score. We were lucky with the first goal just before half time - that was certainly a blow for Newcastle. It put us in a position where we could break much more because Newcastle had to come out and that’s basically what happened in the second half.

On whether the second goal should have been allowed…
I have to see if Bendtner blocked the central defender on purpose or not, I have to see that again. For me Walcott was well in front of the central defender anyway so I don’t think that has influenced the goal.

On Theo Walcott’s performance…
He was sharp. He was very sharp at the start of the season but then he got injured with England against Switzerland and it was his first game back today. You see that he has improved his composure in front of goal, he has tremendous pace and his first touch is much better. The timing of his runs have always been good but his first touch when running at full pace is better. That makes a big difference.

On whether bringing on Cesc Fabregas shows how seriously he is taking the Carling Cup…
I am taking the competition seriously. I have a big squad at the moment and Cesc needs games as well. He played at Manchester City and tonight a little bit so that’s what he needs at the moment.

Whether Theo Walcott is playing the best football of his career…
I think Theo Walcott is 21-years-old. That’s the age when other players start to play. He is a very young boy and he is a very intelligent player and that’s why I believe he will continue to develop. He has tremendous pace and power and in front of goal he is very good. The timing of his runs are good and for a striker that is the most important thing.

On whether his injury problems are behind him…
At his pace when you get stopped you are always vulnerable and I think tonight he got one or two tackles that he got away with because he didn’t have full weight on his standing leg. He is not vulnerable because of his injuries it was just a tackle [that injured him]. When you play against a player who is so quick sometimes you can mis-time tackles. It’s not necessarily always that you want to hit him but he is so quick. You think you have the ball but he has gone away.

On Kieran Gibbs’ injury…
We don’t know we have to wait until tomorrow morning to assess it much better. We do not know now if it is a knock of if it is a twist. If it is only a knock it is only a matter of days but if it is a knee ligament then that looks to be a bit longer. But we don’t know yet.
 
Source: Arsenal.com on 27 Oct 10

27 October 2010: Newcastle United 0-4 Arsenal, St James' Park

Arsenal marched into the Quarter-Finals of the Carling Cup with a convincing win at Newcastle on Wednesday night.

Four goals - one crazy, one controversial and two classy – did the trick to leave Arsène Wenger’s side just two steps from Wembley.

Goalkeeper Tim Krul’s bizarre own goal on the stroke of half time gave Arsenal an advantage they just about deserved and Theo Walcott’s cool finish doubled their lead as Newcastle screamed for an offside decision against Nicklas Bendtner.

The Dane settled matters on his own with an unerring strike into the top corner and Walcott raced clear to give the scoreline some gloss with two minutes left.

Arsenal are no strangers to the last eight of the Carling Cup but, with so many big names already out of the competition, they may never get a better chance to lift the trophy.

On the strength of this performance they look determined to do just that.

Before the game Arsène Wenger declared that he would use the “core” of his first-team squad for this test on Tyneside. He was true to his word. The Frenchman made wholesale changes from the weekend win at Manchester City but, more instructively, just four from the team he picked to face Tottenham in the previous round of the Carling Cup.

Two youngsters, Wojciech Szczesny and Craig Eastmond, were given their chance while two forwards, Walcott and Bendtner, started their first matches since returning from injury. Meanwhile Cesc Fabregas and Andrey Arshavin lurked among the substitutes – make no mistake, Wenger had his eyes very much on this prize.

The manager expected a “hot atmosphere” at St. James’ Park but, with one tier of the ground almost entirely empty, the Newcastle fans were quieter than usual.

Arsenal should have silenced them in the opening seconds.

Only 22 seconds had elapsed when Carlos Vela sped down the left and fizzed in a low shot. Krul turned the ball aside for a corner.

When that came over, Bendtner had three bites of the cherry. His first shot was blocked, his next attempt appeared to strike a defender’s hand and, after the ball had bounced back to him, the Dane fired straight at Krul.

That was just the first minute. And Arsenal didn’t let up.

Emmanuel Eboue was next to threaten, cutting inside from the right and shooting with his left. Moments later Walcott raced down the right and crossed only to see the loose ball elude Tomas Rosicky. Then Bendtner got goal-side of his marker and scuffed a left-foot shot wide. And Kieran Gibbs got in on the act too with a fizzing low shot that swerved off target.

Eight shots in seven minutes: a flying start if ever there was one. But too many of those shots were straight at Krul and Newcastle survived. And occasionally thrived.

Their big dangerman was Nile Ranger – an Arsenal fan but very much a thorn in Arsenal’s side.

He brushed past Johan Djourou in the opening stages and then raced through on goal on the quarter-hour. Szczesny dithered, decided to come and was beaten by Ranger, only for Laurent Koscielny to make a vital block.

Sczzesny soon redeemed himself. From the resulting corner the ball landed at Alan Smith’s feet 30 yards from goal. He let fly and Szczesny flew to his right to fingertip the ball onto the bar. A wonderful save.

The tie calmed down after that frantic opening and there was one piece of bad news for Arsenal as Gibbs limped off after a challenge with Wayne Routledge. Another slice of bad luck for the England left back.

Newcastle matched their guests for a while but Arsenal regained a semblance of control as the half came to a close.

Bendtner weaved into the box but his shot lacked power. Then Eboue, now at left back, raced down the left and fired into the side-netting from a narrow angle when he should really have picked out a team-mate inside the box.

Bendtner had another try four minutes before the break, exchanging passes with the impressive Denilson before hitting a first-time shot straight at Krul.

That had been the problem really – too many shots straight at the Newcastle keeper. But that was all it took to give Arsenal the lead seconds before the half-time whistle.

Walcott’s corner from the left was half-cleared, Rosicky nodded it back into the danger area and Bendtner rose to head goalwards. The Dane’s effort was hardly thunderous but it went under Krul. Ryan Taylor tried to clear off the line but his header hit Krul and rolled in.

It was certainly ‘Krul’ on the home side – but Arsenal had their lead.

James Perch almost profited from another left-wing corner early in the second half but nodded just over the bar. And that was as close as Newcastle got to making a game of it - within four minutes they were two adrift.

If Arsenal’s first goal was crazy, this one was controversial. Bendtner was yards offside when a ball was played over the top but Walcott ran through from an onside position and lifted the ball over Krul.

Newcastle’s players were up in arms – they felt Bendtner was interfering with play – but the goal was allowed to stand.

The hosts threw on local hero Andy Carroll in an attempt to peg Arsenal back and he screwed one left-footed shot wide from just inside the box.

Taylor forced a low save from Szczesny down at his left-hand post as Newcastle pushed on and Koscielny and Djourou stood firm as another sub, Jonas Gutierrez, curled in a string of teasing crosses.

Wenger looked to shore things up by replacing Carlos Vela with Fabregas 20 minutes from time and, although the home side persevered, Arsenal looked dangerous on the break.

And with eight minutes left they settled the issue.

Bendtner collected the ball on the corner of the box, steadied himself and lashed a shot into the top corner for his second goal in two games.

Taylor forced a fine save from Szczesny and Carroll shot just wide once more but Walcott had the final word with another slick finish on the counter-attack.

Source: Chris Harris, Arsenal.com on 27 Oct 10

Match Preview: Newcastle United vs Arsenal

Arsène Wenger has been telling everyone.

He stood up in front of shareholders and said it, told journalists it after the victory at Tottenham last month and repeated it to TV Online ahead of Wednesday’s trip to Newcastle.

Arsenal are gunning for the Carling Cup this season.

Of course the manager was always interested in winning the trophy. Seven straight seasons in the Quarter-Finals or beyond is telling testament to that.

But this season, for pretty much the first time since the 1997/98 campaign, he is prepared to flex first-team muscle in the competition.

The manager admitted that the oft-mentioned five-year wait without a trophy had added pressure for silverware. But the real reason for the change is a little more straightforward.

“First of all it is because we have a big squad now,” said Wenger. “I believe we have a good enough squad to go forward with trophies. That’s why I think ‘OK, let’s go as far as we can’.

“If needed, we can still always choose later but at the moment it is important for everybody to think we go for everything we can.

“I said to the players we will do it - as simple as that. And we are not really specifying one competition more than the other one.

“I believe we are on a good run and we want to keep that going. It’s important to keep it moving, no matter what competition it is. That’s what we want to do.

“We are doing well in the Champions League, we have done well so far in the Carling Cup and we are back on track in the league so it’s just all movement.”

Forward movement that is.

We don’t know all the details of Wenger’s team for St James’ Park. But this much has been established:
- The squad is ‘80 per cent’ first-team and will be at least as strong as the one fielded at White Hart Lane in the last round.
- Theo Walcott, Nicklas Bendtner and Laurent Koscielny are likely to start.
- Keeper Wojciech Szczesny will definitely start.
- Youngsters Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Craig Eastmond and Henri Lansbury are in the squad.
- A few members of the first-team squad will be rested.

Wednesday’s show of strength smacks of Wenger’s confidence in his personnel.

Remember, they won at Manchester City on Sunday with a couple of key players injured and five internationals on the bench.

The standard of substitutes is often a good dipstick for the depth of your playing talent. And this season Arsenal have never operated with less than four internationals on the bench and, in their opening three games, all seven had gained national honours.

“I spent a lot of time convincing everybody about my squad,” said Wenger. “Now I think people realise it. When everybody is fit – and remember we still have Vermaelen, Van Persie and Ramsey out - I am convinced we have a very strong squad.”

But at the same time, we are now deep within two-games-a-week territory. Therefore the manager must juggle his resources carefully. Those in front of the Tyneside crowd on Wednesday night may be used sparingly against West Ham and Shakhtar, those in front of the TV will get more liberal usage.

“It is vital I [juggle] now because we have already played three or four months of competition,” said Wenger. “Players start to need a breather and it is important to manage the squad well now and to have everybody available.

“We have not too many injuries now but it is a period sometimes when you lose players. But we have gained players back from injuries and hopefully we won’t lose any now.”

Surely, newly-promoted Newcastle will be content to be in the top half of the Premier League with almost a quarter of the season gone. Saturday’s game at rock-bottom West Ham was previewed as ‘pivotal’ and they produced a typically gallant performance with striker Andy Carroll netting the winner.

Chris Hughton has suggested he may omit his major names for this tie. The manager cited Premier League survival and the upcoming North-East derby as his primary reasons.

Newcastle were not at full strength in the last round but pulled off a shock 4-3 win at Chelsea. Admittedly Carlo Ancelotti’s side was weakened itself but there were enough famous names on show to label the rollercoaster victory as “notable”.

“They came back every time in that game,” said Wenger. “When you expected Chelsea to win it, they found the resources to put them under pressure again and that demands something special.

“It is important that we go into the game and think we want to qualify. But also we want to produce a great performance because the Chelsea game has shown that you don’t get away with an average performance against Newcastle.

“They are competitive, they are a good side. They have a good mixture between physical power, technical level and spirit.

“That is why they will be a dangerous side for everybody, not only at home but as well away. They showed that again on Saturday by winning at West Ham when the home side needed points.

“So you see that this Newcastle team has qualities and I think they will be comfortable in the Premier League this year.”

Despite such fulsome praise and winning promotion at the first attempt last season, prevailing press room rumours suggested Chris Hughton’s job was under the microscope when the team went through a dip at the start of the month.

In the eyes of some, the former Tottenham full back is still fighting for recognition. In the eye of Arsène Wenger, he is slowly winning the numerical battle.

“Chris Hughton was an assistant manager for a long time so the media considered him less,” said Wenger. “They knew him but they knew him as a No 2.

“When you become a No 1 it takes time for people to consider you that way and that’s what he is getting at the moment.”

In the past Arsenal’s Carling Cup exploits have been based around ‘reputation-building’. But no more.

On Wednesday, they continue a nascent journey of re-discovery.

One that they hope will end in silverware.

Source: Richard Clarke, Arsenal.com on 27 Oct 10

Players rested for cup clash

Newcastle boss Chris Hughton will ring the changes once again as he attempts to secure a place in the Carling Cup quarter-finals at the expense of Arsenal.

Hughton will rest several of his key men ahead of Sunday's derby clash with Sunderland, with striker Andy Carroll among those likely to be left out.

Tamas Kadar, Shane Ferguson and Haris Vuckic, who have been involved in the earlier rounds, are in line for starts, although Sol Campbell (thigh) will miss out and the game will come too soon for Steven Taylor (shoulder) despite his return to full training.

Steve Harper (shoulder), Leon Best (ankle), Hatem Ben Arfa (double leg fracture) and Dan Gosling (knee) are still sidelined.

Hughton is determined to condemn Arsenal to the same fate as Chelsea.

He freely admits that Barclays Premier League survival is his club's overwhelming priority this season, and their prospects of achieving that look an awful lot brighter in the wake of Saturday's 2-1 win at West Ham.

However, progress in the League Cup would be a welcome bonus as he attempts to re-establish the momentum which served the club so well in their promotion campaign last season.

Hughton said: "It's exciting in every round. We went to Accrington in our first game - I had been to watch a game there, but never played there and most of the players had never played there, so that was something new and exciting in itself.

"To go to Stamford Bridge was always going to be tough, but it was a really exciting day in front of a full house at Stamford Bridge, and you couldn't have got a more exciting game than that.

"Now the fact that we are playing Arsenal, albeit that Arsenal will, I am quite sure, make several changes, as we will, it's exciting in every round.

"I am appreciative that it is a very big game for us. It's a game we want to give the respect it deserves, and it's a competition we very much want to stay in.

"But I have a responsibility to look after the best interests of the squad and the club, and I will be making some changes.''

Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger is again likely to select a strong squad for the tie.

Nicklas Bendtner and Theo Walcott are both fit following injury and could feature after coming off the bench in the 3-0 Barclays Premier League win over 10-man Manchester City, while youngsters Jay Emmanuel-Thomas, Kieran Gibbs, Henri Lansbury - who scored in the last round at White Hart Lane - and goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny will probably be included again.

Centre-half Laurent Koscielny has recovered from a back problem, but Thomas Vermaelen (Achilles), Robin van Persie (ankle), Manuel Almunia (elbow) and Aaron Ramsey (leg) are still sidelined, while England midfielder Jack Wilshere continues to serve a three-match ban.

Teenage frontman Emmanuel-Thomas is ready to offer "something different'' to the Arsenal attack should he be thrown into action.

Emmanuel-Thomas, who had been linked with a loan move to Championship leaders QPR, has chalked up eight goals in five matches for the Arsenal reserves, and was a late substitute in the defeat at Chelsea earlier this month.

The 19-year-old would relish another first-team opportunity up at St James' Park.

"I think I can offer something different. There is no-one that plays exactly my style,'' Emmanuel-Thomas told the club's official website, http://www.arsenal.com/.

"I am a big guy that likes to run with the ball and beat players. I can create chances, I can score goals, I can make goals and the way I see things in the game has become a lot better than it used to be.

"I have got to keep doing it and keep showing that it is not just a one-off."

"Hopefully the boss will see what I am doing and that I am doing it on a regular basis and hopefully he will give me my chance.''

Source: ESPN Soccernet on 26 Oct 10

Nicklas Bendtner prepares to show Arsenal what they have been missing

The striker is likely to make his first start of the season in the club's Carling Cup fourth-round tie against Newcastle tonight.

Nicklas Bendtner was on target in Arsenal's 3-0 win against Manchester City on Sunday, scoring his first goal of the season and, ahead of tonight's Carling Cup fourth-round tie at Newcastle, is now aiming to back up his recent boasts of having returned to his very best. Arrogant? Perhaps not.

Arsène Wenger admits Bendtner's groin has been troubling him for some time and it has been a while since he has seen the Denmark international at full fitness. The injury is not the first the 22-year-old has picked up since making his debut for the north London club in 2005, but despite this, and the fact he has rarely been a first-choice striker for Wenger, Bendtner's goal at Eastlands was the 50th he has scored since he arrived in England (including the 13 he scored on loan at Birmingham).

Since picking up his groin injury, which he played through at the World Cup in South Africa, Bendtner has had to watch Marouane Chamakh arrive at Arsenal and firmly establish himself as the club's principal frontman. The Morocco international's adaptation to life in the Premier League has been seamless and he is looking like a fantastic all-round option for Wenger. The 26-year-old adds the height that Robin van Persie lacks and the quick link-up play that can, at times, elude Bendtner.

The Dane has time on his side, but also a lot to learn. His feud with Emmanuel Adebayor when the Togo striker was at Arsenal was well-documented and even boiled over on to the pitch at White Hart Lane during a Carling Cup tie.
Learning from Chamakh rather than pitching himself against him will do Bendtner good. He has a similar physique to the Moroccan but does not always use it to his full advantage. Chamakh, on the other hand, holds the ball up well and usually turns the defender only for them to foul him. "As well as scoring goals he works hard when he doesn't have the ball, which I like," Bendtner has said of his team-mate. "I like Marouane. I hadn't trained with him until very recently but he seems like a good guy, a good football player and – on what I've seen so far – I think he has done really well."

Bendtner looks likely to start at St James' Park tonight and will be hoping to show Wenger and the Arsenal fans what they've been missing.

Source: Melanie Hughes, The Guardian on 27 Oct 10

Arsène Wenger confirms Arsenal's kids-only Carling Cup policy is over

Arsène Wenger has acknowledged the pressing need to claim Arsenal's first trophy in five years and will demonstrate his desire to win the Carling Cup by including a number of recognised first-team players in tomorrow night's fourth-round tie at Newcastle United.

The Arsenal manager ditched his established policy of using only youngsters in the competition in the previous round's victory at Tottenham Hotspur and will field such players as Theo Walcott, Nicklas Bendtner, Kieran Gibbs and Laurent Koscielny at St James' Park. Wenger, who has been dismissive of the Carling Cup in the past but has also fielded under-strength teams in the FA Cup, reassured shareholders at the club's annual general meeting last week that he would "go for every single competition with every resource we have", with this evening's selection to reflect that urgency.

His comments at the AGM had prompted applause and some cheers from those present. Asked whether there had been a change in his selection policy for the League Cup, Wenger replied: "First of all because we have a big squad and, as well, I believe we have a good enough squad to go forward [and win] trophies. That's why I think: 'OK, let's go as far as we can.' If needed we can still always choose later but, at the moment, it is important for everybody to think we go for everything we can. I said to the players we will go for everything we can, as simple as that. And not really specifying one more than the other. That's why I believe we are on a good run and we want to keep that going.

"It's important to keep it moving no matter what competition it is. That's what we want to do. We are doing well in the Champions League and we have done well so far in the Carling Cup, and we are back on track in the championship. The win at Manchester City on Sunday was certainly a pivotal moment of our season because we could not afford a defeat. To keep in touch with the top teams and have a victory was mentally very important for the team. So it's just all movement. We want to end our wait for a trophy. We want to respond with the maximum commitment to the demands of people. The only thing I can promise is that we will try to give our best in every competition."

Wenger, speaking to Arsenal TV Online, admitted the pressure has mounted with each trophyless season stretching back to the 2005 FA Cup final victory over Manchester United. "Yes, there are, as well, a lot of demands from people who know you are at the top and they try always to find your weakness," he said. "They try to exploit that. You just have to look around Europe to see just how difficult it is to be consistently at the top, as we have been. You can see what we have done is quite remarkable, but we want more.

"I can understand that people want more and we want to give them more. You can only show attitude, commitment and we have talent, so let's go step by step and try and win the game tomorrow and keep that urgency and that attitude until the end of the season. I repeat: we will play with a good team [at Newcastle] and we do our best, and that's all we can do."

Walcott has not started a club game since August having suffered an ankle injury playing for England in Switzerland, his absence checking his fine early-season form which had brought four goals in three league appearances. "He was in fantastic form but what can you do about that?" Wenger said. "He is now physically very sharp in training and he has a good opportunity to show that he is fit to play."

Key senior figures such as Cesc Fábregas, Marouane Chamakh and Samir Nasri will be rested for the game on Tyneside, with Wojciech Szczesny starting his second game for the club in goal and Craig Eastmond, Henri Lansbury and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas the other youngsters to be involved at some stage.

Source: Dominic Fifield, The Guardian on 26 Oct 10

Manchester City deserve praise for bold 10-man tactics against Arsenal

Roberto Mancini shows commendable bravery by making his midfield and strikers work overtime after Boyata is sent off.

Roberto Mancini deserves praise for his reaction to Dedryck Boyata's early red card, even if the manager's bravery ended up counting for nothing. Once the youngster had been dismissed I wondered what plan Mancini would concoct to counter an Arsenal side always so comfortable in possession. Nine out of 10 managers would have fallen back on a 4-4-1 system and isolated a forward. Boldly, however, Mancini challenged his players to work a 4-3-2 structure with the skilful and tireless David Silva and Carlos Tevez charged with occupying Arsenal's back four.

The home side maintained a level of attacking threat by keeping two players up front and Mancini merits praise for his outlook. His side rarely sat back, even if their efforts demanded maximum energy. Yaya Touré was initially switched to centre-back to partner Vincent Kompany, with City going narrow – dragging Silva from the touchline – just as Arsenal, with their numerical advantage, were attempting to stretch the pitch using the full width with Andrey Arshavin and Samir Nasri pinned wide.

Cesc Fábregas and Denílson were intent on spreading the play to the flanks but City worked feverishly to counter Arsenal's central dominance. James Milner, Nigel de Jong and Gareth Barry grafted in an attempt to cut down passing angles and dissuade Arsenal from making the field bigger by pinging the play from flank to flank. When the visitors were in possession, City's central trio ferried across to try to stop Arsenal working the ball from the right flank to Arshavin on the opposite side, with Silva showing good team responsibility by continually dropping in on Alex Song, the deepest of the Arsenal midfielders.

As a tactic, with Arsenal's own back line ever conscious of the threat posed by Tevez and Silva, it succeeded until City ran out of legs. Nasri's neat one-two with Arshavin, exploiting Barry's brief presence at left-back, had earned Arsenal a lead but it was fatigue that did for City. Up to Alexandre Song's second, Arsenal had arguably not used their one-man advantage as well as might have been expected, but the goal gave them breathing space and an opportunity to exhibit their comfort in keeping possession.

City will feel hard done by, and that their efforts deserved more than a heavy home defeat, but credit to Arsenal for some excellent performances. The impression left by Fábregas was to be expected, as was that of Nasri, whose continued emergence this season has been notable. Yet it was the confidence exuded by Lukasz Fabianski in goal that may just have given Arsène Wenger cause for a quiet smile.

Source: David Pleat, The Guardian on 25 Oct 10

A Big Win at City

Arsenal notched a highly significant and vitally important win at Eastlands yesterday. Though Manchester City were reduced to ten men from the fourth minute following Dedryk Boyata's sending off, it was a victory that was achieved through composure, focus and some style.

Boyata gave referee Mark Clattenburg little room for manoeuvre when felling Marouane Chamakh who was clear through on goal. Who knows how the match might have gone had it stayed eleven-men-per-side? We’ll never know. But playing against ten men presents its own challenges. Fortunately, City did not simply try to put ten men behind the ball and actually turned in a creditable performance with their reduced numbers. On the day though, Arsenal were too strong for them and the Gunners maintained their tempo and concentration levels to see the job through.

There were a few worrying moments. With yellow cards flying around like confetti in the first half, there was a fear that the referee might try to even the numbers up following the early sending off. Thankfully, Arsene Wenger’s men retained their discipline and kept everyone on the pitch.

When Cesc Fabregas missed his penalty late in the first half there was a nagging doubt that what happened at Sunderland would happen again at City. However, when Alex Song added to Samir Nasri’s first half strike, the match was over as a contest and Nicklas Bendtner’s cool finish with a couple of minutes to go was the icing on the cake.

As far as notable performances are concerned, Samir Nasri appears to be in the form of his life at the moment. His whole demeanour exudes confidence and the goals are starting to flow. Since recovering from the injury he suffered earlier in the season the Frenchman definitely looks like he has taken a step up and the challenge for him will be to maintain his current form until May.

Credit also has to go to Lucasz Fabianski. The much-maligned Pole turned in his best-ever Premier League performance, producing several crucial saves during the afternoon. However, it wasn’t just those that were impressive.

Over the past couple of years on this page, it has often been noted that Fabianski’s key strength is in making instinctive, reflex saves. The problems seem to begin when he actually has time to think about things. His decision-making is often suspect, his positioning can be poor and his dominance of the area is sometimes lacking. Yesterday though, everything he did, he did well and, added to the saves he made, it was a highly competent and professional performance.

Fabianski is going to have to turn in many more performances like yesterday’s to truly convince his doubters that he is the long-term man for the job, but it was a good day at the office for the Pole and he needs to build on the renewed confidence he has found in his recent displays.

Though Nasri and Fabianski have been singled out for praise, the display at Eastlands was very much a solid all-round team performance. In post-match interviews the manager and various players have talked about it being a turning point and a confidence booster and, hopefully, it was. It needs to be too. It was the first clean sheet away from home in the Premier League since January. Certainly, the Gunners need to show the sort of ruthlessness they produced yesterday far more often, particularly on the road, if they are genuinely going to be in the shake-up come May.

Yesterday’s win puts Arsene Wenger’s team in second place, five points behind Chelsea. With so much football still to be played, that is not a deficit that should be daunting anyone at the moment.

It is interesting that the fixtures computer has loaded Arsenal’s schedule with most of their high-profile away games in the first half of the season. Already, they have been to Liverpool, Chelsea and Manchester City and next month the trip to Macnchester United will be added to that list. Getting these games out of the way early could be a significant advantage as the season wears on - assuming the team can remain within striking distance at the top of the table.

As things stand, the last five matches away from home this season will be at West Brom, Blackpool, Bolton, Stoke and Fulham. That is not to say that any of those games will be easy but playing those sides is preferable to going to Stamford Bridge and Old Trafford for potential “six-pointers”. Still, whilst that is maybe a note-worthy observation, we ought not to be getting too far ahead of ourselves and the focus must be on the next game only.

On Wednesday evening, Arsenal travel to Newcastle for a tricky Carling Cup tie with the Geordies. Arsene Wenger has appeared to change his approach towards the tournament this season and is likely to field a reasonably strong team at St James’ Park. With several big clubs already knocked out, the Gunners ought to be going all out to try to win this piece of silverware for the first time since 1993.

The level of difficulty the trip to the North East presents largely depends on which Newcastle United decides to show up. Hopefully it will be the one that lost at home to Blackpool in the Premier League earlier in the season rather than the one that disposed of Chelsea in the last round of this competition.

Source: David Young, ESPN Soccernet on 26 Oct 10

Arsenal show Manchester City how pedigree can trump ambition

Tantric football has been Arsenal's bag for six years now. While Arsène Wenger takes his followers to the edge, Manchester City want it to be over in a rush. On the weekend's evidence, patience is still winning. Deep knowledge of success still exerts its influence at the quarter-pole in this Premier League title race.

Lodged in the consciousness of all upwardly mobile clubs is the realisation that Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United have won every English championship since 1995, when Blackburn Rovers broke the three-team cartel. The score since the Year Zero birth of every neo-liberal's favourite division is Big Three 17, Rest of the Premier League 1.

City lost 3-0 at home to the Gunners, United endured another scare to win at Stoke and Chelsea beat Wolves 2-0 in a routine execution. To adapt Lothar Matthäus on the England-Germany dichotomy, football is a simple game: 20 teams run around for 38 games and the best three end up in the nicest chairs. Liverpool, who have finished second twice and third on five occasions, must be given a name-check here, especially as their 2-1 win over Blackburn featured the rarity of a Fernando Torres goal.

Muscle memory has been exposed as a myth. By all accounts human tissue cannot record the information necessary to repeat an athletic feat, so Javier Hernández would be unwise to promise a rerun of the backward twisting header that put United ahead at Stoke. But in the league's three most successful clubs we see a talent for riding the undulations of form, for problem solving and self-renewal.

The big names tend to make the correct choice more often than the wrong one. In a week when Sir Alex Ferguson span Wayne Rooney round so hard he ended up facing United, rather than City (his original intention), the Old Trafford talent-spotting department could back-slap itself over the scouting of Hernández in Mexico: not the most obvious hunting ground for an English club.

At £6m, 'Chicharito' provided timely vindication for Ferguson's insistence that youth acquisition is a major part of the answer, even if there remains an obvious case for buying two A-class midfielders. Bastian Schweinsteiger and Wesley Sneijder, say.

While Ferguson buffs his reputation for disaster-avoidance, a hard reading of Roberto Mancini's stewardship of City would say he slipped up by selecting a 19-year-old centre back (Dedryck Boyata) against Arsenal ahead of England's Joleon Lescott. Boyata is a fine prospect but he lives on the edge of the law, as he showed recently against Chelsea. His eagerness to engage Didier Drogba and others in hand-to-hand combat that day augured well but against Arsenal his over-eagerness left City playing with 10 men for 85 minutes.

On such nuances managerial careers turn. Mancini is playing a high-stakes game by turning the sky blue Carrington into a boot camp and the only way he can keep hundreds of millions of pounds worth of talent on his side is by making all the right calls. Another Italian coach, Carlo Ancelotti, has mastered that art at Chelsea, displaying a politician's sense of how power works.

The platform is now rammed with people waiting for the train of Arsenal's next trophy-winning phase to arrive, but you can see why Wenger exudes such confidence that the delay is nearly over. Stopping Cesc Fábregas leaving for Barcelona was a triumph to exceed Ferguson's coup with Rooney. In the final hours the Glazers had to smash the United wage structure to halt Rooney's defection across town but Wenger dealt mainly in promises. Fábregas knows the speech so well by now he could recite it to Wenger before the manager has opened his mouth.

Arsenal have not held a major pot since the 2005 FA Cup but their resources are deeper than for many years at the attacking end of the side. With a fully-fit squad, Wenger could turn for creativity and goals to Fábregas, Andrey Arshavin, Jack Wilshere, Robin van Persie, Theo Walcott, Samir Nasri, Marouane Chamakh, Tomas Rosicky, Carlos Vela and Aaron Ramsey, eventually.

The doubt, as ever, is whether Arsenal possess a sufficient number of warrior‑players who can drive them over the line, or too many like Rosicky, who can decorate but not decide a season-defining game. Chelsea employ proven winners in abundance and Ferguson is adamant the resolution of the Rooney saga will ignite United's form and allow him to make big-name signings from a stable base.

These are daunting obstacles to City and Spurs. Those in the chase mature and strengthen but the big three are never standing targets. When they weaken they respond and recover. 'Give somebody else a go' is not in their vocabulary.

Source: Paul Hayward, The Guardian on 25 Oct 10

Cesc Fábregas plays down Arsenal's win over Manchester City

It was, on the face of it, a breakthrough to galvanise the club. In more than 18months of trying Arsenal had not beaten Chelsea or either of the Manchester clubs in Premier League combat but, as the dusk gathered at Eastlands on Sunday, they could reflect on having bucked the trend.

The 3-0 victory over Manchester City felt like a huge result for many reasons. It can sometimes seem as though Arsenal are written off for the league title more than any other top club due to their capacity to fuse brilliance against most teams with frustration against the very best. Arsène Wenger's men have excelled in building up expectations only to scythe them down.

But here appeared to be the cold, hard evidence of a team ready to turn the corner. A title challenge had surely been ignited and Arsenal's players could have been expected to thump the tub. For a start the north London club have got out of the way their fixtures at Chelsea, City and, for what it is worth, Liverpool.

They sit second in the table, five points behind Chelsea, and they have players returning from injury and others running into form. The midfielder Samir Nasri, whose goal at City was his seventh of the season, has never been in better touch and even Lukasz Fabianski is threatening to become the goalkeeper that Wenger has always said he would be.

This is where Cesc Fábregas comes in. The captain, also outstanding at Eastlands, is not the cheeriest post-match interviewee but even by his standards this was downbeat. If the result had been difficult to read due to the City defender Dedryck Boyata's red card within five minutes, then the same was true of Fábregas, who looked closer to irritation than happiness.

"It looks like after every win you have to say, 'Oh, we are mature, we are more than last year, we are more than that,' but no, it's just one more game," he said. "Let's not get carried away. We just want to play the game against Newcastle now [in the Carling Cup ], which is the most important one at the moment and that's it.

"The time to talk about if you have matured or if you are better than last year is at the end of the season."

Fábregas sounded as though he was fed up with the knee-jerk reactions to victory or defeat or, frankly, just fed up. "You know how it is, you know football," he said. "You know what people will say when you win; you know what people will say when you lose. You just have to keep focused on what you do, which is playing football. Our focus is on every training session, every match and just giving everything for the team; and the rest, it's not up to you."

The captain was asked whether he felt that the team was gelling under his leadership? "We will see," he replied. "It does not matter who the captain is. We have to make of this good team, a great team by winning things."

It has been well documented that Fábregas wanted to leave for Barcelona in the summer and what Arsenal fans are seeing now is the arch-professional, a player putting his personal feelings to one side to give his all for the club until the last breath of the season. Yet a by-product of the intense focus and brutal realism is a certain touchiness. Fábregas's day job is feeling like one.

The cynics say that any team that loses at home to West Brom, as Arsenal did last month, cannot be crowned as champions. Chelsea beat West Brom 6-0 at Stamford Bridge. But if Fábregas was reluctant to look further ahead than the next game, Wenger did take the broader view, saying that "we look like we have matured", and recognising the importance of getting "a win in a big place to strengthen the belief of the squad and continue our march forward".

The big bonus for him at present is arguably Fabianski. With Manuel Almunia not only injured but also out of favour, Wenger needed Fabianski to raise his game and the Poland international has done exactly that. It is highly debatable whether Almunia will replace Fabianski once he has recovered fully from his elbow problem.

"Sometimes in our job you have to be steady and fight against opinions," Wenger said. "From game to game Fabianski shows what we see in training. At the moment, looking at his performances, you can absolutely not fault him at all."

Fabianski sounded the upbeat note from the dressing-room. "Now we are second and in touch with Chelsea," he said. "Within the team there was always big belief but it was still important to win a major game like this."

Source: David Hytner, The Guardian on 25 Oct 10