Problems holding a determined Arsene Wenger.

Arsenal is a team  that has always been in contention to win the English Premier League but but but…  that is not what there management and fans want. There last big party blast was the premier league title in 2003/04 season and the FA Cup in 2005 and since then they are a title less team on paper no matter how hard they push and stop other to get there.  This year is no exception for them.

The big problem and the solution to it:

There are internal pressures on Arsenal’s manager Arsene Wenger to make the team reach that level and his stay is being questioned for the first time in 14 year of job at the Emirates by a small section at Emirates. But the veteran manager is determined with the side as he told to a leading English daily the Mail recently that “This summer or in the autumn we will talk. My personal future will depend on the capacity to win trophies but also on whether this team is improving year after year, because we are still very, very young. Ideally I would not want to leave without this generation winning a trophy.”

 

There are few great coaches and it is true that they need time to gel with the squad that is given to them. Wenger is famous for bringing in new players from any part of the world at making them famous at this stage. Sacking him can be a huge problem as many players may leave and side by side some from the management may also resign resulting in downfall of the club. So a fragile decision like this one should not be taken by the board and should be left to the ace coach to decide after all he knows what to do.

Gunner’s planner since 96… Arsene Wenger.

Arsène Wenger was born on 22 October 1949  in Strasbourg and grew up in the nearby village of Duttlenheim with an older sister and brother. His parents owned an automobile spare-parts business in Strasbourg. He played as a defender for various amateur clubs while studying at theUniversity, where he completed a master’s degree in 1971. But soon after  In 1981, he obtained a manager’s diploma and was appointed the coach of the Strasbourg’s youth team.

 

 It was Bruce Rioch’s sacking in August 1996 that led to his arrival ay Highbury. And for former Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier, the then technical director of the French Football Federation, recommended Wenger to in the summer of 1996. 

He is the most successful manager in the history of Arsenal in terms of trophies and is also the club’s longest-serving manager. Wenger is the only non-British manager to win the Double in England, having done so in 1998 and 2002. In 2004, he became the only manager in FA Premier League history to go through the entire season without defeat. 

Wenger is widely regarded as one of the world’s best managers after the success he has enjoyed at AS Monaco and Arsenal. It was in his time great players like Fredrik Ljungberg, Thierry Henry , Robert Pirès, Patrick Vieira and Rémi Garde entered the gunners brigade to become one of the most sucessful team in Europe. The best thing about Wenger is the selection of players. He picks up players from many unexplored part of the world( in terms of football) and make them the headliners everywhere. 

His honours at Arsenal includes League championship 1998, 2002, 2004, FA Cup winners 1998, 2002, 2003, 2005, Voted ‘Manager of the Year’ 1998, 2002, 2004 more cheer for us is that Wenger signed a three year extension to his current contract, taking his tenure at the Club to June 2011.

Chelsea host Hammers for table top position, United to counter the day after…

Fresh from their great run in the champions league, Manchester United, Arsenal & Chelsea will be eager to carry on their winning from in the premier league in their respective matches. There is plenty of acton which is bound to disturb the table positions.

Second placed Chelsea will be hosting West Ham United who are currently just two place above relegation zone and it will be crucial for both to gain there respetive places. Chelsea, with a match in hand, have a good chance of going top of the table and put pressure on Arsenal and Manchester United who will be plaing on Sunday.

The Gunners will be up against Hull City whose torrid time continues in the league with 19th place as of now. After their mid week champions league 5-0 win over Porto nothing seems stoping them. William Gallas will be out for the match due to his calf injury but veteran defender Sol Campbell, who suffered a minor cramp in the champions league match, is expected to play.

In a early kick off on Sunday Manchester United will be hosting mighty Fulham and hope to retain the top spot. Michael Carrick is fit and will be starting for the Red Devils but Giggs and Hargreaves are still some days away for their inclusion in the United line up. With Ferdinand-Vidic pair getting better and better the odds favour United for the day.

In a revival bid, Portsmouth will be visiting Anfield for an important match against Liverpool. With 5 points gap at the bottom, they would be hoping to narrow it while on the other hand The Reds will be hoping to win and hold on to the fourth place.

The match timings are:

Saturday 

Tottenham Hotspur v Blackburn Rovers 12:45 Hours GMT

Birmingham City v Everton 15:00 Hours GMT

Bolton Wanderers v Wigan Athletic 15:00 Hours GMT

Burnley v Wolverhampton Wanderers 15:00 Hours GMT

Chelsea v West Ham United 15:00 Hours GMT

Stoke City v Aston Villa  15:00 Hours GMT

Hull City v Arsenal 17:30 Hours GMT

Sunday

Manchester United v Fulham 13:30 Hours GMT

Sunderland v Manchester City 16:00 Hours GMT

Monday 

Liverpool v Portsmouth 20:00 Hours GMT

Tuesday

Wigan Athletic v Aston Villa   19:45 Hours GMT

Beyond Injury worries, Manchester United visits Wolves for table top.

Back from international friendlies, the focus again shifts back to the ever exciting English Premier league where the fight for the title is getting hotter and hotter. This time around the league match will be scattered four days.

First up will be Arsenal hosting Burnley at the Emirates and thegunners have a good chance of going joint top of the Premier league for the first time this season or at least the second till the time Manchester United visit lowly Wolverhampton Wanderers at Molineux. The red devils also have a good chance to go top of the table.

 

Big blow to Manchester United is that Michael Owen will be missing the rest of the season after getting a severe hamstring injury in the final of the carling cup at Wembley stadium on 28^th February. Sir Alex said “It was more serious than we thought and he’ll have an operation on Monday. It’s a terrible blow for the lad and disappointing for us, too. He never missed a training session all season. The heavy pitch at Wembley played some part, but it’s also bad luck.” More problems for United is that Wayne Rooney is also looking
doubtful for the match as he over exerted in the England’s friendly against Egypt. The only god news for now is the confirmation of Rio Ferdinand to start which is going to be a big boost at defence.

 

The matches to be played over the next few days are:

Saturday:

Arsenal Vs Burnley 1500 Hours GMT

West Ham United VS Bolton Wanderers 1500 Hours GMT

Wolverhampton Wanderers VS Manchester United 1730 Hours GMT

Sunday:

Everton Vs Hull City 1600 Hours GMT

Monday:

Wigan Athletic Vs Liverpool 2000 Hours GMT

Monday:

Portsmouth Vs Birmingham City 1945 Hours GMT

Sunderland Vs Bolton Wanderers 1945 Hours GMT

Tuesday:

Burnley Vs Stoke City 1945 Hours GMT

Chelsea back at the top after Drogba’s double, United score five.

Chelsea cut short Manchester United’s short run at the top of the table when they got a clean
double against their London rivals Arsenal at Stamford Bridge. Earlier on
Saturday, Manchester
United drubbed Portsmouth with 5-0 score line thus making
their chances of survival more and more tough in the premier league.
Now after 25 games the blues are leading with 58 points just two
above the Red Devils who are at second place.

 It was a perfect day for Manchester United, Rooney collected the Player of the month
trophy for a great January he had and after that he scored the opening goal in
the 39^th minute when Fletcher crossed
the ball to Rooney who
simply converted with ease. And just at the stroke of half time the host’s lead
was double when Nani’s impressive run ended with a shot at the
goal but got deflected through Vanden Borreand went into the
goal. In the second half Michael
Carrick’s 25 yard shot found the net just at the hour mark and Berbatov made
it 4-0 three minutes later. Pompey’s bad run didn’t stop there, Patrice
Evra swung in a perfectly-flighted cross which Nani could
only glance on, and Wilson hammered a finish high into his own
goal leaving them 5-0 down which was the final score.

Guns were silenced by the blues with a 2-0 win with their Ivory Coast international Didier Drogba scoring both the goals. Chelsea got into the
act quickly make the visitors uncomfortable right from the start. Drogba scored
his first of the corner in the 8^th minute when he
headed the ball at the back post and again in the 23^rd minute
he got into the box on the right, cuts inside past a couple of Arsenal defenders
and smashes it into the top of net. The match was far from over before the half
time. With no goals scored in the second half the final score remained as it is
with Chelsea going
top of the table.

The weekend results were:

Saturday

Liverpool 1-0 Everton

Bolton Wanderers 0-0 Fulham

Burnley 2-1 West Ham United

Hull City 2-1 Manchester City

Manchester United 5-0 Portsmouth

Stoke City 3-0 Blackburn Rovers

Sunderland 1-1 Wigan Athletic

Tottenham Hotspur 0-0 Aston Villa

Sunday

Birmingham City 2-1 Wolverhampton Wanderers

Chelsea 2-0 Arsenal

Old rivals Gunners host the Red Devils to get that second place.

After their victory in the league cup over Manchester City, Manchester United has a bigger test to face when they will be up against their placed Gunners at the Emirates Stadium. The timing of the match seems to be perfect when the premier league is at its most crunch time. After their loss to Chelsea during the mid-week, Birmingham City will be hoping to get the winning form back when they will be facing fourth placed Tottenham Hotspurs this Sunday. Chelsea will be having an easy run on the top when they will be meeting Burnley this Saturday. What will excite the blues will be the result of the Arsenal-Man United match.

Just one point separate the Gunners and the Red Devils for the second and the third place and this one is all what the two teams are waiting for. Rio Ferdinand will be out for four matches starting the current match after he was handed a four match ban by the FA after his violent conduct against Hull City on 23rd January. Other than that Manchester United will be going with their usual squad featuring Wayne Rooney up front whose current form is definitely a reason to worry for his opponents.
Arsenal on the other hand will be banking on the experience of their latest signing Sol Campbell for the all important fixture. According to thier manager Sir Arsene Wenger , Thomas Vermaelen may sit out after he picked up injury against Aston Villa in the mid week. Eduardo is certain to miss this game so that he gets match fit for the next match against Chelsea. Whatever the result comes out to be, Chelsea is sure to get some benefit out of it. The match will be starting at 1600 Hours GMT (2130 Hours IST) on Sunday. Don’t miss the action… Matches in the coming days are: Saturday:
Birmingham City Vs Tottenham Hotspurs 1500 Hours GMT
Fulham Vs Astov Villa 1500 Hours GMT
Hull City VS Wolverhampton Wanderers 1500 Hours GMT
Liverpool Vs Bolton Wanderers 1500 Hours GMT
West Ham United Vs Blackburn Rovers 1500 Hours GMT
Wigan AthleticVs Everton 1500 Hours GMT
Burnley Vs Chelsea 1730 Hours GMT

Sunday:
Manchester City Vs Portsmouth 1330 Hours GMT

Monday:
Sunderland Vs Stoke City 2000 Hours GMT

Tuesday:
Hull City Vs Chelsea 1945 Hours GMT

Wednesday:
Fulham Vs Portsmouth 2000 Hours GMT

Arsenal go joint top in the premier league.

Finally Gunners got a taste of going top of the premier league for the first time in the season by beating Bolton Wanderers 4-2 in the Wednesday Night Football. In the other match of the night struggling Liverpool also won 2-0 against fourth place Tottenham Hotspurs. This was a huge relief for their manager Rafa Benitez as the rumours of sacking was just growing over the last few days.

Arsenal made it look easy by coming from two goals behind to win the fixture 4-2. With the result they are now a joint first with Chelsea at 48 points but the advantage for the blues is that they are having a game in hand.

In just 28 minutes Bolton’s lead was doubled and trouble was coming the gunners way. Arsenal pulled one back in the 44 minute through Tomas Rosicky’s long range shot and the gunners went 1-2 in the break. Second half truly was Arsenal’s half and it was Cesc Fabregas who equalised in the 53th minute with Thomas Vermaelen lashed home a loose ball after a corner in the 65th minute giving their side the lead for the first time in the match. Things were finally wrapped up by Andrey Arshavin in the 85th minute to give the home side a comfortable 4-2 victory and increase the pressure on Chelsea.

Two goals by Dutch International Dirk Kuyt scored in as early as the sixth minute to give the reds the lead at Anfield. That followed with some heavy amount of action in the mid field and it was Liverpool’s goal keeper Peter Reina who made it sure that nothing will be going past him tonight, saving some of the better ones. The lead was doubled for the reds in the last minute of the match when Ngog was brought down in the box in the injury time by Bassong andKuyt converted the penalty and completed his double and give a comfortable victory for the reds. .

Fabregas return takes Arsenal through, chance of going to the top!!!

Arsenal carried on their winning form by comfortably winning the super Sunday fixture against Bolton Wanderers with 2-0 while Aston Villa has to settle for a draw against the visiting West Ham United at Villa Park. In the third match of the day a goal in each half got Blackburn Rovers a comfortable victory over Fulham.

Cesc Fabregas returned to the Arsenal squad after fully recovering from his hamstring injury and his presence was felt when he scored the opening goal for the Gunners in the 28th minute when a little fumble by Bolton defender ended with the ball’s possession with Fabregas who kept his cool to play a delightful one-two with Eduardo and the pick his spot with a low shot into the corner. Second for Arsenal came in the 78th minute when a sweeping move ended with Eduardo clipping a inviting cross to the far post. It was flicked off Gary Cahill‘s head and Meridacollected with his left foot before steering home a cross-shot with his right.

With the win Arsenal remain at third spot which can changed when they will be again meeting the same team in the mid week drama on 20th January. The Gunners have a great chance of surpassing Manchester United and go joint first with Chelsea as they are only 3 points behind them. Also in the mid week, struggling Liverpool will be meeting fourth place Tottenham Hotspurs and in the absence of the reds trio Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard and Yossi Benayoun their position looks a bit grim for the 3 points. Tottenham had been doing excellent under their new manager Harry Redknapp who would be eying the last champions league spot for next season.
For now it looks like the battle of the premiership will be among Chelsea, Manchester United and Arsenal who are now going beyond reach of the rest of the field.

Arsenal back in the title race, Manchester United stunned by Villa.

Aston Villa stunned Manchester United in their own backyard giving them a shock 1-0 defeat. Sole strike by Gabriel Agbonlahor gave the visitors full three points. Leaders Chelsea were held for a draw against Everton. In the classic Sunday showdown at Anfield, Arsenal came from behind to beat Liverpool 2-1 and come only 6 points behind leaders with a game in hand.

At old Trafford the game really didn’t go in Manchester United favour for the reasons that some of their main players were out due to injuries though Vidic and Brown provided some resistance but that was not enough for the red devils. It was also Aston Villa’s first victory at this ground since 1983. Fire power was also lacking from Wayne Rooney, Ryan Giggs who also came back after missing the min weeks match against Wolfsburg . The goal for the visiting side came in the 21st minute when Gabriel Agbonlahor headed home Ashley Young’s ball who gave a chip in from the left flank. With the score remained as it is for the rest of the match and no late surprise by Manchester United, it was all over for them. United was unable to capitalise on Chelsea’s high scoring 3-3 draw against Evertonearlier during the day.

In the only match on Super Sunday, Arsenal are back to the title race after they came from behind to beat Liverpoolat home in an exciting match at Anfield. Even the return of Fernando Torres wasn’t enough for the home team to take this one away. His opening scare for the gunners in the 11th minute was not too strong to find the net.Liverpool got the lead when Gerrard’s free kick landed in the Arsenal’s penalty area and in the mix up Dirk Kuytkicked the ball in the back of the net. The hosts went in to the break with the lead.
Second half was the visiting teams half, first an own goal by Glen Johnson helped Arsenal to come at par and again and again with four goals in the previous meeting, Andrey Arshavin scored again with a brilliant shot from the right of the penalty area leaving Reina a mere spectator in the action.
With a game in hand, Arsenal are slowly catching up Manchester United and again it looks like that it will be a three way battle down to the wire.
Other results were:
Stoke City 2-2 Wigan
Birmingham 1-0 West Ham
Bolton 3-3 Manchester City
Burnley 1-1 Fulham
Hull City 0-0 Blackburn Rovers
Sunderland 1-1 Portsmouth
Tottenham 0-1 Wolverhampton

Anfield ready to fire at Gunners. Manchester United hosts Villa.

After their mid week victory in the champions’ league, the red devils will be all ready for Saturday’s match against Aston Villa who are currently at surprise fifth position in the premier league. Everton will be up against leaders Chelsea and the mercey side club will be hoping to win their first win at Stamford bridge in nearly a decade. Also in the offering is the classic Sunday showdown at Anfield featuring Arsenal andLiverpool, a defeat for any of them can lead to serious trouble.

Sir Alex Ferguson will be a worried man as his key defenders are out with their respective injuries which includes Gary Neville who picked up a groin injury in the match against West Ham United, Rio Ferdinand with a calf injury, there is no certainty over Owen Hargreaves. The previous two matches were relatively easy where Sir Alex could play his mid fielders in defensive role but this is an important and tricky fixture especially when Aston Villa is in the top flight. Their manager Martin O’Neill is already eying the champions’ league place for next year. Darron Gibson will be starting for United and would be seen as the key figure to score along with the likes of Ryan Giggs, Paul Scholes etc.
As both the clubs lost their respective matches last week, Chelsea would be a bit confident against Everton as two records goes in their favour, the first one being explained above and the second one that they still maintain the 100% win record at home this season.
Once the title contenders and fierce rivals both Arsenal and Liverpool are playing with nothing to loose as a defeat for Liverpool will further push them down to the mid table position and a defeat for the gunners will relegate them to 7th position specially their closest rivals Tottenham Hotspurs, Manchester City are having an easy fixture on paper.
Kick-off at Old Trafford is scheduled to start at 1730 Hours GMT (2200 Hours IST)
Other matches over the next two days are…

Saturday
Stoke City v Wigan 1245 Hours GMT
Birmingham vs West Ham 1500 Hours GMT
Bolton vs Manchester City 1500 Hours GMT
Burnley vs Fulham 1500 Hours GMT
Hull City vs Blackburn Rovers 1500 Hours GMT
Sunderland vs Portsmouth 1500 Hours GMT
Tottenham vs Wolverhampton 1500 Hours GMT

Sunday
Liverpool vs Arsenal 1600 Hours GMT