Laurent Koscielny Performance Against Newcastle (Video)

Here’s a video of Koscielny’s performance against Newcastle in the Carling Cup, enjoy!

Theo Walcott’s Performance Against West Ham (Video)

Enjoy the following video, showing Theo’s cameo appearance against West Ham:  Enjoy!

Arsenal vs West Ham Preview + Lansbury To Start? + CC Draw

This Saturday promises to be very interesting for Arsenal fans.  Firstly, we have the Carling Cup draw for the quarter finals which will be held at lunchtime (around 12.20pm).  It would be interesting to see who we will get to play next.  The teams left in the cup are:

1. Arsenal
2. Aston Villa
3. Birmingham City
4. Ipswich Town
5. Manchester United
6. West Bromwich Albion
7. West Ham United
8. Wigan Athletic

I personally hope we get Wigan at home.  This time, Wenger has made it clear that he wants to go for all the competitions and this comes as no surprise as he aims to ends our trophy drought.  With all the likes of Chelsea, Manchester City, Liverpool, Sp*rs all knocked out early, it looks really possible to win this cup.

There have been criticism aimed at Wenger earlier for him taking this competition lightly by fielding youngsters, but now, he that he is looking to win this trophy, he’s playing a very nice mixture of experienced first teamers and youngsters.

Talking of youngsters, it came as a surprise to many that Henri Lansbury didn’t play the Carling Cup match against Newcastle last Wednesday.  I think the decision not to play him was because he’s going to play tomorrow against West Ham.  With Diaby out injured, Rosicky and Denilson having both played in the CC, it seems that Lansbury will be given a start as Wilshere misses this West Ham match as part of his last three-match suspension.  I also expect JET to get a some minutes in the match.  The boy has looked impressive each and every time I’ve seen him.  His body movement looks like one of a very very classy player.  I fully expect him to make a breakthrough in this Arsenal team- it’s only a matter of time.

West Ham will be a good match, because let’s not forget that it’s a derby!  They are last in the league with six points BUT they have just won against Stoke (3-1) in the CC and we know what a win can do to the team’s moral.  However, West Ham have also played more by going into extra time.  So unless the West Ham manager (Avram Grant) decides to rotates, it’s going to be a side who’s probably tired who going to play us at the Emirates.  I expect Arsenal to win convincingly this match and no dropping of points is allowed, since there is the possibility of MANU and Sp*rs to drop points themselves (they face each other on Saturday).

This would mean that a win is sure to increase the gap between us and the other two previously mentioned.  Meanwhile, Man. City are playing away to Wolves and Chelsea away to Blackburn.  I don’t expect Man. City to have any problems against Wolves, but Chelsea could drop points at Blackburn, at Ewood Park – my thought though!  Ewood park is always a difficult place to go and play.  I think this Chelsea match could end in a draw (2-2?).  We’ll see.

In other news, Ramsey and RVP is reported to be soon back in full training, which is a really good thing for them.  Ramsey is not expected to play for quite some time, but noises are coming out that RVP might be fit for the Sp*rs match in the league.  We all remember the last time he played against the spuds at he scored the opening goal followed by a wonder goal by Cesc.  RVP’s really an exceptional player and we’ll all know how much we missed him when he comes back.

Meanwhile, reports are coming out on the Gibbs injury saying that he’s  probably going to be out for a few weeks.  That’s a shame really, because he was starting to look like a very good player.  Anyway, we hope he has a speedy recovery, no need to rush him back right now.  The other injured player, Vermaelen is still uncertain when he’s set to return.  Let him take his time, so that when he comes back, he’s ready to give us a boost.

So that’s it from me today.  I will write new posts if there are any other news to report.  Till then.

Chamakh’s Performance Against Manchester City (Video)

Here’s Chamakh’s individual highlights for his display against Manchester City.  The hardworking striker did not score, but did earn Manchester City  a red card and held up the ball superbly as a target man.  You can also watch Nasri’s highlights against City.

Newcastle Planning To Rest Players For The Arsenal Clash (News)

 Newcastle boss Chris Hughton has admitted that he is likely to rest the Newcastle first-teamers and give his fringe players a chance to star in the Carling Cup.  Newcastle are already going to be without former Arsenal man, Sol Campbell, out with injury, but they’re also going to be deprived of Steven Taylor, Steve Harper, Leon Best, Hatem Ben Arfa and Dan Gosling.

This news will come as good news for us Gooners, as Arsenal are looking to win the competition.  However, even with a weaken side, the Newcastle side is not to be underestimated, as they also dispatched a Chelsea side, with a weakened team, in the previous round.  However, Newcastle haven't beaten Arsenal in cup competition since 1952 FA Cup final, losing 6 and drawing 1 of 7 cup games since and scoring just once (stats credit: @Orbinho).

Here is what the Newcastle manager had to say:

"I'll definitely make changes - how many, I don't know," he told the Jarrow & Hebburn Gazette. "It will be an opportunity for a lot of players. We're at home - it's a nice opportunity for us."

Walcott, Bendtner, Vela, Szczesny, Koscielny Set To Start Against Newcastle (News)

Arsene Wenger has stated that Walcott, Bendtner, Vela, Szczesny, Koscielny are set for a start against Newcastle tomorrow for the Carling Cup match. 

There have been concerns over Vela being “frozen out” by Wenger, but the Arsenal manager quickly put the doubts to bed as he choose Vela to start tomorrow.  Walcott, Bendtner are also set to start after lengthy layoff after injuries on international duty.  Koscielny, if fit, will probably start.  He was out with back problem, but is likely to start to give one of the other centre backs a rest.  Szczesny is also set to start, after claiming he’s ready to step up and be number 1.  He is sure going to be watched closely tomorrow, as expectation are high for him.  Eastmond, Lansbury and JET are all set to play a role in the match.

Arsene said:

“It will be similar to Spurs,” said Wenger. “We have players coming back like Walcott, Bendtner and Vela. Koscielny is fit to start. They will play.

“From the Man City game, we have no-one out [with injury]. One or two will be rested. Vela is back.”

“In the squad, we will have Eastmond, Lansbury and Jay Emmanuel-Thomas,” said Wenger. “Wojciech will be in goal.”

What would your lineup be for the Newcastle match?

Nasri Performance Against Manchester City (Video)

Enjoy the following video, which shows the brilliant Nasri performance against Manchester City:

For Cesc Fans: A Day In His Life (Video)

Here’s a video showing a day in the life of Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas.  Enjoy!

Jay Emmanuel Thomas’s Hattrick Against West Ham Reserves (Video)

Enjoy the following video which shows Arsenal reserves against West Ham reserves which was played recently.  Arsenal ran out 4-1 winners, with goals from Aneke and a JET hattrick, including a brilliant strike from him.

Vito Mannone On Loan To Hull

News is coming out that Vito Mannone has been sent on loan to Hull.

The rookie keeper recently complained of not getting enough playing time.  This moves certainly is in the interest of all.

With Fabianski, Almunia and Szczesny ahead of him, he’s better off plying his trade somewhere else and prove that he deserves his place in this Arsenal team.

The Arsene Weekly Bombshell: Koscielny Out + Injury News

So Wenger does it again, just before a match, he announces that another player is injured.  The last time it was Vermaelen, this time it’s Koscielny.  The centre back is said to have back problems.  He goes on the injury list which already has names like Fabregas, Vermaelen, Van Persie, Ramsey on it.

However, we have some good injury news before the Birmingham match.  Walcott and Bendtner are back and ready to prove their worth.  This is going to be an interesting battle.  After that we have Shaktar, where we might have Cesc back.  We will also see the return of Eduardo, who will no doubt receive a  warm welcome from Arsenal fans.

So that’s it, a quickie.  Till then.

Bendtner Back, Rosicky Assists Two, Mannone Blunder (Videos)

So, the interlull is over and the only injury so far seems that of Sagna, who will be out for three weeks.  Positive news though is that Bendtner is back, fit and ready for contention for the Brums match.  Of the players involved in matches yesterday, Rosicky captained his country magnificently, providing two assists in his country's 2-0 victory.  You can see Rosicky's performance below:

Mannone started as number one for the Italy U21 team but had a nightmare of a game as he committed a high-profile blunder to let a goal past him.  You can see the goal conceded by Mannone below:

Overall, this interlull has not been as horrible as we expected.  Usually we get many players out injured, but this time, it is Sagna.  However, Eboue should be more than capable of filling in the boots of Sagna.  Next up is the Birmingham City game, one we must take three points and stay in touch with the leader.  We also will be having several key players back, as mentioned above, Bendtner and then captain Fabregas, and Theo Walcott.  Van Persie and Vermaelen are also not far from making a comeback.  So that's it from me today.  I might post again if there are news out about the players.  Enjoy your day!

Sagna Out For 3 Weeks After Injury

News is coming out of France that Bacary Sagna will be out for three weeks after sustaining injury to his thigh.  This comes as a blow for gooners who were expecting Wenger to have a fit squad to choose from for the next games. 

Deputy Emanuel Eboue who is also on international duty so far has reported no injury and will be most likely to start for the injured Frenchman for Arsenal’s next match against Birmingham. 

Cesc Fabregas Declares He Is Fit And Training

 

Cesc Fabregas has declared on his Twitter account that he is fit and training with the team.  Here are the exact quotes:

I'm fit and training with the team. If the game was today i could have played, but it was 2 days too short and didnt want to take a gamble.

Too bad for us gooners, because he could have made a difference on Sunday.  Let’s hope he has put all his injury problems behind him and is fit and ready to give the team a push.

56 Seconds Video Match Report For Chelsea vs Arsenal (2-0)

The video below sums up perfectly the Chelsea/Arsenal match:

 

That’s the match report and what we learnt from the match.