Wenger talks about Senderos and Huntelaar before the FA Cup clash
Good morning and Happy New Year to all you kickers out there, I trust that you all took it easy last night and didn’t party too hard? Well if not, get some food, drink some water, and have a nice lie around.
Footballing news today has Wenger giving an exclusive interview to the dot com in which he revealed some team news ahead of the FA Cup clash with West Ham and laid bare some of his plans for the transfer market.
According to Wenger, Senderos has been out since the start of the season with an inflammation in his foot. Uh… really? I find it really hard to believe that Senderos has been out since August with an inflammation, especially since this is the first we’ve heard it mentioned. Either way, Wenger says that he has a “big fitness” test today and if he passes that then he’ll get a start in tomorrow’s FA Cup match.
Oh and Clichy is out for another 3 weeks. If this injury luck keeps up, Arsenal will be playing our Youth Cup team and I’ll just quit blogging in deference to Young Guns, who has all the B team news.
In addition to Senderos, Wenger is planning some pretty serious rotation of Sunday’s sqaud with Rosicky possibly getting a start and many of his first team getting a rest. Wenger did say that they “go to win” the match but also admitted that he is balancing the FA Cup with the other two (read: more important) league targets: Champions League and Premier League. Someone mentioned the other day that they would like Wenger to play a Carling Cup side in this competition and it seems like Wenger agrees, to an extent.
As for transfers, many folks have linked Senderos with a move away from the club but Wenger put the kibosh on that notion stating flatly that the only player leaving in January is possibly Wilshere on loan.
Arsene also put to rest the notion that Arsenal are after Klaas jan Huntelaar saying that he didn’t think the player was eligible for a move because he’s already transferred once this year and and besides, he’s not interested. He did admit that they have already made contacts for players and that they are working on trying to land someone, most likely someone up front.
A new striker makes a ton of sense. Yes, Arsenal have scored 51 league goals (and on pace for 102, as my sidebar widget shows) but you have to remember that van Persie and Bendtner both had a major role in a lot of those goals. Robin van Persie alone had 7 goals and 7 assists which is over 27% of those 51 goals. When you add in Bendtner’s 1 goal and 1 assist, the number jumps to over 30% of Arsenal’s League goals this season.
Even more damning is that before that fateful international break, Arsenal had scored 36 goals in 11 matches for an amazing 3.27 GPG pace. Since then Arsenal have scored just 15 goals in 8 games for a 1.875 GPG pace – a 43% drop in production.
Clearly, Wenger needs someone to help out up front.
Right, that’s pretty much it for now. Kick off is 8:15 am PST Sunday and the game is on Setanta USA over in this side of the world. That means that us Tacoma Gooners will be at Doyle’s and the Seattle folks will probably go to the George and Dragon. I will probably do a quick links blog and let it post later today, but other than that, I’ll so you all tomorrow.
Happy New Year and here’s to Arsenal winning the Champions League!
Comments
Well, we just signed Brazilian starlet, Wellington Silva, for 3.5MM pounds. Anyone got any color on this chap? Also, I never knew that Brazilians name their kids names like Wellington.
@ArseChicago, ???
http://soccernet.espn.go.com/news/story?id=719507&sec=transfers&cc=5901
Just wanted to know if anyone has seen highlights of this kid.
Try youtube
@ArseChicago, The highlights are nothing special. Mood music, poor defending and the inevitable goals. I think what sold the kid was his trial where he scored 4 against Norwich Academy.
yeah that Senderos story sounds kind of fishy. If the “pain came back” every time he played, how come he still managed to finish the two games he started?
Taken at face value, I thought Wenger was describing plantar fasciitis.
While I believe Wenger should rest players and blood the kids in the FA Cup much like he does with the Carling Cup, it’s worth noting that the FA Cup differs slightly because it is scheduled in line with the EPL, i.e.: it gets it’s own weekends.
The Carling Cup is a midweek tournament and is just an intrusion for teams playing in Europe.
Anywho, I expect we’ll see a mix of experience and youth. That and another chance for Ramsey to strut his stuff.
Uhm, go Hammers.
Happy new year Tim! Hope you had a lovely one yourself. I’m still recovering from my fever, nearly there.
Someone I would like to see at Arsenal is Marcus Berg, the Swedish striker currently at Hamburg. Quick, has a good touch and a natural-esque finisher. And he took apart England in the U21′s last year so always a good un’.
Arsenal to win the Champions League? Hmm…have to say I would rather us win the Prem. CL won’t excite me unless we actually make the final…
Put you and other Gooners on the spot
Premiership glory or CL failure (out by quarter final)?
Premiership disappointment (4th isn’t bad but it does mean 2 more games in the CL next year – or even worse league position) or CL glory (Winners)
You have to choose one of the two.
@V, couple of things there.
First, good health, drink water, have some soup, get rest
Second, I think winners of the CL are automatically seeded, but I could be wrong.
Finally, I would take a CL trophy and finish 8th. It’s the only trophy Arsenal haven’t won AND it’s worth a metric ton of ££ to the club that wins it. Something on the order of £75m I believe. It’s far more valuable to win the CL than the PL.
@Tim, Man U got 110 mil euros for their 2009 win. http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/171220/clubs-scoop-50m-for-reaching-uefa-champions-league-knock-out-stage
That + the 80mil for C. Ronaldo went to pay the clowns, magicians and agents. The only way to distinguish which is which is that clown and magicians give you value for your pounds
@ctpa, I saw that game w/ the U21s. I said to myself, self, who the hell is that guy? He was like a man against boys in that game. Every time he was on the ball you could see ‘concern’ in the England defensive center.
He’s not doing much in the Bundesliga but has a better goal scoring record in the European tournament games. He just transferred w/ a 5yr deal to Hamburg.
If you’re talking Bundesliga then I’d go for Stefan Kiesling.
Well haven’t had as much rest as I had to go to work (because it is a temporary contract till the new year I can’t afford to miss many days) but yeah I have 2 whole days to do that now (Rest)
I like how you emphatically favor winning the CL. Shared similar sentiments but not since we lost at Anfield in the quarter final in 2008. Got sick of getting drawn against English teams and then losing to them.
But as much as the perks of winning the CL are (I hear it is something like £50 million when you combine TV money + participation and everything else) and an increment of global awareness so to speak (I think the world would have a fit if we won the final against a Barcelona or Madrid team) finishing anything below 3rd in the EPL would make the CL win achievement a little fortunate?.
But hey if it worked for Liverpool – it is the only reason why Rafa is still there, then I’m ready to take 8th place in the EPL and win the CL.
EPL vs Champions League? Easy, Champs League. An historic first for the club and the crowning jewel on Wenger’s illustrious career. Like it or not, the reason Arsenal are not considered a truly “big” club like ManUre, Real Madrid or AC Milan is the lack of a Champions League trophy. Winning it without a sugar daddy or mountains of debt (or securitization!) would make it all the more sweet.
@Tee Song, Plus, I can’t be the only one who’s bothered by that fucking cunt Mourhino claiming he’s a better manager than Arsene because he has won the Champs League.
I think most Gooners would take any one of the two. Either one is a big scalp. Frankly, there would be a decent amount of happiness around if all we got was the FA Cup. Slipping out of top 4 would be hard to swallow though, if that were the price.
I hope we land Gignac and a central defender. Great blog by the way!
WE THRIVE ON POSSESION. IF WE HAD A BIG MAN WHO COULD HOLD THE BALL WE WOULD SCORE MORE GOALS AND GIVE LESS CHANCES TO THE OPPOSITION.
WE NEED SOMEONE YOUNG, FRESH, TALL, STRONG AND ELIGIBLE FOR THE CHAMPION’S LEAGUE. A PLAYER WITH A GOOD WORK ETHIC AND MOTIVATION (WORLD CUP FINALS THIS SUMMER) COULD BE KEY.
CARLTON COLE IS THE ANSWER
@RAY, ALL CAPS IS THE ANSWER
boring arsenal fans leave wenger alone thats this xlub is nob bancrupt,boring english moaning fans leave wenger alone or if you dont like leave him to leave arsenal any club ready for him moanig always
James: What’s all that about?
Give me Champions League trophy and I’ll dance all year. Give me the Premier League and I’ll dance all season.
Give me an F A cup and I’ll dance the Summer dance.