[shanghai_nobody]

Posted by Kevin McCarra Thursday 28th August 2008 15:00 BST The Guardian

Arsenal in group stages

Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas is up to the challenge of group qualification

Arsenal strolled into the Champion’s League group stages at the expense of Vit Guimaraes under the guidance of new manager Mark Morrison. Many pundits still have their knives firmly sharpened and at hand stating the young Scottish manager must guide the London side further still in the Champions League if he is to retain his position as manager as the tournament has been a high earner for the club during Wenger’s time as manager. Captain Cesc Fabregas came out as a human shield for his manager and said the club would progress well this year ‘Everyone already knew Mark at the club except the new signings but they have quickly figured out he is a well respected figure at this club. He has us playing nice football and grinding out results when we have to, with him as manager I’m confident we’ll qualify from our group and do well in the tournament this year.’

Morrison and his squad found out today who stands between them and the knockout stages today at the Champions League group draw. As a top seeded team Arsenal were first team to be dropped into Group G, Dutch side PSV soon followed along with Turkish side Fenerbahce and bringing up the rear were Romanian minnows CFR Cluj.

The obvious threat to Arsenal’s qualification is PSV and Fenerbahce ‘We’ve been drawn into a difficult group, everyone knows how difficult it is to go to Turkey with the intimidating atmosphere their fans create and come away with a victory. I think our home form will be key to qualification we’ll have to get all nine points at home and do our best on our travels.’ Many journalists stated his side should come away with six points from both games with CFR Cluj but Morrison was quick to shoot this down to halt any over confidence in his side ‘Any team even if they are the lowest seeded will provide a threat, you don’t get to the group stages of the Champions league if you are a bad side. I’m expecting two tough games against Cluj and my players better do the same.’

Confidence was high amongst the players after the draw and vice captain Kolo Toure spoke out about his sides chances of progressing ‘I think we have what it takes to win all our home matches, the away matches to PSV and Fenerbahce will be our biggest tests but I think with the quality we have we could get a few good results away from home. For a club a size of Arsenal it is expected of us to make it to the knockout stages and the players know this pressure and we thrive under it.’

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[DunfermlineMad]

One of the best stories I have read , A great start please keep this going mate. Some great signings also

[shanghai_nobody]

Page last updated: Saturday, 30 August 2008, 17:00 UK
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England > Premier League > Arsenal
Arsenal 2 - 0 West Ham
By David McIntyre

Nasri celebrates his goal in the driving rain

With glamorous European Champions league football guaranteed it was back to the domestic front for Arsenal today. It would be an all rookie affair as new managers Mark Morrison and Gianfranco Zola clashed today. The pair are not strangers having played against one another on various occasions for Arsenal and Chelsea respectively.

On the day it was Morrison who proved to be the master tactician, Zola preferred a narrow diamond formation with a lack of wide players Arsenal were all too happy to expose this frailty. Arshavin and Nasri were given license’s to terrorize the West Ham defence from both wings meaning West Ham spent large portions of the game pinned back in their own box defending.

From the first minute it seemed to be a matter of time before Arsenal would score and the inevitable happened twenty-one minutes in when Adebayor continued a rich vein of goalscoring form under his new manager. Smooth crisp passing along the impeccable Emirates turf split West Ham wide open as Arsenal worked the ball from the half way line and into the net in twenty-three seconds.

Gallas swiftly dispatched the ball to Clichy who played it to Samir Nasri who had all the space and time in the world to pick out his pass, Denilson took the ball from Nasri before feeding a beautiful through ball to van Persie who turned his man passing to Adebayor who used a well worked one two with Fabregas to give him space in a packed West Ham box before thundering in a low drive to the bottom right hand corner.

Three minutes into first half extra time and Arsenal struck again, Arshavin swiftly took a freekick launching it to Adebayor on the near post the Togolese striker leaped up to nod the ball onto Nasri who lurked in the box with intent, the Frenchman unleashed a perfect volley to send it past the diving body of Green a beautiful finish.

Come the second half West Ham did not attempt to come out and win the game but instead defended in numbers to halt Arsenal running amok, the damage was already done and Arsenal continued to work the ball well but the shaky West Ham defence found their composure in the second half and managed to save face and keep the score at two-nil until the final whistle.

Arsenal manager Mark Morrison
‘After some domestic games where we have had to be gritty and play not the most beautiful football ever seen to get results we showed today what we could do. Our passing and attacking moves were a joy for me to watch today and most importantly we got three points.’

West Ham manager Gianfranco Zola
‘Outclassed, what more can I say? We could not handle the way Arsenal used attack to defend and we crumbled. In the second half we gained enough composure to stop them from scoring anymore but we barely got out our own half.’

Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Clichy, Gallas, Toure, Arshavin, Nasri (Walcott ’63), Fabregas, Denilson (Ramsey ’63), Adebayor, van Persie (Vela ’53)
Subs Not Used: Djourou, Bendtner, Silvestre, Eboue
Goals: Adebayor 21, Nasri 45+3
Booked: Denilson

West Ham: Green, Neill, Ilunga (Tomkins ’81), Collins, Upson, Noble, Parker, Collison, Mota (Faizulin ’73), Di Michele, Tristan (Cole ’45)
Subs Not Used: Lastuvka, Gabbidon, Grasser, Eyjolfsson
Booked: Neill, Ilunga

Att. 60,407 (Emirates)

Ref. R.Styles

BBC Man of the Match Arsenal’s Samir Nasri

[craguuscool]

Great victory over a tricky West Ham side. I'm still reading and hopefully you can continue this great form man.

[shanghai_nobody]

Monday 01st September 2008
August Awards & Round Up

League table at the end of August

Reigning Champions Manchester United sat proudly on top at the end of August with three wins in three, Carlos Tevez has played no small part in aiding his side as he leads the goalscoring charts with four goals. Liverpool and Surprisingly Blackburn are the only other two teams to take maximum points so far and sit second and third respectively.

At the other end Premiership newcomers Hull and Stoke are finding out it is tough at the top with three straight defeats although they may be comforted they are joined by Premiership old boys Newcastle and their rivals Sunderland.

West Brom are finding things a little easier as they sit in a comfortable seventh place with two victories but can they continue this form? Above them sit Arsenal the only team out of the ‘big four’ not to hold a place in the top four under new manager Mark Morrison while Aston Villa sit in fifth as they bid to crack the stranglehold the top four have in English football with the backing of billionaire Randy Lerner.

August Player of the Month – Joe Cole (Chelsea)
August Young Player of the Month – Samir Nasri (Arsenal)
August Manager of the Month – Rafa Benitez (Liverpool)

'You know it's always nice to get an award but the most important thing is we have made a strong start to the season as a team. We've got to keep up this kind of form and improve though if we want to lift any trophies come the end of the season.' Joe Cole player of the month.

[shanghai_nobody]

Posted by Kevin McCarra Monday 08th September 2008 15:00 BST The Guardian

Almunia ruled out for three weeks with hamstring injury

New arrival Enyeama and Fabianski will battle it out to replace injured number one Manuel Almunia

Manuel Almunia has been ruled out of first team action for three weeks after the Spanish goalkeeper pulled a hamstring during a training session today. The Spanish goalkeeper seems to be Morrison’s first choice at the Emirates and could be out for six games including two European Champions League games against Fenerbahce and CFR Cluj.

This is the first serious injury Morrison has had to deal with since becoming a manager and the Scotsman seemed to take it in his stride ‘No manager likes being without key players but these things happen in football and we just have to get on with it. We strengthened our options in the summer with Vincent Enyeama coming to the club so I am sure we have enough cover to see us through.’

Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and Pole Lukasz Fabianski look set to battle it out to replace Almunia in goal and both seem up for the fight ‘I came here to place first team football and I hope this is my chance to show the manager what I can do, I am fully fit and ready to come into first team action if I am called upon.’ Enyeama stated today after he completed his training.

When asked who will slot into the first team Morrison showed confidence in both players ‘I don’t know, I could play either of them and be happy with who I have on the pitch.’

Meanwhile Morrison has been looking to bring in another goalkeeper but FC Nantes rejected an undisclosed offer for young French goalkeeper Erwin Zelazny ‘Yes we put an offer in and it was rejected, Erwin is a good player so we are going to rethink an improved offer and hopefully FC Nantes will find it more tempting.’

While Morrison was tight lipped over the affair there was no such restraint from the young Frenchman ‘I heard Arsenal had made an offer and I was understandably excited, sadly my club rejected the offer. I love FC Nantes and I owe them a lot but I would like to move to Arsenal and I hope the club come in with another offer and I can move.’

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[DunfermlineMad]

Great writing mate....Enjoying reading this

[shanghai_nobody]

Posted by Kevin McCarra Thursday 11th September 2008 15:00 BST The Guardian

Van Persie joins Emirates injury list

Van Persie joins Almunia on the sidelines for the next two weeks

Just days after Manuel Almunia was ruled out with injury Dutch striker Robin Van Persie has joined him on the sidelines. During training van Persie went over awkwardly and twisted his knee badly resulting in a two week spell away from first team football.

‘Trying to shrug this off would be stupid, everyone knows that Robin [Van Persie] is a big important player for us so losing him for two weeks so early in the season is a big blow.’ Morrison said of his striker, with Eduardo already out with injury it seems Morrison may need to turn to youth ‘Well we have Bendtner, Vela and Arshavin who can all play up front so we do have cover. I’m not sure what we will do I’ll have to look at the players and see who is performing well in training.’

Yesterday two of his young talents put on solid U21 international performances who could be in line to replace the injured van Persie, Milton Caraglio scored his second goal in just his second cap for the Argentine U21 side while John Fleck scored on his U21 Scottish debut ‘Fleck and Caraglio are options, I wouldn’t hesitate to play them but we do have players with some more first team experience. But they have as good a chance as anyone of filling the void left behind by Robin.’ Morrison stated today.

The injury has come just days before Morrison takes on Moyes and his Everton side in a match Van Persie would have surely started ‘We’ve had a strong start to the season so I think it is important we don’t panic about the loss of one player. We have a strong squad and we will still be looking for all three points.’

Van Persie looked a sullen figure as he hobbled out of Arsenal’s training ground on crutches, the striker was being sent for an x-ray to ensure it is only a twisted knee as expected by the clubs medical team ‘It is a horrible time to get injured, at this point in the season you are still trying to get your match fitness and sharpness that will see you through the whole season. Sadly because of this I will have to try and get fit and get my sharpness back when most other players already have.’

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[shanghai_nobody]

Page last updated: Saturday, 13 September 2008, 17:00 UK
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England > Premier League > Arsenal
Everton 2 - 3 Arsenal
By David McIntyre

Adebayor is congratulated by his team mates

Two Scotsmen would be pitted against one another today as Morrison and Moyes came head to head, Everton have consistently knocked on the door of the top four without getting in during previous seasons, many critics have stated that if Everton were to break them then Arsenal would be the team to target domestically.

A bright start at Goodison park seen Arsenal take a lead with just twelve minutes gone, Arsenal turned defence to attack in a few swift motions, Enyeama rolled the ball out to the feet of Toure who launched the ball up onto the left wing a stunning ball for Nasri to run onto. Nasri got to the ball with a burst of pace, the Everton defence seemed to expect a cross but Nasri pulled the ball back to Denilson on the edge of the box who took a touch to tee himself up before curling the ball straight into the top right hand corner a stunning goal.

The first half turned into a tighter affair as Everton organised themselves and stood up firmly against a constant barrage of Arsenal attacks while taking a breather from defence to try and breach the Arsenal goal.

After holding Arsenal to just one goal in the first half Everton’s luck ran out minutes after the restart when the London club doubled their lead. New signing Marquinhos set up Adebayor after a neat one two, the Togolese striker came deep to receive the ball from Clichy before slipping it to Marquinhos and turning his man and latching onto a return through ball, Adebayor still had it all to do as he bore down on the Everton boss with two defenders on his heels but his composure remained and he casually powered a low drive past Howard into the corner of the net.

Approaching the hour mark and Arsenal were in cruise control, a freekick worked the ball out to Gael Glichy on the left wing swinging in a deep cross, Adebayor towered above three Everton players to nod the ball to the back post where Marquinhos arrived to smash the ball in from close range to all but seal the three points with over half an hour to go.

Sixty-eight minutes and a resilient Everton were back in the game, a corner was swung in and Gallas could only clear the ball to Yobo who lingered at the edge of the box, swiftly he swung in a deft cross to Osman who latched onto the ball with a stunning volley that drove low through the bodies and into the bottom corner of Enyeama’s net.

Enyeama may not have been at fault for the first goal because of the amount of bodies in front of him obstructing his view but he was at the heart of Everton’s second goal. Arteta slipped the ball to Yakubu at the edge of the box who was closely marked by Toure and no real threat seemed to be forthcoming until Enyeama rushed out eratically, Yakubu showed some quick thinking to swiftly chip the ball over the advancing Enyeama and into an open net.

Ten minutes remained on the clock and a shell shocked Arsenal picked themselves up, they mounted a serious offensive as they attempted to keep Everton pinned back but the last ten minutes ran out with close chances and skied balls. A thrilling second half of football for the neutral spectator.

Everton Manager David Moyes
‘We came back well but the truth is we had given ourselves far too big a job to come back from, scoring two goals against a side like Arsenal is hard enough but three or four just isn’t going to happen.’

Arsenal manager Mark Morrison
‘I was very happy with the way we went forward today, it was the only thing that cause the three points today. Our defence which is usually very tight was sloppy today with some mistakes and we will have to stamp them out.’

Everton: Howard, Neville, Valente (Anichebe ’45), Jagielka, Yobo, Arteta, Baines, Castillo (Jo ’79), Osman, Cahill (Fellaini ’86), Yakubu
Subs Not Used: Nash, Gosling, Jacobsen, Kissock
Booked: Yobo
Goals: Osman 69, Yakubu 78

Arsenal: Enyeama, Sagna, Clichy, Toure, Gallas, Nasri (Vela ’45), Walcott (Arshavin ’45), Fabregas, Denilson, Adebayor, Bendtner (Marquinhos ’45)
Subs Not Used: Fabianski, Djourou, Song, Silvestre
Goals: Denilson 12, Adebayor 48, Marquinhos 57

Att. 40,491 (Goodison Park)

Ref. M.Atkinson

BBC Man of the Match Arsenal’s Emmanuel Adebayor (Player rater 7.5)

[craguuscool]

The injuries are piling up and a tricky, but good win over the Toffees. KIU

[shanghai_nobody]

Posted by Kevin McCarra Tuesday 16th September 2008 15:00 BST The Guardian

Erwin Zelazny gets his move

Seventeen year old Zelazny sealed a £1.4million switch to the Emirates

Many expected this move to go through after Zelazny stated his desire to move, it seemed only a case of FC Nantes and Arsenal agreeing a fee and the clubs did just that settling on a fee of £1.4million for the seventeen year old goalkeeper.

The towering goalkeeper has been involved in the U19 French national set up and is a highly rated goalkeeper at his former club FC Nantes ‘I love FC Nantes and I will always support them but I was not going to get first team football so it makes sense to come to a club like Arsenal. I won’t get first team football here for a few years but I will get the use of brilliant facilities and work with some fantastic coaches.’

Erwin will join up with the Arsenal youth side on the first of January and Morrison is pleased he got his man ‘Most of our keepers are ready for first team football, we lack a bit of competition and depth to our youth keeper and Erwin will sort that. He is a brilliant talent and in years to come will provide stern competition to whoever is number one here at the club.’

Sadly poor Erwin did not seem a big enough capture for the congregated journalists who hounded Morrison with rumours of possible big name signings but Morrison stated his forays into the transfer market were over for the year ‘I’ve spent the transfer budget handed to me by the board and I don’t plan on asking for anymore. Obviously rumours will circle around the club we are a big team and we will always have rumours of players coming or going, I’m happy with the squad I have and any transfers will have to wait until next season.’

So it seems the doors at the Emirates are firmly closed and we have a list of all the goings on at the Emirates for you to gaze upon.

Transfers In
John Fleck – Rangers - £2M
Vincent Enyeama – H. Tel-Aviv - £220K
Henri Saivet – Bordeaux - £2.6M
Jack Rodwell – Everton - £5M
Cheik M’Bengue – Toulouse - £3M
Miltion Caraglio – Central - £130K
Giuliano - Internacional - £1.5M
Yohan Mollo – AS Monaco - £5M
Marquinhos – Internacional - £850K
Jose Baxter – Everton - £2.2M
Erwin Zelazny – FC Nantes - £1.4M
Total = £24million

Transfers Out
Yohan Mollo – Watford – Loan
Francisco Merida – Bristol City – Loan
Henri Lansbury – Hartlepool – Loan
Total = £0

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[Ana_Garcia]

Very good so far

Good signings also!

[shanghai_nobody]

Page last updated: Wednesday, 17 September 2008, 17:00 UK
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England > Premier League > Arsenal
Arsenal 4-1 Fenerbahce
By David McIntyre

Bendtner was on form as he led the Arsenal attack with a brace

Tonight saw Arsenal embark on their Champions’ League group stage when Turkish side Fenerbahce travelled to the Emirates, Morrison stated after the group draws that getting a win at home against the Turks would be imperative due to the tense atmosphere that will welcome them in the return away game.

All the pressure and expectation was firmly placed on the shoulders of Arsenal as they came out onto the pitch but it didn’t show as the Gunners went about dismantling Fenerbahce with ruthless efficiency. Nicklas Bendtner started the rout with just fourteen minutes on the clock, Nasri continued to be the maestro in midfield that gained him comparisons to the legendary Zinedine Zidane as he split open the opposition defence with a pin point pass, his pass slipped straight to the feet of Bendtner who used a stunning first touch to take the ball away from Lugano and create some space for him to drive the ball low into the opposite corner a beautifully taken goal.

Minutes later and Bendtner had the ball in the net once more, Lugano who looked to be charged with marking the Dane was once again left to look foolish as Bendtner bagged his second. Walcott charged down the right wing driving in a low cross to the back post, Bendtner found it all too easy to slip past Lugano and drive the ball home into an open close from close range with a volley.

Half-time was fast approaching and it looked like Fenerbahce would escape with just a two goal deficit but Arsenal swiftly mounted another deadly attack, Denilson robbed Emre of the ball in the middle of the park before dispatching it to Walcott, his cross travelled through the box to the left wing where Nasri waited to swing in a second attempt which was met by the head of Fabregas on the penalty spot the ball was powered straight into the net.

Moments after the restart and Fenerbahce had a slim lifeline, Colin Kazim swung in a deep cross to the back post and Sagna was caught wrong footed as Ugur Boral rounded him to drive the ball home from close range. All Fenerbahce achieved from the goal was to anger the London side who pushed forward with renewed vigour forcing Fenerbahce to retreat and the goal would ultimately be there only shot on target in the second half.

Bendtner turned provider, his through ball was not brilliant and seemed set for the feet of Edu Dracena but Arshavin stole the ball with a deft stab of his foot before running onto the ball. He advanced forward with the ball with only the keeper to beat instead of charging into the box he curled his shot from the edge of the area around the diving body of Demirel and straight into the net a sublime finish, not bad for his first goal in Arsenal colours.

One flashpoint was still to be seen in extra time, Fabregas surged into the box and Emre Belozoglu who already had a yellow card to his name dived in with a rash challenge to bring down Fabregas. The Fenerbahce player was swiftly shown the red card and his marching orders. Carlos Vela popped up to take the spot kick to the bemusement of several Arsenal players on the field, his spotkick cannoned off the crossbar and was swiftly cleared by the head of Kazim-Richards.

Arsenal were on top form tonight and Fenerbahce never really had a chance, from the first minute to the last Arsenal were relentless in their pursuit for goals and the Turkish side were dealt a lesson in attacking football.

Arsenal manager Mark Morrison
‘The lads done exactly what I asked of them today, I told them to go out and don’t hold back because our home form is so important in this competition and they done just that. Every player deserves a mention because it was a stunning team effort.’

Fenerbahce manager Luis Aragones
‘There isn’t much I can say about our performance that was good, we lost our composure and we just couldn’t match Arsenal on the night. Even when we scored it seemed a stupid thing to do as Arsenal moved up another gear.’

Arsenal: Fabianski, Sagna, Clichy, Toure, Gallas, Walcott, Nasri, Fabregas, Denilson (Ramsey ’78), Adebayor (Arshavin ’58), Bendtner (Vela ’78)
Subs Not Used: Mannone, Djourou, Song, Saivet
Goals: Bendtner 14, 19, Fabregas 43, Arshavin 66

Fenerbahce: Demirel, Gonul, Carlos, Lugano, Dracena, Josico (Sahin ’67), Belozoglu, Kazim-Richards, Boral, Alex (Bris ’67), Guiza (Senturk ’64)
Subs Not Used: Babacan, Kuru, Cakmak
Booked: Gonul, Carlos, Belozoglu
Red Card: Belozoglu
Goals: Boral 49

Att. 59,372 (Emirates)

Ref. T.Kinhofer

BBC Man of the Match Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner (Player rater 8.6)

[Hibee]

I'm really enjoying this, a very good story so far :thup:

[vielong]

another great update indeed.. thanks a lot!

assurance vie

[shan0811]

Great win and great update mate..

[vielong]

thanks for the update!

assurance vie