Tag: xhaka

Eyebrows raised at Wenger´s Arsenal team for Bournemouth

Some Arsenal fans and football pundits were left a little confused in midweek after Arsene Wenger chose to hand a rare start to Olivier Giroud. Not because the French international forward is no good but because he finally got a start in a match that was probably the least suited to the big man´s talents as a player.

After starting him against PSG though, we all expected him to be in the line up for the game against Bournemouth in the Premier League today, as it looks to be the ideal sort of encounter for Giroud, against a deep lying and determined defence, but Wenger has surprised everyone again and left Olivier on the bench.  ...........Read more

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Arsenal with just TWO changes for Basel in Champions League

There has been a lot of speculation about how many changes to the Arsenal starting line up Arsene Wenger will make for the second Champions League group match against the Swiss champions Basel tonight, even more so with Francis Coquelin reminding the Gunners boss of how injury problems have plagued the club in recent years.

Apart from having to replace the defensive midfielder though, with Granit Xhaka the obvious choice, I think we will see just one other change from the 11 players that started and did so well against Chelsea in the Premier League at the weekend. Arsenal do have an EPL match on Sunday to consider but after that is the international break and the trip to Burnley is a game we expect to win anyway.  ...........Read more

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Why Xhaka will only get better for Arsenal in the long run!

Granit Xhaka has had a good start to his Arsenal career having scored two magnificent goals in just a handful of games and has become a favourite amongst the fans. Calls to give Xhaka a starting position on the team against Chelsea were left unanswered by Arsene Wenger last weekend, however now that Francis Coquelin seems to be ruled out for the time being, Xhaka will finally get the chance to kickstart hopefully a long career with the club.  ...........Read more

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Terry absence a HUGE boost for Arsenal against Chelsea

The Arsenal and Chelsea teams are out for today’s big Premier League clash and there are a few surprised and talking points from both sides. The biggest news for me and from an Arsenal point of view is the continued absence of the Chelsea captain and centre back John Terry.

The veteran defender was possibly due to return today and I reckon it is a massive plus point for Arsenal’s chances of winning that he hasn’t made it, because that leaves Cahill and Luiz and the Brazilian has been making lots of mistakes since coming back from PSG.  ...........Read more

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Wenger on why Arsenal can NOW compete in Europe

Arsenal have learned to our cost in recent years that finishing second in a Champions League group, despite being better than not getting out of the group at all, often means that you are drawn against a European giant like Bayern Munich or Barcelona in the next round.

So with our main rivals for top spot this year being PSG, the injury and form problems affecting the French champions at the minute is a big boost to our UCL campaign. Even without that, however, Arsene Wenger feels that the current Arsenal squad is better equipped to compete in this elite competition.  ...........Read more

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Arsenal team for Southampton a BIG risk from Wenger?

While most Arsenal fans have been looking forward to seeing the two late transfer signings in action after the international break, I am not so sure that too many of us would have started with both MUstafi and Lucas Perez against Southampton today.

Mustafi is not such a surprise but to see the Spaniard start in the centre forward position with Olivier Giroud as well as Alexis Sanchez on the bench seems to be a bit of a risk. There is no Granit Xhaka either, and the manager hinted before the game that energy levels after international duty may have been the reason behind his surprise team selection.  ...........Read more

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Arsenal star NOT happy with Wenger’s transfer failings

Being fans of Arsenal Football Club over the last few years has often been a frustrating life, even though we have been luckier than most in having two FA cup trophy wins to celebrate and always making it into the elite European club competition which is the Champions League.

The frustration has been with the way Arsene Wenger and the club refuse to spend the money that everyone else seems to think is needed to transform us from a good team that plays attractive football and gets value for money into a team of true champions.  ...........Read more

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The Arsenal stars I’m backing for Euro 2016

The playing season is over for Arsenal, and it is time to prepare ourselves for the upcoming European Championships, but that doesn’t mean I will be putting my club shirt away for the summer.

Eight of our players have been selected for their respective countries provisional squads for Euro 2016, and I will be keeping a close eye on a number of them for different reasons.

Jack Wilshere is our only star set to grace the England side this summer, and while my priority will be for Jack to return from international duty injury-free, I will of course also be cheering on the Lions. I’m usually one to have a sentimental bet on our side to win the tournament, but the 9/1 (10.0) available is a little short for my liking.  ...........Read more

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Arsenal expecting Xhaka to arrive in £33.8million deal

After last summers transfer window debacle, when Arsenal fans saw Arsene Wenger quickly sign Petr Cech, and then had a tortuous summer wating in vain for Karim Benzema (or any other accompished striker) to join the club. That ended in heartbreak as we all know, and most Gooners will blame Wenger’s failure to buy an established hitman as the reason we missed out on the title.

But this summer must surely be different, with even Wenger himself admitting that he needed to buy some competition for Olivier Giroud (Duh! We have been telling him that for years and he has only just noticed?) It looks like Le Prof has lined up his first arrival already as the Daily Mirror reported this morning:  ...........Read more

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‘Arsenal will spend lots’, but who on? Benzema? Xhaka? Sadiq?

John Hartson has claimed that Arsenal are set to spend heavily this summer, so we thought we’d take a brief look into the latest speculation surrounding the club.

The former Arsenal striker claimed that Wenger knows that his time is running out to add any more Premier League titles to his record, and will invest in the close-season in order to try and achieve that.
One regular transfer target whose name gets brought up every summer is Karim Benzema, and this year will be no different. His club Real Madrid are being linked with a move to sign either Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang or Robert Lewandowski, which is said to free up the Frenchman’s signature, and of course, we are lining up a deal… Unfortunately we all know that Wenger is more likely to milk a Bingo bonus then splash the cash on this necessary addition.  ...........Read more

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