A win was all important for Arsenal this weekend as we head back into the Champions League, with the first of two games against French club Monaco at the Emirates on Wednesday. As things turned out with Man United and Southampton it would not have been quite such a disaster if we had failed to win but we are now firmly in third place and that should give us an extra boost this week.
Arsene Wenger has been speaking to Arsenal Player about the hard fought win at Crystal Palace, paying tribute to the efforts of Alan Pardew and his players, while declaring that the Gunners got what we deserved for playing with a combination of football ability and determination.
Either one without the other would have seen us fall short, according to the manager and so he was delighted that Arsenal are now able to do both. The Frenchman also reserved special praise for the performance of his countryman Olivier Giroud up front. He pointed to how much our big striker has improved during his time at the club and given all the credit to the player for the way he has done it.
Wenger said, “He had an important part in a game as direct as that, to keep the ball, to close them down. Overall he had a great contribution. I’m happy for him.
“[Between] when I brought him here, and [when] you look at him today, I think there’s a hell of a difference.
“That’s credit to him – to the player he was and the player he is today, plus credit for his whole season, where he has worked very hard. I think there’s still room for improvement for him.
“Yes, it was hard-earned. You need to earn your points in the Premier League and I think we did it in a convincing way, even if at the end it was a bit dodgy.
“We did fight and play, and today fighting without playing wouldn’t have been enough, and playing without really fighting wouldn’t have been enough either. They put in what was needed.”
You get the feeling that Wenger believes the same qualities will be needed when his former club come to town this week. But we have done it before and can do it again.
Yeah, I hope OG scores against Monaco. Just can’t wait to see him catwalk!!!!
#COYG
Ok, just wanna know what you guys think: Will it be nice to have Boscielny and Gabs paired at the back? If you watched the game against Boro, Boscielny seemed very confident and free, he was adventurous with the ball mainly becuz he knew the guy next to him is fast and agile, consequently we made Boro labour very hard.
But when Koscielny is paired with Per de German Rhino, he tends to work overtime. More like he very much endeavours to cover for Per’s lack of pace and agility, it often leaves our defence under pressure. But one think I cannot take away from Per is his intelligence.
Gabs or Per: who’d you go for against Monaco?
Go with what’s familiar, simple as that. Champions League ties are not the right occasions for experiments.
If a ball is lost we now have the mentality that it is ours to get right back. The best teams have that as they do not the the interceptor get comfortable. It should be a big emphasis for us. I believe Alexis has really shown the whole team that he will lose the ball occasionally, because a big part of his game is creative dribbling but boy if it’s lost he wants it right back. That aspect right there is his most important quality to our team. The best signing I can remember.
Yeah, I agree. I think Alexis’ major contribution isn’t just goals, but his attitude.
we shld hv sign Zaha……hes got pace and power..
wenger will transform him
Why is it that the English commentators and pundits have such a terrible grudge against Arsenal……we score beautiful goals but all I here commentators talk about is bad defending because the defense was all over the show, but the whole world can see that it is the movement of our front players that is too good for the opposition therefore defenders don’t know whether they are marking our players or closing gaps
Then there was the small matter of the so called offside goal……Ozil scored a beautiful goal but it was disallowed because of the terrible decision by the linesman, our players just kept on playing (not sure if they saw it)……when it was over I didn’t hear much about the terrible decision…..When we won the penalty the commentators went on about the contact being made outside the box, I was very surprised to hear Michael Owen side with us though
Last but not least there was Girouds goal, I agree that Danny was marginally offside but I mean cummon FFS, if there is any team in Europe who has been plagued by bad luck in recent years its us…..Most injuries, Bad draws in UCL, Always getting red cards in important games, Own goals.
Now when our luck is changing we have to deal with these bias idiots…..I don’t think there is another team who has suffered as much as us when it comes to luck but now things are changing.
We have almost a full squad, more 50/50 decisions are going our way, shots that used to go in are now hitting the post and going straight into the keepers hands.
I hope it continues this way coz we deserve it.
“Arsenal are set to make an €110m bid for Juventus
midfielder Paul Pogba. The Gunners have turned their attentions to the Frenchman after Barcelona entered the race to sign Morgan Schneiderlin who could move to Camp Nou for €35m.
Source: Daily ExpreSs (In association with Owl.com)
Now, that’s one STUPENDOUS LIE!!! OMG!!! See, Pogba is good, but sometimes I think he’s overrated. Don’t get me wrong, I’d love to have him in our team any day, but just can’t spend such “evil” amount of money on the guy.
And by the way, if it’s a case of “pick one”, it is Wanyama over him.
You would rather have Wanyama over Pogba? They don’t even play the same position first of all, and Pogba has the potential to be one of the best midfielders in the world. I don’t think he’s overrated at all. Either way, 0% chance we are getting him when Real Madrid, Barca, PSG and every other club also want him, and they have even more money.
But he’s French, young, and top “quality”. Those are Arsene’s favourite words… Better than Arteta, Flamini and Diaby combined :/
I agree. Interested to see how Juve go in the last 16 of UCL. You would think that if Pogba and Vidal were only half as good as the hype then them 2 with Pirlo, Preyera, Asamoah and Marchisio would be owning the midfield in every game they play. Not too shabby in defence with Buffon, Chielini, Lichtsteiner and Bonucci and an attack with Tevez, Llorente and Morata.
A dynamic starts is the power the Gunner MUST adopt to enable them mould The Red and Whites by AFC 3-0 at Emirates stadium on Wednesday’s night. If Monaco have pacy players that can attack or counter attack to hurt us, the boss should consider to start top Gunners that are pacy and can track back to cover their CDMs, their wings Full Backs & their overlapping Center Backs. For punching or paring out efficiently, a taller Szczesny should be started by the boss for this CL Cup game. My Dynamic Gunners Starts: Szczesny. BellerinDe-AbreuKoscielnyGibbs. SanchezCazorlaOzil. Giroud.
all Szczesny does is get red cards in UCL. NO