- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger regards their Champions League win over Barcelona last season as the best of 2011.
The Frenchman was delighted with the 2-1 victory against the eventual Champions League winners back in February but says he has had to endure some testing times over the past 12 months.
“The game against Barcelona was maybe the best game we have ever played on the football pitch here. For me, that was the highlight," Wenger said.
“When I look back, it was not the easiest year of my career. The end of last [season] was even more difficult than the rocky time we had at the beginning of this season because it was all doom and gloom, only negatives.
"This season we had a very tough time too, but we had something in front of us, we could still fight for something.
"With the last two months of last season, once you are in a position where you will not win the Champions League, will not win the league, will not win the FA Cup, you just have to get over the line as well as you can. It was difficult.”
- Arsenal captain Robin van Persie is excited by the prospect to be playing with Thierry Henry again.
The Gunners are hoping to complete a move for the Club's all-time record goalscorer and Van Persie is excited about the prospect of linking up with the Frenchman.
"It is fantastic," Van Persie said. "For him to come back is something so brave. He has nothing to prove. He has a statue here – only a couple of players have that. He broke every single record at Arsenal – he won everything here.
"Some people might question ‘why do you do it, because you have proved everything already?’ but there is only one answer. That is because he loves the game so much that he just wants to play. I asked him a couple of weeks ago [to come back].
"He is unbelievable, even in training. He had a couple of sessions and – I don’t want to put too much pressure on him – but he is looking right up there. He is looking very good. He knows when to drop, he knows when to make a one-two. He knows all these things. I am looking forward to it so much."
- Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger expects a major challenge against Fulham.
With injuries sapping Arsenal's strength, especially in defensive areas, Wenger is expecting a difficult encounter against Martin Jol's side.
"I am expecting a tough game," he said. "You can see that everybody finds a good motivation againstArsenal.
"Everybody organises well, stops us from playing and that will happen again at Fulham.
"Of course we have three points and will be very focused to get the win there.
"For us it is always a difficult game at Fulham."
- Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny says they have their top four hopes in their own hands.
The Gunners moved into fourth spot on Saturday following their 1-0 win against QPR, and the French centre back says their form at the Emirates could decide their fate this term.
"It was very important to win [against QPR], because we drew against Wolves and we wanted to win this game and we did," Koscielny said.
"It is good for us that we are fourth, so we need to stay in fourth spot and maybe even get to third. We work every day to get stronger.
"We know we [still have to] play at home against Chelsea, Manchester Utd, Manchester City and Tottenham, so we have the cards in our hands. We can go higher in the table [if we win at home]."
- Arsenal skipper Robin van Persie is proud of beating Thierry Henry's goal scoring record for the club.
Henry made history as part of a team who won the title without losing a game, but Van Persie’s achievements have come during a year Arsene Wenger looks back on as one of the most difficult of his career. It makes the Dutchman’s 48 goals in 56 matches, including his first professional hat-trick, seem even more remarkable.
Van Persie said: "It’s fantastic. And it was about time! I have had some knocks in the past, but 2011 was clear with no injuries and I could enjoy myself. It has been my best year ever. There’s a bit of relief that the year has gone how it did, but I’m also happy to give something back to Arsenal and the boss.
"It makes me proud. I’m a sportsman. You want to achieve the highest. My main thing is to win games, but I want to achieve the highest possible.
"Thierry set that record, he is an unbelievable player and on this one, I have just beaten him. I fell one short of Shearer’s record, but maybe next year..."
- Arsenal skipper Robin van Persie says new signing Thierry Henry is already having a big impact.
Van Persie is also confident that Henry will prove a positive influence on the younger members of the Arsenal squad.
"It will be good for everyone. It is a massive joy to play and train with him. I am excited too. It’s like, ‘oh yes, Thierry is back, let’s have fun’," he said.
"The younger guys are all looking up to him. Everyone is sharing that feeling. Before the [QPR] game I saw him speaking to Francis Coquelin with the ball, showing him how to run. He is doing a great job already."
- Mikel Arteta is convinced Thierry Henry will make an impact for Arsenal.
The record goalscorer has trained with Arsène Wenger’s first team since the middle of November and Arteta is sure the striker would be a positive addition.
“I've always been a big admirer of him, when he was playing here and at Barcelona,” Arteta said. “It's great to have him around with his experience and his talent - I'm sure he's going to be really helpful.
“He's very good. He's very close with everyone, he's talking with all the lads and has a very, very good attitude.
“I heard a lot of things about him and his character and for being so brave to come back here with the name he has is not easy. He's putting his name on the line yet again and I think that's brave.
“He has the quality and the talent for sure. I don't know how he is physically to play 90 minutes, 60 minutes, 30 or whatever he needs but I think with his experience he can manage that no problem.”
- Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Frimpong is delighted with his loan move to Wolves.
Frimpong is confident his playing style, which saw him earn a red card on only his second appearance in the Barclays Premier League against Liverpool in August, will see him fit in well to a Wolves team fighting to stay out of the bottom three.
The 19-year-old said: "It's an opportunity for me to get more games. I'm just coming here to add more quality to the team, hopefully, and I can't wait to get started.
"I'm just happy to be here and excited about my new challenge. I'm a player that likes to fight, that likes to do everything for the team to win.
"I've played quite a few games already this season so it's been a quick step up for me and I've learned a lot during the season and hopefully I can bring something different to the squad here."
- Arsenal are eyeing AC Milan fullback Taye Taiwo.
Arsenal are considering AC Milan left-back Taiwo as an option among their defensive loan targets as their injury crisis continues to bite.
Andre Santos and Kieran Gibbs are both sidelined with injury.
No comments:
Post a Comment