Arsene Wenger has revealed that Jack Wilshere is in contention to play for Arsenal on Wednesday as the Gunners take on Italian side Udinese in their second-leg Champions League play-off.
The French coach was forced to field a very youthful midfield against Liverpool with Emmanuel Frimpong, Aaron Ramsey and Henri Lansbury all making appearances while Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Ryo Miyaichi provided back-up on the bench.
However, with Alex Song and Gervinho available in Europe and Wilshere seemingly on the road to recovery after sustaining an Achilles problem in the Emirates Cup it appears Wenger may be able to call on more experience when his side touch down in northern Italy.
Speaking to Arsenal.com, Wenger revealed the latest team news ahead his side’s important match:
“Song and Gervinho [are back from suspension], maybe Wilshere will be back. Djourou has a chance. We have four or five players who could come back.”
Speaking specifically about Wilshere’s chances of making an appearance, Wenger continued: “He has a chance to play, yes. He trained on Thursday, Friday and Saturday.”
Having been forced by UEFA to sit and watch the first-leg from the stands, following a ban for his behaviour after last term’s showdown with Barcelona, Wenger has now been handed a further two game ban after Europe’s football body decided he had flouted the rules of his suspension by communicating with Pat Rice on the Arsenal bench.
A statement on UEFA.com reads as follows:
“The UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body has suspended manager Arsène Wenger from carrying out his duties at Arsenal FC’s next two UEFA competition matches.
“Today’s decision was taken in relation to the Arsenal manager not abiding by the decision of the Control and Disciplinary Body during the English club’s UEFA Champions League play-off game against Udinese Calcio last Tuesday, 16 August. Wenger is therefore suspended for Arsenal’s second-leg match against Udinese in Italy on Wednesday and then the next UEFA competition fixture for which he would be eligible.
“The Control and Disciplinary Body has also decided to fine Arsenal €10,000 for improper conduct by its officials. An appeal may be lodged against these decisions within three days of the dispatch of the reasoned decision.
“Wenger was serving a one-match suspension, handed down after Arsenal’s UEFA Champions League game at FC Barcelona last season, in the Udinese home match. The UEFA Disciplinary Regulations stipulate that a manager may not communicate with his team during a fixture for which he is suspended and may follow the game from the stands only.”
Ridiculous.
WOW
Absolute joke! No doubt Pat Rice looking to Wenger in the stands, with a trembling lip and a tear rolling down his cheek didn’t help matters.
Quite – was a bit obvious.
Should have kept to the Mourinho laundry basket trick.
“No doubt Pat Rice looking to Wenger in the stands, with a trembling lip and a tear rolling down his cheek didn’t help matters.”
Now that is comedy. I needed a laugh, so thanks for that.
C’mon Jacky boy, we need a hero!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQ7fwti11RM
A bit gay but, oh well
at least you are aware of your own gayness!
Wenger will risk everything to suceed in the Champions League just like he did in the past with Gallas and Fabregas. Let’s hope Jack really is ok.
Cheers Sky. Cockgarglers.
Time to invoke the ECHR act? Restriction of trade etc.
Fukc the world……..it’s us against them (everyone).
You wouldn’t think we were the third most valuable football club…….oh, the disrespect.
Total us against the world. They are all oh so jealous.
fcuk this UEFA man….
strange indeed. but to be honest, the relationship with uefa is not very good and wenger knows this. He should have been less obvious so we could have him on the sideline. time to let some of that old stubborness go and buy a few fresh players and start concentrating on the football. I think this pre-season has been a farce. And its the clubs responsibility. You dont see chelsea, man u or city with 8 players out, 3 red cards and and a manager serving a ban the first three champions league mataches… time to look inwards and say…what… Read more »
Totally agree about sky, obviously a man Ure fan was editor that night. But we should be able to use technology better to get round this. Don’t stick ardent in the directors box. Let him wach from one of the boxes or even a tv. A Bluetooth earpiece in a sub with a cap on behind Pat passing on instructions. And for god sake tell pat to not look round. Appeal this dissicion and he can be on the bench on Wednesday.
Wenger needs to appeal so the ban can be put on hold until the hearing is complete….meaning that he’s able to be in the dug out for the Udinese match
Didn’t Mongriniho have a similar situation when he was chelski manager and he had a dude on the bench with a ‘wooly hat’ on that he was blatantly communicating with? I seem to recall the TV coverage making a big deal of that at the time, however I strangely don’t recall any sanction being put in place because of it. Standard attitude towards Wenger, I really don’t know what he’s done to these people to get them so off side, maybe its his desire to play sexy football and use goal line technology that has them so hell bent on… Read more »
Sorry don’t stick Arsene in the box not ardent. Auto spell strikes again
Sums our club up at moment a complete laughing stock
No dude, you are the laughing stock.
So where were these folks wen barcelona were tapping up our Captain for God knows how long? UEFA====Insanity
[…] day folks. Bad news today I’m afraid. Wenger has been banned by UEFA for two matches for the use of a mobile phone to communicate with Pat Rice. Wow like really? That […]
i think we will have a signing(or even signings) after the udinese game because either we win and therefore have champions league money to spend or we lose and learn that we aren’t competitive enough to beat a team shorn of their 3 best players (sanchez, inler and zapata).
Money to spend isnt the issue, we easily have 60-70m, its wenger not buying or us losing out to other clubs because they pay the going rate faster.
Absolute joke!!! Ive tried to keep away from the ‘ everyones against Arsenal ‘ band wagon but with decisions like this I may have to change my stance. Every manager who has served one of these ridiculous bans has contacted the bench in some way, some more blatant than others ( Mourinho ). Why is Arsene the only one to recieve a charge? Cunts.
He should have done it the Mourinho way in my opinion lol http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4161/is_20050410/ai_n13600434/
Hide in baskets, apply camo onto to his face and no knows its him! Oh wait, he might blow his cover by trying to save money on the camo cream and use crayons instead.
Rubbish!
Fuck UEFA the crooks and fuck the lot of them that have written us “We are Arsenal” time to pull together lads
I’m going to need your help mate – in getting me up and pulling me together. I’m as deflated as the first incident that spawned the word ‘deflated’. The next 10 months of my life CANNOT be filled with this horrible pain, it just can’t……especially with the joyous carriers of bad news – SS News -, all to ready to twist the knife in with a polite smirk. Oh, thinking of arranging a snipping expedition to Catalunya. Pls let me know if you are interested. Thank you. PS. Due to my unstable anxiety levels (a result of recent lack of… Read more »
I understand your pain my brother but help is at hand as Arsenal have just sold the sponsorship rights for its fans depression to the good people at Eli Lilly and Company.
We are now able to get our limited edition Arsenal Prozac for the club shop.
You can choose from a bottle with a picture of Ivan and Stan drinking champagne while they increase ticket prices 30% or the away colour bottle with Stan signing the deal paperwork that sells JW RVP TV to Barcelona.
Apparently Arsenal players have been seen eating Tapa’s at La Tasca in Basingstoke so that makes there DNA Spanish and they have to sell to them.
So how can they actually prove he was communicating with the bench, maybe he was ordering a pizza, have they tapped his phone?
Pat was simply looking up to see if it was raining.
What a joke, UEFA really are unbelievable!
Agree with the lord, fuck em all, utter cunts the lot of em!
wenger should turn up as a fan and shout instructions at the players directly. he cant surely be punished for that. let hims sit in the stand and shout to wilshere/rvp etc
Either that, or he should find a small room with nothing in it except for a chair and a small music system and they can put a cameraman in there with him. At times during the game (when the Italians are rolling around on the floor like they have been hit with a baseball bat), they can cut to Wenger listening serenely to Ace of Base.
Who cares, “we’ve got Cesc Fabregas, we’ve got Cesc Fabregas……………………..oh yeah I forgot, buy some players Arsene FFS!!!!!!!
Gotta love the added fine. “How dare you question our inconsistant and ludacris decisions”
4 or 5 players back?LANS!!!
Blogs, can I respectfully suggest a new tag for articles entitled “Good News”, to help alleviate the doom and gloom hanging over the place right now. Obviously anything that goes in there at the moment will have to be a total fabrication, but that’ll be fine for now. I’d like to get the ball rolling by passing on a rumour I’ve heard that top, and I mean top, scientists are working on a testicle-worrying rabid bulldog, that’s been specifically bred to seek out, mutilate and destroy the ballbags of Barton, Evra Shawcross & Pulis. And it can’t be stopped until… Read more »
+1
I heard it was a Japanese Akita ?
Talking about it not raining but pouring, I’m reading that Chelsea have confirmed a fee for Mata
I am so angry about this, I really wanted us to sign him. Would really love to know why we pulled out, or did he? Knowing chelsea were coming in (with higher wages).
I’m sorry lads but you have got to put the blame on Patt rice for being a yes sir man and not been able to make any decision without the say so of Arsene.
Cunts. The witch hunt continues
Nobody puts Arsene in a corner.
Lol
It’s telling that Arsene couldn’t let Pat Rice run even one single match. Wtf, he’s his right hand man for a generation of football and he can’t let the man run substitutions one time. He just had to know what he was doing but the mad genius refuses to allow anyone to tell him what to do.
Any fucker that get turned down for SAGA health cover should not be on the Arsenal bench on their own in case they piss themselves of swallow their false teeth
In this day and age where you could so easily wear the tiniest device to communicate, you’d think that Wenger would have made it easier on himself if his intention was to circumvent the ban. The fact that he didn’t go to those lengths suggest to me that UEFA was less than clear in its language.
Oh, and lest I forget – Paul Scholes is still a cunt.
Perhaps he was following fifa & uefa’s lead in refusing to embrace such technology. . . .
He was following the rules mate! The club called UEFA up before hand and asked to explain what is and what isn’t allowed. They apparently told him it was fine to communicate via a coach and then at half time changed their minds like the clueless fuckwits that they are. I know the club wouldn’t allow it, but if we decided to tell them to stick their money hungry competion up their arse; i’ll be happy and proud!
You can’t spell “UEFA” without “FA”…cunts
We’ll go thru easy boys. Chill out.
Hahahaha
BREAKING NEWS: “HOWARD WEBB IS THE REFEREE FOR THE MANURE GAME”
Why don’t we just forfeit the game then?
We have already
I miss Bruce Rioch.
psyche!
………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….. fuck.
that is all.
I think we may have dodged a bullet with Mata. Read somewhere he only wanted to move to Barca or Madrid, but when they showed no interest he then OKed a move to England. Give him a season at Chelsea and he’ll probably start crying and agitating about his Barca/Madrid DNA.
just got this, anyone know if it is any truth in it? Would explain much of this summer
http://www.thefootballnetwork.net/main/s378/st170548.htm
[…] are set to appeal Arsene Wenger’s two match ban, handed out earlier today by UEFA. The club believe they have a strong case and did not do anything last Tuesday night that was not […]
hah, when it rains it pours – Wilshere out of tonight’s game plus a few more according to latest reports.
the games tmorra night mate.
arsene, use the old trick of the whole world is against us with the players…..
GET A MASSIVE POSTER AND PUT IT IN THE DRESSING ROOM SAYING…..
THEY ALL ARE AGAINST US……….WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO ABOUT IT!