Who would have thought that Swansea at home this Saturday would be such a pivotal game in the Arsenal's Premier League campaign? Not this subscriber, that's for sure. You see, I saw the season thus far panning out like this; Geordies away, three points, nae messin', man.

Bin-dippers at home?

Arsenal skipper Robin van Persie has claimed that his teammates outplayed Blackburn in Saturday's 4-3 defeat and he is still shocked that Steve Kean's struggling outfit was able to score four times.

Although the Dutchman acknowledged the need to stop conceding soft goals in order to rebound quickly from a third defeat in only five Premier League matches, he reminded the Rovers that they were fortunate to emerge as the winning side at Ewood Park.

4-1-4-1 accommodates Germany's attacking options and underlines Germany's defensive weaknesses. If Jogi Löw considers 4-1-4-1 his formation of choice for next year's Euros, then he has a lot of work to do, to get the balance between offense and defense right. It's perfect for high scoring friendlies and against smaller teams though.

Robin van Persie has tipped Arsenal youngster Ryo Miyaichi to achieve greatness at the club given the Japanese starlet's work ethic and positive attitude towards the game.

Van Persie watched from the sidelines as Miyaichi and the rest of Arsenal's Carling Cup squad defeated Shrewsbury Town 3-1 at the Emirates Stadium but even before the kick-off, he only had good things to say about his prodigal teammate.

I went to the website Transfer League to look at Arsene Wenger's recent transfers. I was looking for a pattern for this oft-cited project. But you can't find significant patterns on just dates and prices. And overall, it's not that ...
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Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was delighted with last Saturday's three points as the Gunners can look forward to today's game with optimism and confidence. Speaking to Arsenal Player on Monday, the Frenchman confessed that his players ...

Song gives the thumbs up for this return

Champions League returns. Not the rubbish play-off but the actual proper group stage. One that we are participating in the 14th consecutive season. That is one hell of a record of consistently being one of the top teams in Europe. I won't argue if you say that the re-branded top European competition now extends to non champions of individual leagues as well.

Will Blackburn or Arsenal end their worst starts to a Premier League season? Ten key stats for this weekend's fixtures

The Ewood Park clash has plenty at stake as Arsene Wenger's side kick-off the weekend in England's top flight, while Javier Hernandez will be one to watch against Chelsea on Sunday

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-09-16 13:25:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Just as Arsene Wenger shouted his confidence that Arsenal have already getting back on track after the humiliating defeat against Manchester United, the opposite occurred again as the London outfit surprisingly beaten by Blackburn Rovers in a thrilling match at Ewood Park.

The Gunners were actually leading until the end of first half but everything simply collapsed in the second period as the match ended with a 4-3 victory for the Rovers.

Video highlights and reaction

When Arsene Wenger spoke about the need to add consistency to our game, like most of you I thought about a sequence of results and performances which would win points for the football club. I'm pretty sure that he did too, looking to add to the midweek draw and the win against Swansea last weekend.

Blackburn Rovers 4 Arsenal 3
For all I said that it was time pressures which precluded me from blogging as much as I used to, it's also that I don't really see the point of writing the same thing over and over again, especially when other people are also writing the same thing.

After initially attributing Arsenal's shocking 4-3 defeat at Blackburn to fatigue and a stroke of misfortune, Arsene Wenger has finally broken his silence on what he thinks has led to the club's worst start in 58 years.

The Gunners have managed only four points from 15 in their opening five fixtures and their latest setback at Ewood Park caused many to wonder precisely what it is that continues to cause issues at the Emirates Stadium despite a host of major signings bolstering the squad at the transfer deadline day.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was clearly happy after the Gunners reached the fourth round of the Carling Cup after a tricky game against Shrewsbury Town, on Tuesday. Speaking after the game, the Frenchman explained that the ...

On the day the Arsenal board came out swinging at Arsene Wenger's critics virtually promising a lifetime guarantee of employment, Inter's president Massimo Moratti was showing the door to Gian Paolo Gasperini after just five matches.

Today, Inter named his successor and it is Claudio Rainieri who in a twist was Jose Mourinho's predecessor at Chelsea before getting fired.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger is ready to sign new players in the January transfer window but is at the moment focused on doing well with the players at his disposal. Speaking to Arsenal Player on Friday ...

Never mind continuing his goal streak, I'll be happy be a defensive performance

There's only so many times one team can restart a season, which is why I won't even go into this thinking that this is where it begins for us again. We are now in 17th position in the league. Our next opponent, Bolton is 19th.

Carlo Ancelotti has been pinpointed as a potential replacement for underfire Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger. According to The Sweeper, the North London club are closely monitoring Ancelotti's situation and are weighing up a possible deal which will bring the Italian to the Emirates Stadium as early as January 2012.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has revealed that he knows nothing about Theo Walcott's freak injury at the end of Arsenal's 3-0 win over Bolton.

The Gunners were on course for a major celebration as skipper Robin van Persie completed a century of goals with an impressive brace and Alex Song struck late with a clinical finish.

By Alan Duffy

Arsenal 3-0 Bolton Wanderers Premier League September 24 2011

Gunners captain Robin van Persie made it a century of goals for Arsenal as Arsene Wenger's under-pressure charges produced a decent enough performance to beat Bolton 3-0 at the Emirates.

Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey has warned Olympiakos that breaking the Gunners' long-standing unbeaten streak at home will be an uphill task for the Greek giants.

Arsene Wenger has led the Gunners through a brilliant spell during which they have gone undefeated at home during the Group Stage since 2003 and Ramsey believes that the squad can take tremendous confidence from playing at the Emirates.

On a day when many managers strive to negotiate the ideal transfer fee for their ideal targets, there is often a realization that the ideal deal might not be struck after all.

Fortunately for these managers, not all is lost when they fail to agree a fee for someone they really want to bring to their clubs.

Jurgen Klinsmann connected with Scott French to discuss his coaching influences, as well as to refute some of the criticism he recently received from his tenure with the German national team.
"I had wonderful coaches throughout my career, from an [Arsene] Wenger [at AS Monaco] to a [Cesar Luis] Menotti [at Sampdoria] to a [Franz] Beckenbauer [with West Germany's champs and at Bayern] to a [Berti] Vogts [with Germany's national team] to [Ossie] Ardilles [at Tottenham and Giovanni] Trapattoni [with Bayern] -- they've won everything.

Well, at least everyone's smiling in the first row at UEFA'S 13th Elite football Club Coaches Forum which took place yesterday. Noticeably missing : the coaches of Liverpool and Real Madrid. Guess no one wants to be in the same room as MouMou these days, eh?

Arsene Wenger was recently in Switzerland with a host of other top European managers to discuss the future of the game. Other attendees at the UEFA conference included Sir Alex Ferguson, Pep Guardiola and Andre Villas-Boas. A ccording to the Metro Ajax coach Frank De Boer revealed a controversial proposal put forward by the Arsenal [.

Every time I've ever mentioned improving the squad, and I've definitely mentioned it once or twice (crickets), a flock of angry apologists fly to the comments section to claim, "This isn't Football Manager, you American ...

By Andy Brunning

Now that deadline day's out the way, it's time to take a look at who's feeling smugly self-satisfied about the whole affair and who spent the small hours of last night crying into their pillow at the injustice of it all. Here, in no particular order, are the four biggest winners and losers to emerge from yesterday's dealings.

Summer transfer window winners and losers: Football Spy Darren Lewis rates each Premier League club's business

Arsenal: LOSERS Are Mikel Arteta and Yossi Benayoun really adequate replacements for Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri? Arsene Wenger left his shopping far too late.

Well I'm back as the designated D&G (doom and gloom) blogger of the group, to keep anyone from getting too excited about how the transfer window ended. But there are quite a few positives to take from the last few days, and I want to be fair and balanced. And to be even more magnanimous than usual, I'll present 10 pieces of good news, coupled with only 5 pieces of bad news.

Arsene Wenger's massive defensive acquisition Per Mertesacker has quickly endeared himself to the Gunners faithful by insisting that he has always been one of them while growing up in Germany.

The former Werder Bremen skipper revealed that he was not sure if the opportunity would ever arrive for him to play for Arsenal but having watched his boyhood club hammered 8-2 by champions Manchester United at Old Trafford last weekend, the 26-year old is looking forward to helping the team recover.

I think I've got post-traumatic stress disorder. I keep getting these weird flashbacks. Like, I'm going along normally, minding my own business and then it's:

MUST BUY LEFT BACK!

Not so good when you're in the supermarket, frantically searching the vegetable section for a suitable candidate.

By Alan Duffy

Like Gulliver in Lilliput, 6'6″ German giant Per Mertesacker towers above Arsene Wenger's collection of pint-sized playmakers, including the diminutive Russian Andrei Arshavin.

Arsenal fans wanted height, and lo and behold, the French tactician gave them height.

By Alan Duffy

Like Gulliver in Lilliput, 6'6″ German giant Per Mertesacker towers above Arsene Wenger's collection of pint-sized playmakers, including the diminutive Russian Andrei Arshavin.

Arsenal fans wanted height, and lo and behold, the French tactician gave them height.

Nicklas Bendtner: "I will never go back to Arsenal," he is quoted as saying in The Sun. "If I can have it my way, I will never play for them again."

OK. Part of this lashing out is Arsene Wenger's fault for sticking Bendtner out in the wings, in areas, where he was ineffectual.

Nicklas Bendtner has vowed never to return to Arsenal after sealing his loan switch to Sunderland.

The Danish international secured a season-long loan move to Sunderland on transfer deadline day after finding himself out-of-favour at the Emirates.

The 23-year-old believes he has not been given a fair chance in Arsene Wenger's side ever since he had a car crash two years ago.

Should be slightly happier after scoring 4 goals for Holland

International break, the kind of break we as club supporters always detest. In this instance though, it is a welcomed one. Especially after the crazy last week that we had. Starting with the bashing we took at the reigning champions to the frenzy last few days of the transfer window.

I'm not really sure I have a firm answer to that question, and this blog will be based on a lot of speculation on my part. To be honest, I don't know what exactly happens behind the scenes, in terms of who's controlling the purse strings and making major decisions about financial issues. But what's interesting to me is the fact that when people complain about what's going on at Arsenal (especially during the transfer window), almost all of the comments pertain to either the board or to Wenger.

Jack Wilshere reckons Arsenal must win a trophy this season to prove they are the next best thing to Champions League winners Barcelona. Gunners midfielder reckons it is "unthinkable" that Arsene Wenger's outfit don't finish in the Premier League top four despite a torrid start to the campaign.

Even before last weeks mauling at Manchester United Arsenal and Arsene Wenger were getting more than their fair share of criticism. That has been the case this week as well with ex-managers and players jumping on the band wagon too. The latest journalist to have their say is Mark Lawton who writed ofr the Daily [.

By Alan Duffy

According to The Mirror, Jack Wilshere may not kick a ball in anger for Arsenal until December. The young England schemer has yet to play a competitive game for the Gunners this season after injuring himself in pre-season and is currently forced to wear a surgical boot.

I have oft imagined Arsene Wenger in his shorts, and h... erm, this doesn't seem like the right way to start this article, or any article. I wasn't stressing on his shorts, my mind has not been warped to that extent yet. Allow me to rephrase.

I have oft imagined a huge watering hole, and a hesitant Arsene Wenger standing next to it, incidentally clad in shorts (the attire is merely for convenience, it could just as easily be a parka, three-piece suit or tiger outfit) and looking at the watering hole wistfully.