WENGER HAILS BOULD

The Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said that the impact of the new assistant manager Steve Bould at the club is quite evident. According to Arsenal Football News, the long serving assistant manager at the club Pat Rice decided to retire from football at the end of last season.

He was replaced by Steve Bould at the start of the season. He has made an immediate impact at the club by being largely responsible for the three consecutive clean sheets Arsenal have kept in the opening three matches of the new Premier league season. Keeping clean sheets has always been a major problem for Arsenal, but the defence has been extraordinarily solid in the first three matches.

The Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has to attributed this increased defensive strength within the team to the arrival of the assistant manager Steve Bould. Despite not having conceded goals in the first three matches of the season, Arsenal have only one victory to show for their efforts. The lone victory came in the 2-0 win over Liverpool during the weekend when the new signings Lukas Podolski and Santi Cazorla opened their accounts to the club. Speaking after the match, Wenger praised the defence solidity of the club.

“We have played two teams who didn’t really attack, but he [Bould] is doing a good job. We continue our training regime. He has taken over from Pat Rice for the defensive job where he is doing very well. Will we finish with the best defence in the league? I hope so. No, no, we want to score goals, but Steve Bould is doing very well and I am confident we have a good defensive record at the end of the season,” said Arsene Wenger after the Liverpool match. Wenger has said that this victory will push Arsenal to a good start to the season.

WENGER WANTS MORE

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has revealed that he is looking to bring in two more players before the end of the transfer window. Arsenal have been one of the active teams in the transfer window this season. The manager Arsene Wenger has finally seen the need to bring in experienced players in order to win trophies. The club has brought in the 27-year-old Lukas Podolski and the 27-year-old Santi Cazorla in the transfer window. They are expected to rejuvenate Arsenal ahead of the start of the new season. However, like in the previous seasons, the club has also lost important players in the form of Robin van Persie and Alex Song.

It has certainly made the squad thinner than before, which has been accepted by the Arsenal manager. He has had on the official website of the club that he is looking to bring in two more players before the end of the transfer window in order to complete the squad. Arsenal sold the star striker Robin van Persie to Manchester United for £ 24 million, while the 24-year-old midfielder Alex Song was sold to the Spanish club Barcelona for £ 15 million. Arsenal have lacked the cutting edge in the last seven seasons due to the lack of experienced players.

”We are looking to bring one more midfielder in of course, and maybe one defender as well because we still feel we are short in some positions. We didn’t lose, but it is frustrating when you are home with everyone here and you do not create more chances than we did. It is very difficult to understand,” said Wenger on the official website. Arsenal began the new season with a disappointing 0-0 draw against Sunderland at home. Arsenal missed the number of crucial opportunities to take the lead in the match.

GIROUD JOINS ARSENAL

Arsenal are close to securing their second major signing of the summer after it was revealed that they have agreed a £ 13 million deal for French striker Olivier Giroud.

The Montpellier striker won the French league title last season after almost single-handedly helping the club to the title by scoring 25 goals in all competitions last season.

Arsenal are extremely wary that Robin van Persie could hand in a transfer request any moment now, and follow Cesc Fabregas out of the club. This coupled with the fact that Marouane Chamakh has been a major disappointment has meant that they had to bring in a new signing in the striker department this season. They have already secured the signing of German international Lukas Podolski for around £ 10.9 million.

Now, Arsene Wenger has taken the total spending in the summer to about the £ 20 million mark after bringing in French striker Olivier Giroud. Montpelier managed to win the French league title this season ahead of the big spending PSG. It has been one of the most astounding stories in world football due to the fact that Montpelier had a budget less than the monthly wages of PSG striker Pastore.

Once this deal is completed, Arsenal are expected to sell striker Nicklas Bendtner and Marouane Chamakh, according to Arsenal news.

“Discussions are happening and going well, as part of the [release] clause set. Things are moving serenely,” said the President of Montpelier, Laurent Nicollin.

Meanwhile, Arsene Wenger has once again come out with a statement saying that he feels extremely confident that Robin van Persie’s future lies at the Emirates stadium. The 28-year-old Dutchman has been linked with a move abroad after failing to agree to a new deal. He has also been linked with Premier league champions Manchester City, although the Manchester club are willing to pay only £ 15 million in transfer fees.

ARSENAL WILL LOSE RVP

Former Arsenal midfielder Patrick Vieira has said that the hopes of Arsenal retaining Robin van Persie in the summer look to be diminishing very fast indeed.

The French midfielder has said that one of the reasons for the inconclusive future of Robin van Persie is that Arsenal have left it too late to start their contract negotiations.

It is extremely surprising that Arsenal have allowed Robin van Persie to enter into the final year of his contract without a possible negotiation at a much earlier stage. It has been a tremendous season for Robin van Persie after the Dutchman has scored 41 goals in all competitions for both country and club.

Hence, he is in a much better negotiating position than a year ago when he struggled with a lot of injuries. Due to the impressive season, Patrick Vieira believes that a number of clubs like Manchester City, Barcelona, and Real Madrid will show interest in the player. Hence, it is going to be even more difficult for Arsenal to retain his services given that he is likely to get wages of around £ 200,000 per week elsewhere. It is unlikely that Arsenal will break their strict wage structure.

“It will be as difficult [for Arsenal] as when they lost Cesc Fabregas or Samir Nasri last summer. And if they lose Robin now, who is left behind? Of course, it is going to be difficult to keep him or convince him to stay, but I don’t know what is the plan for them. I don’t think you have many talents like Robin who have just one year left on their contracts – I think there will be a lot of teams who want a signing like him,” said Patrick Viera regarding the future of Robin van Persie, who has been linked with Manchester City.

Cesc out for 6 Weeks

Arsenal’s Premier League title challenge was dealt a huge blow on Thursday after captain Cesc Fabregas was ruled out for at least six weeks with a cracked bone in his right leg.

“Cesc will miss the remainder of the domestic campaign as he will be out of action for at least six weeks,” a statement on the club’s website (www.arsenal.com) said.

The Spain midfielder injured his right fibula in a collision with Barcelona defender Carles Puyol in Wednesday’s 2-2 Champions League quarter-final first leg draw.

He picked himself up to tuck away the resulting penalty for Arsenal’s equaliser and hobbled through the final eight minutes before leaving the stadium on crutches muttering that he feared the worst.

Cesc out against Porto

Cesc Fábregas has been ruled out of Arsenal’s Champions League clash with Porto tomorrow because of a hamstring problem, meaning another day in the Arsenal Hospitality Tickets.

The midfielder limped off after scoring the opening goal in the 3-1 win over Burnley on Saturday. The tightness was in the same hamstring he injured earlier in the season, which kept him out at the turn of the year.

The Arsenal manager, Arsène Wenger, said: “We cannot even take a gamble, so he is not available.”

Sol Campbell did, however, join in training and he looks set to recover from a groin problem in time to face the Portuguese side, who will take a 2-1 lead to the Emirates Stadium for the second leg of the last-16 tie.