Arsene Wenger says he’ll sleep better this summer if the Gunners can avoid the rigmarole of a Champions League qualifier by finishing at least third in the Premier League.
Last night’s 3-1 win at Hull City means the Gunners remain well placed to finish as runners up for the first time in a decade; a result that would secure an automatic berth in the group stages of UEFA’s top competition.
Arsenal are currently level on 70 points with Manchester City with a game in hand on Manuel Pellegrini’s side and have a five point lead over Louis van Gaal’s Manchester United ahead of their showdown at Old Trafford in 12 days time.
“It is better for the sleep in the summer,” joked the boss when quizzed on the opportunity to skip an August Euro double-header.
“We want to finish as high as you can. Our competitive attitude is to finish looking at ourselves thinking that we have given the maximum until the last day – that’s what it is about. It will be tight. Tonight we only [nearly] secured top four but let’s see if we can maintain the run and the quality.”
Wenger’s urge for focus was echoed by Santi Cazorla, who also outlined the club’s ambition to challenge Chelsea for the title next time around.
“Of course we want to win the title next year, but second place this season is for now the most important thing,” the Spaniard told Sky Sports.
“We want to finish in the Champions League places and win the FA Cup final.
“I enjoy it a lot when we play here, but the most important thing is the victory. The team is in a good moment and we want to keep this level up until the end of the season.”
In light of the late finish to the current campaign and the early start to next season (potential participation in the Community Shield would see us at Wembley on 1 August) the benefits of two less games next August are pretty obvious. All the more so given the likes of Alexis, Gabriel and David Ospina could be away for much of their ‘time off’ playing at the Copa America.
Big squad, competition, couple of top quality additions and reinvigorated (except Sanchez).
Hard not to be excited.
Wilshere’s potential return to fitness and the team is up there with the most exciting things for me. Still astounds me that there is even the suggestion that we could afford to lose him- I honestly don’t think that another player in our team, including even Sanchez, could score the kind of goal he did against City in the 2-2. Some of his longer passes last night were fantastic and went unnoticed, and I thought his dribbling looked far better than it has since 2011, he seemed to have got that 5 yard burst of pace he’s been missing for… Read more »
Wake up, the guy is average at best. Also doesn’t have enough brain cells to pass the ball before being hit. It’s not rocket science.
Actually he passes the ball just prior to being hit. That way he ensures either a successful pass or a free kick, which is ideal, if he were not injured so regularly. I bet that you criticize him for inviting tackles yet beat Ozil with the other side of the stick for ‘not getting stuck in’. Bet you thought Ramsey was useless too, and that Koscielny was a waste of money and should’ve got Chris Samba or Scott Dan instead, right? I’m entitled to my opinion, and in this case it will also be your opinion in about 6 months… Read more »
Can’t wait to see him in a City shirt next season and out injured again.
Everything else you said is incorrect, so I shall presume you are on this too.
Cheers
Why does your filthy club want to buy this Average player then? u Arse! Wilshere is my avatar i shall strike you over the internet now with CAPS LOCK. BE GONE YE TWAT
Lloris, Reus and Schneiderlin. Overspend a bit if needed. 30m on Hugo, 35m on Marco, and 20 on Morgo. Just do it. Get rid off Flamini, Poldi.
You are so bang on point
get Lloris in to replace the best goalkeeper of 2015
get Reus in to replace our player of the year – he plays in the sanchez role
get schneiderlin in to replace our next best player of the year –
spend 85 million to replace or cover our three best performers….
Won’t we have the same weaknesses?
Won’t we have the same vulnerability?
No not our defence –
Our whiney, football illiterate fan base?
They’re really coming out of the woodwork today, aren’t they? Haven’t seen so many idiots speak at once since the last time we had an NDP government in British Columbia.
I am loving Arsenal’s form and making a pretty penny off them too,long may it continue. Am curious what the fans think Arsenal need to get to that next level and dismantle PSG, Barcelona’s, Bayern Munich’s, Real Madrid and Chelsea’s and win the Champion’s League. A lot of talk about the spine but I’m not sure when Ospina has put a foot wrong? Has he ever let in more than one goal? I can see the need for another Sanchez type on opposite wing. Sadly do not think Walcott should stay, being really ruthless. A pacey striker to alternate with… Read more »
Unfortunately some people read and believe the news-comics which have fuckwits like Phil Neville saying we need a new GK….
I still think another striker Chambers not good enough 4 dm and Schneiderlin be perfect get gabriel more involved mert to slow 4 my liking and say Cech and gundugan plus this quote from wenger looks great instead of no need to buy Arsene Wenger: I’ll only be signing world-class stars for Arsenal this summer all in all roll on next season
OK, so you must have seen Chambers playing DM if you think he’s not good enough in that position.
A passing holding midfielder as a backup/alternative to Coq – Lars Bender would be a good option. Gundogan too if he wasn’t suffering from Hargreavesitis. Carvalho would be a good alternative as well as he can fill in at CB which I think we need a back up of. Mertesacker and Koscielny will be another year and campaign older and Kos has his injury niggles. Maybe some truth in a true GK challenger – Cech maybe? Otherwise, not sure it’s a priority, only if there’s the “top, top quality” that he likes. But interesting that Wenger thought Sanchez would be… Read more »
“does he think Giroud will be a 25 league goal striker? Because that’s what’s needed”
14 in 23 PL starts isn’t far off 25 in a full season, is it?
It’s consistency though isn’t it? And everyone has dry patches, even Sanchez had it. Don’t get me wrong, I’m a big fan of Giroud but I don’t think he’ll do it on his own. Our model relies on the supporting cast managing a higher tally of goals than is average for a high performing player in that position. So Ramsey for example will have the media going “scores like Lampard” but our strategy means he has to. We’ll become reliant on the midfield achieving high goal tallies rather than one striker managing it.
I completely agree about Ospina, I think he has been one of our best signings in years – our defence is so much happier with his solid low key brilliance behind them. He is undoubtedly one of the best keepers in the Prem.
All the talk about Cech? Great as he was (and he undoubtedly was), his best days are behind him. As long as Chez is happy to stay and fight for the shirt, I think we are okay in the goalkeeping department. In that situation, the money would be better spent elsewhere.
That is an early start to next season, any reason why? (It’s money isn’t it?)
I think it’s because of the Euro the summer after, so an early start allows for an early finish.
I find it hilarious that “pundits”, who used to jeer Arsene whenever he talked about finishing season in top-4, are crowing about how Top-4 is “a crucial next-step”/”worthy aim”/”achievable goal”/”important for the club” now that Liverpool and ManU are locked in a tussle for the fourth place.
Well, because we has been playing in CL for what seems like forever and people have taken that for granted and cunterously asked for something ‘better’.
Cunterously! hahahahaha, how nicely put. Just added that to my vocabulary
I wonder too
It just shows that expectations aren’t the same between a big club and a small club.
Arsenal used to be top 2 with Manchester that’s why top 4trophy was derided. Liverpool aren’t realistically expected to challenge, and man united fell off the wagon so hard that top 4 would be progress.
It’s just part of the media narrative to put us in a negative light. Yesterday the Monday night football show was all about how awesome Chelsea were and how supposedly we are ‘lower league bullies’. All the ‘compliments’ we get are postfaced with a but and anything good we did was given begrudging coverage. For example they talked about how Chelsea’s Zouma was the only player to ever deal with Fellaini in a big game? Which completely misses how the Coq put him in his place and that was at Old trafford. Also we created a number of good chances… Read more »
Good to hear Santi talk about next season. Hope to God he stats I’m the summer.
He can stat all he wants, but I’M the summer!
Ha ha. Don’t know what happened there buy you get my drift anyway.
You can buy me any time.
hopefully his summer stats read as league leader in beaches visited, beach football goals scored, and hours slept!
I think most of us were gutted when we started this season really badly and expected those key signings to sort out our mess. Without a World Cup, extra CL games and no tour we should have a great season. Squeeze a little Premiership title in before the Euros next year?
My only worry is the Copa America on the summer will affect Alexis’.
An earthquake wouldn’t affect Alexis!
You do know we have a tour to Singapore?
Well a tour would insinuate you’re going to multiple places. Aren’t we just going to play 2 games in Singapore then head to Austria for the training camp?
We usually go to 3 or 4 countries before heading home for the Emirates Cup.
Not having to play the CL qualifier, I hope would help us not finish our summer business early as well – we wouldn’t have to wait to see if we qualify (not that we haven’t in Wenger’s era).
While Shad’s impact is appreciable, I hope Wenger still plans for sufficient cover in the team to enable a sustained league challenge, while competing well in the cups as well. We are well stocked in most areas but there is always room for improvement.
It is definetly not as important with champions league football as Mr. Wenger suggests. It is important because it is a valuable income. But as you saw with Di Maria and Falcao. Good players sometimes follow money more than their heart.
I think in both cases, the players were forced out by their clubs to Man Utd.
it’s man U. it’s not just money, it’s knowledge their shit form probably isn’t long lasting.
Fortunately we have not had such problems with form, just $, and those problems are gone!
There will be not a lot of transfer activity coming in – GK = Unless Szez goes we have no need – if he does i think wenger is more likely to bargain bin this one and let them compete with Martinez Defence – Its the best balanced back 4 in the league with huge reserve – Debuchy, Gibbs, Gabriel and chambers can’t get in the team. Defensive Midfield – Flamini may go – But Coq, Santi and Arteta may be enough to keep the power dry on sneiderlin Attacking Midfield – Fabregas was passed on last summer – not… Read more »
If Walcott leaves I think it will only be because we are bringing somebody better in. Somebody in the range of Reus/Sterling/Isco.
Walcott can’t get in the side because Ramsey can’t get in the middle
Walcott is a right winger so i can’t see a direct swap for any of those you mention
Isco plays centrally in the Cazorla role.
Reus is left sided in the sanchez role
Sterling is also left sided
Wenger may move sanchez across to accomodate reus but then he is forced to drop ramsey…
not going to happen.
Walcott is a great plan B – if he moves wenger may buy but he won’t be guarenteeing a berth in the first team
If Walcott gets his form back, Welbeck will lose his game time, simple as that. Walcott hasn’t played a lot, not even the equivalent of 5 games in a year and half. Wenger knows this. He is not judging him on the basis of his current form. There is a bit of mind game for contract negociations but not much has changed for Walcott. Those fans who are pushing him out will be disappointed.
Agree with you almost fully. As much as I like Arteta, the DM is a position that we probably need some cover in. The difference that Le Coq has highlighted the last piece of the jigsaw (as Stilberto mentioned in one of his columns) to a title winning side. We don’t have a natural replacement for Le Coq. For the 2nd season running, we would be tempting fate in the defensive positions. As big as Le Coq’s growth has been, can’t expect him to play a across the league as well as the cups. Also, Welbeck or Rosicky not being… Read more »
I think it’s a bit early to call time on Akpom!
Absolutely, but I’d be surprised if he wasn’t loaned out again next season.
If things keep going as they are, next season will be out most successful in over a decade. We just need a continued run of fitness from the majority of our squad, and possibly two signings this summer.
We all know Wenger will be scouting at the Copa America. Just have a word in Messi’s ear 😛
http://informationng.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/wenger_beach.jpg
Wenger’s most important decision this summer is whether he looks for back up to Coquelin or sticks with Arteta.
Coq, without doubt, has been the revelation of our season and is the single player who, if injured, would totally upset the balance of the team. It would be folly to think he can play a 60 game season without injury or rest.
At the same time, he is so improved, with names such as Bender and Schneiderling being bandied about, you wonder if established DMs are needed quite as urgently as before.
It’s a tough one.
Chambers will be back-up Coq. We’ve got Bellerin and Debuchy at right back, three central defenders. No room for Chambers in either of those positions. Besides, Wenger talked about Chambers as a future midfielder when he signed him last summer. It would be very unlike him to sign a big money midfield tackler, especially when there’s an ‘internal solution’ available. So no Bender and no Schneiderlin. You’re welcome.
And if he does sign someone for big money, it will be someone quick and nimble for the right wing position. Who scores like Theo or Podolski but is a better all-round player.
Like Ox?
No, like Gnabry.
Yes, like Ox. Two oxen for each flank, two strikers, two playmakers, two central midfielders of guile, two central midfielders of grit and graft. So if he signs anyone, and he is claiming he will only sign few established world class players now, I’m betting it’s going to be a winger.
The OX scores nothing like Walcott or Poldi, especially not from the wing.
good luck trying to win the league that way
You need than 3 CBs, 4 at least. Where is everybody getting this idea again that 3CBs is enough? It wasn’t enough in the beginning of the season (Kos, Per and Chambers), why would it be now? Also, is there true evidence that Chambers can excel as a DM? All his DM outings proved to be quite unspectacular, with his turn of pace being a weakness there. Let’s stop with this squares in holes solutions that has bugged us for years, let’s develop Chambers as a future CB and get a back up DM for Coq, if there isn’t any… Read more »
You mean the one game he played against southampton in Defensive Midfield, got taken off early cos 2 goalkeeping errors meant we had to chase the game? Way to judge him on 50 mins in that position
I’m Just reading the Amy Lawrence book about the invincibles and i am struck by the players attitude towards each others – The all had a deep respect and trust in one another. They had friendship on and off the pitch and that allowed them to be happy to tear lumps out of each other on the training field and speak their minds about where others could improve. they were all winners. You look around this team and you see a very similar dynamic forming = you don’t have the RVP lead twee nonsense of pretend humility – you have… Read more »
That everyone is so excited about beating HULL tells you everything you need to know. Alexis’s first goal was a DEFLECTION and Ramsey’s goal was lucky, TO SAY THE LEAST. Ozil can’t score TO SAVE HIS LIFE and Giroud DISAPPEARED for another game. Chelsea WALTZED TO THE TROPHY, and only late season meltdowns by City and United are even keeping us in the top four. OPEN YOUR EYES, GOONERS!
WENGER OUT!!!
/sarc
Shut the hell up before you get assisted…
Everyone is entitled to their own opinion no matter how stupid it is. There are fans within our club with similar views on the manager. It is important to have a debate without getting overly aggressive.
Do you really think this guy wants a debate?
It’s a send up of the WOB. Hence, the /sarc.
Whoosh….
(/sarc)
You’re largely missing the point, even given the assist of the sarcasm font. Apparently, so is just about everyone else who reads it.
It’s sarcasm, dude. Hence, the /sarc. I’m guessing you didn’t pick up the hint.
I think most people were excited by the way we played throughout the game and not the fact that we actually managed to beat Hull. Alexis, Özil, Cazorla, Ramsey and Coquelin had an outstanding game last night and every attack you had the feeling that we could get something out of it. What you saw last night was absolutely world class play at times, if you watched the game at all that is.. Özil was not signed to score goals and by the way he had a very good game last night with lots of important passes and he was… Read more »
Are you aware that the Chavs have scored more deflected goals than us this season?
They’ve also had less deflected goals scored against them.
themadparson OUT!!!
Didn’t Lampard deflect every single goal that wasn’t a penalty?
The sarcasm font was there to indicate, well, sarcasm.
Its funny how you get downvoted even though you indicated that you are being sarcastic. The reason for that is you are close to the truth i think..
Its funny how you get downvoted even though you indicated that you are being sarcastic. The reason for that is you are close to the truth i think..
(Sorry hit the wrong reply button before)
I have never looked forward to a season in the past eight years like I am for the next one. We are genuine title contenders and depending on what we do in the summer, we could be favourites.
The potential10 point gap by Chelsea is a farce and not a true reflection of our respective qualities; we should eat that up without much fuss next term.
You tell them mate! COYG!
I would buy Pogba/Kondogbia, Lacazette/Isco/Reus and Lloris/Cech. The keepers would be difficult to get, though and I don’t know what the alternatives are. The big decision is in attack: Sanogo/Campbell/Silva/Giroud/Welbeck/Akpom/Podolski. Something has to give.
Yes, Santi. You are not going anywhere. You’re gonna your buddies at arsenal to lift that premier league title over your head next season.
Ozil is a flop.
Sure, the ” flick” was decent, but I remember even Terry Phelan could do that.
I sure hope the sarcasm font is broken because that is just plain stupid.
Can’t really be sure with Ger – his previous post was about getting his sister to “ride” Rafa! FFS!
When is #fatie today?
He wanted a point yesterday and I thumbed him down 10 times.
How do you ask for a point when I have staked my life savings on an Arsenal Win?
Shame on you FAT-Gunner.
Up the Arse.
#COYG
Don’t encourage him.
It’s like baiting a 4 year old… sad.
To be fair to Fats he said a point would do to make it St Totteringham’s Day – unless I missed another post from Captain Negative as i like to call him
I think he said a point against ManU was sufficient, win out all others. I could be wrong though.
Considering the handicap we offered ourselves at start of season without a Cback to pair with Per, we’ve done considerably well to come from deep and end up in and around second. Frankly, those who say that the performances this calender year have no consequence are a bit blind. Our improvement coincided with the return to stable partnership of Meterescielny following Koscielny’s return. This allowed the fullbacks (Monreal in particular) to play to their actual strengths out wide and cut out the dangerous crosses from wide areas where we leaked most goals at start of season. Coquelin has been a… Read more »
Reply function seems to be broken – replying to the comment below the one you have clicked. Or my computer is broken.
Abdenour much about Fekir tbh