Dagens Arsenal - 23 Mars 2009
Klubben
Årets upplaga av Premier League har som bekant inte bjudit på några större utropstecken för Arsenals del. Ett tag såg det ut som om Laget skulle gå miste om den väldigt värdefulla Champions League platsen till Aston Villa och då var det många som satte ett frågetecken för Wengers framtid i klubben. Ivan Gazidis hävdar nu att Wenger kommer att få stanna i Arsenal livet ut om han så önskar: "I'd like Arsene to stay for as long as he has the motivation to do the job - and I don't see any dimming on his part. He believes in the project. He's built a superb team of young players with great characters and real quality. I think that he will want to see that through. Arsene is one of the best managers in the world and I cannot imagine a situation where he would want to walk away from Arsenal.”
Wenger
Efter att Wengers mannar besegrat skatorna på St James och Martin O’Niell’s Aston Villa fått storstryck av Liverpool så hävdar Arsenal-managern att lagets öde nu ligger i deras egna händer och att det är nu i slutet som varje prestation kan få avgörande konsekvens: "The only thing that has changed compared to two weeks ago is that it is in our hands how well we play, so we don't have to focus too much on the results of Aston Villa. If you drop your performances a little bit, you are quickly caught - we could have been eight points behind Aston Villa two weeks ago. That's why we want to keep our focus and our performances at a high level." Om det nuvarande läget i laget beskriver Wenger stämningen följande: "The spirit is great, the quality is there and we feel we are going forward from game to game. People don't realise how young we are in the Premier league and what we do. Today, you had six or seven players between 20 and 22 on the pitch."
I princip alla har skrivit av Arsenal från någon som helst chans att kunna vara med och slåss om ligaguldet. Men Wenger hävdar hursomhelst att en galen ambition att nå ända fram fortfarande finns i Gunners-lägret: “I still have hope because I am a little bit crazy. Realistically, no it is not on. But it does not matter how much chance that we have, we have to get as close as possible. No team has looked like they were not vulnerable at all this year. Nobody has been really dominating this League this year. We have all had our weak periods. Manchester United won 10 games 1-0 and they have the quality to finish it off. But you can see how important psychology is to a team.”
Målskytten Abou Diaby får också beröm av Wenger som tycker att den gänglige fransmannen har många likheter med Arsenal-legenden, Patrick Vieira: “There are similarities. They are the same stature and the same size and have the similar style. Also Patrick is from Senegal and Abou is from Ivory Coast. But there is a lot of room for him to get where Patrick was. He is only 22 years-old and Patrick is a good role model for him.” Diaby som hade en bedrövlig första halvlek spelade upp sig rejält under andra halvleken mot Newcastle. Wenger om Diabys insats: “In the first half I was not always happy with his performance. There was not a lot wrong but our positioning in the middle was not right some of the time. But in the second half he did well. Abou has power coming through the middle of the park and he showed that on the goal.
Spelarna
Många Arsenal-fans hurrade säkert när det stod klart att Villareal skulle stå för motståndet i den kommande kvartsfinalen i Champions League. Lagen mötes senast 2006 i semifinalen i samma tävling. Mötet på Highbury dominerade Arsenal fullständigt men vanns enbart med 1-0. Matchen gjordes ännu roligare genom att en ekorre sprang runt på planen och så föddes legenden om ekorren "Nigel" som hade mer Champions league-erfarenhet än hela Tottenham. Åter till nuet. Kolo Touré tycker inte att man ska ta lätt på Villareal även om det fanns svårare lag man kunde ställts emot: "I am quite happy with the draw. When you see the other part of the draw, you will say we have the better draw but I will say no, because the holders are in our part, and I still believe they are the overall favourites. Villarreal are a good team; any team with Robert Pires and Marcos Senna in is a good team. They also have a good striker in Giuseppe Rossi. It is 50-50, they are a top four team in Spain, so it will be difficult."
Januari-tillskottet Andrei Arshavin är fortfarande inte nöjd med sin form och lovar att mer kommer att komma från den lille Tsaren. Arshavin på presskonferensen innan matchen mot Newcastle: "I am just getting to know my new team-mates and so, sometimes, I do not know where I should go, where to run or how to use the space. Sometimes I play well, yes, but I would like to show that all of the time. However, it is getting better and better in each game and I will try to improve."
Skadeläget
Goda nyheter kommer angående Theo Walcotts skada. Engelsmannen som ådrog sig skada i avslutningen av ett träningspass under veckan fruktades vara så illa däran att inget spel på resten av säsongen var aktuellt. Men Wenger gav hursomhelst goda nyheter om Walcotts skadesituation: "The scan results were reassuring. Theo still has a swollen knee. The news is there does not seem to be any cartilage or cruciate damage."
Cesc Fabregas och Emmanuel Adebayor räknas vara skadefria och klara för spel till matchen mot Manchester City efter landslagsuppehållet. Gällande Tomas Rosicky så ska han enligt rapporter vara tillbaka i mitten av april men han som skrev det tror väl på tomten också.
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Tack för visat intresse!
