Arsenal kick off their latest Emirates Cup campaign against the French club Lyon tomorrow, hoping to lift our home ground trophy for the first time since 2010. And with a shorter than usual summer break for the players due to the Euro 2016 tournament next summer, tomorrow’s game and the one on Sunday against the Bundesliga outfit Wolfsburg have taken on a more important role than usual.
In public Arsene Wenger is not putting any pressure on his players to win the games or lift the trophy, insisting that although he does like the competitive nature of the games, it is much more about preparation for the season ahead than anything else.
The boss told Arsenal Player, “Personally I love the Emirates Cup because it’s competitive without having too much pressure on the games.
“It’s the first time that we reunite with our fans in our local stadium and I find that great. It’s always a sell-out, and gives opportunities to people who usually cannot come to watch the team.
“It is vital for preparation. The international players came back quite late on July 11, so when you think that they have less than four weeks to prepare for the first Premier League game, it’s very short.
“The Emirates Cup on a preparation front is very important.”
I would say that it could be crucial and in private I think the Frenchman feels the same way. It is important for us to play well of course and gain fitness but I also think we need to stay in the winning habit ahead of another pre-season game against Chelsea at Wembley.
Arsenal have momentum but it can so easily be lost and although we have shown the ability to bounce back from disappointing results in recent years, it is harder to do than staying on a roll. The last couple of Emirates Cups have seen us get in a winning position and blow it and that is not the feeling we want our squad to have as we approach the best chance of winning the Premier League in a long time.
So do you think it is vital for Arsenal to actually win the Emirates Cup this year?
No.
Win the EPL.
Yes Arsenal need to win the Emirates Cup.We need to be as competitive and efficient as ever and it will come handy going in to the EPL Season.
If Jose Mourinho is Arsenal manager and you ask this question to him, he’ll slap your face. We should win any competition in our life, let alone a cup. Everything anything. That’s a truth WINNER.
Winning the champions league would be even more “awesome”! Coyg!
Just get into the habit of winning no matter what!
Benzema rep. : “Karim will be Real Madrid player by end of transfer window, 1,000%. Not looking to move.”
hope wenger can add another striker
screw benz get reus + ibra (for 5m)
well his agent is doing his job but so far madrid haven’t come out and said he’s not for sale.
sky sports is reporting that according to Benzema’s agent the player isn’t going anywhere this season. Next option arsene?
Lord harris himself says there’s 200 mill in the bank & AW can sign any player he want’s
there are options & didn’t ozil say he was staying as well fingers crossed
Ozil cant play 60 games….now we can sign someone quality to provide competition and rotate with Ozil
the arsenal board, through a crafty plan by wenger, is duping all of us to believe that we are actualy for a superstar striker when in fact we are not!!!
come end of window, wenger will simply say, “look, you heard about it too..we were in for a wc striker but club couldnt sell” 🙁 🙁 🙁
Mesut Ozil June 2013 “I am very happy at Madrid it’s the best team in the world and I am looking forward to next season” ………………….
Its simply dusting off the cobweb’s, the whole idea of pre season is to get players in peak physical condition and match ready. The insentive of a ‘trophy’ and the added benefit of a little bonus for winning any pre-season competition it gets them playing at a competative level instead of playing as if it were a exibition or training match. Whether we win the emirates cup or not important, of course it would be a massive psychological boost heading into the comunity shield against Chelsea (A stumbling block we are yet to overcome), but honestly its an opportunity to prepare for the upcomming season, in terms of tactics, team cohesion etc etc
Emirates cup competitive????
its only a friendly to gear up the fitness…..
I doubt its a PL player that Harris referred to. I don’t think he will be in Italy either. Nor Portugal Holland or any of the other smaller leagues besides France. That would only really leave France Germany and Spain.
Well Id love it to be Lewendowski but I cant imagine him wanting to leave which was said to be the case. If we have to break our record spend well then the only other player that comes to mind from Germany is Reus, we always get back to Reus.
France we have Cavani of course, some may suggest Lacazette but for that kinda money would be ridiculous.
Spain, I read that Suarez was having difficulty settling as everything comes alive at night over there. Would love for this to be the case but he was pleading for Pedro to stay so there is probably no story there. Benzema we know loves it in Madrid and his agent said no chance.
What if by striker he meant it the way Arsene means, that all attacking players are basically strikers. Doubt it, but along with Reus you could then come up with allot more targets. Isco Griezmann Di Maria De Bruyne etc.
Cavani Lewendowski or Reus, Id be chuffed.
we need a proper striker not another convert or versatile player…
a top notch finisher
Placing a fancy title on a pre-season series does not change the fact that this is still the pre-season. And placing any real stock in the meaning of pre-season matches is dangerous.
Every manager treats each pre-season game differently. Some managers like to see what the fringe players have to offer. Some managers want to analyze individual performances while others just look at team cohesion or tactics. Very foolish to judge the pre-season like a regular season competitive match.
50m Reus
30m Draxler
40m Benzema
40m Varnane
30m Bender
Total Cost 190m with 10m to spare on bonus
Benzema
Draxler Ozil Sanchez
Bender Reus
Monreal Varane Kos Debuchy
Cech
Formidable!!!!
Cuckoo
@hafiz, has reus ever played that position before. Its funny how how this comes from a person who doesnt want a square peg in a round hole.
Sign a Striker Arsene, that’s what we NEED. instead of giving your kinsman (Giroud) a new improved contract, Sign…
-Ibrahimovic
-Cavani
-Lewandoski or
-Muller.
We need 2 to 3more players to be formidable. ST, CDM, CB
He will sign a striker when Man Utd whoops him 8-2.