Kvällens Arsenal - 1 april

I Kvällens Arsenal fortsätter Wenger sin kamp mot FA om Wilshere. Andrey Arshavin tror att Arsenals enklare spelschema kan ge titeln. Sist men inte minst återvänder John "Faxe" Jensen till norra London under lördagskvällen.

Wenger

FA och Arsenal inte överens om Wilshere

Inte mer än väntat var det idag Arsene Wengers tur att ge sin syn på Jack Wilsheres vara eller icke vara i U21 EM i sommar. Fransmannen är av förklarliga skäl kritisk till att FA vill att Wilshere ska dubblera när det gäller landslagsspel. Risken är ju stor att Wilshere blir utbränd då Arsenal spelar sin 50:e match mot Blackburn under lördagen och Wilshere gör sin 41:a. Men trots att Wenger vill skydda Wilshere som han uttrycker det får han nog svälja sin stolthet och acceptera att det är FA som har det slutgiltiga beslutet i frågan.

“He looks to be a promising player for the first national team and for Arsenal, so the interest of the FA and Arsenal is to give him the right protection. I don’t want to make a big problem with that because it’s normal he wants to play. That’s more positive than negative. It’s good they want to play because it’s what we all love passionately. But after that, basically the youth system is made to promote the players for the top team and once they are in the top team I don’t see a basic need to go back. Logically, why do you produce a youth system? It is to get them ready to be playing in the first team. Once they play in the first team, your job has been done so you can promote other players. Unless you say we want to go for national pride and ego, so we just play our best players in this tournament, then it is defendable. But that is not basically why the youth teams have been created. If I ask you to give me the winners of the World Cup since it has been created, I am sure you will give me them all. If I ask you to give me the winners of the Under-21s tournaments, you will struggle. That means the basic target is to get the players ready to play in the first team, once they play there it is less useful. It is in the interests of the FA as well that Wilshere is protected. It is normal that you play many games, but there is a number you have to respect and you must make sure you do not make a mistake with a promising player.”, säger Wenger.

Almunia i mål mot Blackburn

Hela Lanchashire jublade när Wenger berättade på dagens presskonferens att Arsenal kommer ha Manuel Almunia i målet mot sitt favoritlag Blackburn. Jens Lehman som har varit igång i två veckor efter att ha avslutat sin karriär för sju månader sen är inte riktigt matchfit. Wenger fortsätter och förklarar att det bästa medicinen för Almunia är att spela match igen efter sitt ofattbara misstag borta mot West Brom.

“Almunia will play tomorrow. I can announce that today, he will be in goal. He looks in good shape in training and Jens gives him good competition. The best thing is put in a good performance in the next game. Jens comes back to being very sharp, he is looking better every day. You do not stop at his age for seven months and you are straight away back but he’s getting better every day. They both look good in training.”, säger Wenger.

Respektkampanjen

FA:s ordförande Richard Scudamore gick tidigare i veckan ut med att det kommer bli betydligt hårdare tag mot spelare och ledare som inte respekterar domarna. Fin tanke i mina ögon men som så många satsningar tidagare lär det inte gå något vidare med denna heller. Det engelska förbundet klarar helt enkelt inte av att vara konsekventa.

Jag minns till exempel förra säsongen då det snackades om respektkampanjen och vad det skulle göra för fotbollen i England men bara efter en match kunde man se att domarna tänkte inte visa ut spelare som är framme och spottar och svär(ingen nämnd ingen glömd). Efter det hade de ingen möjlighet att göra något åt saken och det återigen var fritt fram för spelare att vråla "FUCK!" näsa mot näsa med domaren.

Wenger är med på tåget men kanske inte har samma förhoppningar som FA har på att kampanjen ska ge resultat.

“We can be inspired by what happens in rugby for example. Sometimes the referees get too close to the players as well, and they have to keep the right distance with the players. We all want to be respected. Never did anybody say they didn’t want to be respected. It’s a good campaign. Will the campaign be respected? That’s always very difficult. You want respect on all fronts and sport has to be an example. The managers are always under pressure and sometimes we go a little bit too far, but many times it’s just after the game in moments when it’s very difficult for any manager to keep the right distance with what happened on the pitch.”, säger Wenger.

Spelarna

Arshavin: Spelschemat gynnar Arsenal

Arsenal har under den senaste månaden åkt på flera motgångar men Andrey Arshavin tror att spelschemat som gynnar Gunners kan ta ligatiteln hem till den rätta delen av norra London.

"I think our schedule is not so bad, that is why if we win all our games we have a good chance to be champions. I think everyone in our team would prefer to have more possibilities than only one trophy, but everything is in the past, that is why we have to concentrate on the Premier League matches. Straight after it was very difficult for everyone, but now we have come back after the internationals and have refreshed our minds and maybe it will help us. I think we are in the race.", säger Arshavin.

Den lille tsaren hoppas också på att West Ham kan hjälpa Arsenal redan i helgen.

"I met with Avram Grant yesterday, we had a chat and I have asked him to steal some points from Manchester United this weekend!"

"Every team, including Manchester United  and Arsenal have spells when they are down and we have had our spell. I know the last couple of games we have only got one point but the attitude and performance of the players has been fantastic and for me that is a turning point. That is why when we go to London we might get a result down there and then we can start looking upwards. We just have to have in our minds we have to fight for the place we are in now (13th). We have seen the commitment in training, the sessions have been world class, and so that is why I am not scared we are going to be down there. If the training is poor their heads go down and you have a problem and if you haven't won for seven games and you go 1-0 or 2-0 down normally they go 'game over' but it hasn't happened.", säger Jensen.

"You are always going to enjoy it when you play your former club and I am really looking forward to seeing the Arsenal fans and some of the staff I know - I didn't play with any of the players because it was so long ago. The fans were great. When you have scored in a European Championship final the fans were looking for a midfielder who would score at least 10 goals in the season and then they bought me. You would expect the fans would be on your neck shouting and whistling but the respect I got from them was fantastic and even after two years of not scoring a goal they were still shouting my name. When I eventually scored a goal, even though we lost 3-1, the feeling was amazing when I walked off the pitch. I will always remember that day.", säger Jensen.


Källor: arsenal.com, skysports.com, bbc.co.uk

0 kommentarer

Björn Alm2011-04-01 23:25:00