Ivan Gazidis+Arsene Wenger Address Annual General Meeting (AGM) 2012

Wenger's Press Conference Pre-Schalke 04

Wenger's View On Norwich: It was a shock to the system

Wenger: 'It was a shock to the system'

Dear Arsenal supporter,

We gave a disappointing performance against Norwich on Saturday.

I felt that we lacked a bit of sharpness throughout the game. We tried to get into our rhythm after 20 minutes but we missed what makes you successful at the top level - complete focus.

We certainly had a lot of the ball but ultimately we did not create much with that possession. It was an illusionary domination.

Silent Guns | Who On Earth Loses To Norwich?

If ever there was a day to call the name Gunners to question, yesterday was it. What the fuck kind of gun fires like we did yesterday? I've seen us have some really bad days but yesterday was the daddy.

Norwich City! Who on earth loses to Norwich? They had played seven before us and won none. They are 19th on the damned table. Did we even take a shot at their goal in all of 90 minutes? Okay, I remember the one Arteta took in the last ten minutes or so that their keeper wrapped up comfortably. Other than that, did we threaten Norwich's goal?

Are we really title contenders? How can we possibly be that when we lose games such as this one? How can we hope to be up there with the title contenders in the last few weeks of the season?

It will be easy to chalk our loss to Norwich down to the goal that Mannone conceded which brought to fore his lack of any credible claim to becoming first choice keeper but the team as a whole was complete rubbish for all of 90 minutes.

It will be easy to chalk it down to a hangover from the international break but Chelsea, City and United had just as many players as us involved but they put up good shows yesterday and all of them took maximum points from their games. We knew this before we played later in the evening. We knew we needed a win to keep pace at the top.If we needed to be motivated, this was it.

It will be easy to chalk it down to the injuries we had ahead of the game but we had better quality in every position than Norwich  except maybe the goalkeeping position. No, Mannone isn't a top flight keeper. Neither is the man whose position he has usurped. I am talking about Fabianski because Mannone really has no chance of upstaging Szczesny. And if Szczesny is out injured and Fabianski is out for 3 months, what happens if anything happens to Mannone? Someone called Martinez will take over. We have a goalkeeper crisis but I guess that's the subject of another day's venting. Aaaaaaarggggggghhhhhhh!!!!!!!!

Okay, maybe it's Wenger's fault -he's usually the easiest target on days like this. But come on he fielded the strongest possible side minus the injured. Should he have donned a jersey and taken to the field?

I don't think so. I think the team has to take responsibility for this one.It was such an unenergetic display from every single player that started the game yesterday except for Arteta. He put in a decent shift and his exasperation showed at various times

The depth we boasted at the beginning of the season is really neither here nor there, is it? Gnabry, an 18 year old prospect was the best we could do when we needed a rabbit to be pulled out of the hat. I didn't think so and he didn't.

This was a day when we should  have been celebrating Wilshere's return to the team after he was surprisingly [for lack of a better word] named in the match day squad. Just like I thought he was only there for show. We couldn't call on him when we needed a match winner and rightly so. Norwich defended desperately at times and someone may have sent him back to the horse placenta people

I really am tired and not in the mood for this blogging shit today.

After The Interlull | It's Norwich Away!

Two whole bleeding weeks without any real football. Really wasn't much else to do with all the extra time I had on my hands but to hole up in my man cave at every opportunity and tidy up all sorts of things I keep putting off for when I can find good time. Did come up from my semi-hibernation for 90 minutes last Saturday to watch the Super Eagles spank the Lone Stars of Liberia 6-1 to qualify for next year's African Cup of Nations.

Also took the time to get familiar with Fifa13 as well. Haven't been able to find much time for it since my ordered copy arrived. Have won some and lost some. While I like some of the new features, I really am pissed off with what EASports did with the first touch control -it's so difficult to bring the ball under control with the first touch now. Really will take some getting used to.

Arsene Wenger's Press Conference Pre- Norwich

Watch Arsene Wenger Interview Pre Norwich

Wenger: 'We passed an important test'

Dear Arsenal supporter,

We expected a difficult match at West Ham on Saturday and we were not disappointed.

It was a game with a lot of pace, where both teams went for it in different styles. It was a good test mentally as well, because we went 1-0 down to West Ham's first shot on goal.

But we came back, won the game and passed an important test of character.

Watch Wenger's Press Conference Pre-West Ham

Arsenal 3 -Olympiakos 1 | Winning Ugly | An Inquest Into Some Awful defending

Quite often we are accused of being more interested in playing pretty than grinding out a result when we really need to get a result. This time we dug in as the occasion demanded and ground out a result. No, it wasn't vintage Arsenal by any stretch of the imagination on the night but it's three points in the bag. Six points out of six. That is what the records will say and that is really all that matters. No one will remember the nail-biting ninety minutes that was endured to secure this win. No one will care that we didn't play well on the night. The only statistic that matters ultimately went in our favour. Arsenal 3 - Olympiakos 1.

Preview Olympiakos: Up Against The Geeks

First off, after reading the financial report released last week by Arsenal Holdings, it was easy to grasp the fact that the club had made what looked like very significant pre-tax profit but there was a lot more fiscal mumbo jumbo along with this good news that my poor little head found difficult to decipher. I didn't worry much because on Twitter I follow a fellow who goes by the odd name, The Swiss Rambler. I don't know anyone else who's more savvy about the business of football than he is and from experience I knew he wouldn't be able to resist dissecting and breaking it down for pinheads like me. He didn't disappoint. His piece 'Arsenal -The Song Remains The Same' is well worth the read and you will get an education while you are at it.

Watch Wenger Press Conference Pre-Olympiakos

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Watch Wenger Pre-Chelsea Press Conference | Santos Chained | Etc

Good morning Goonerland.

It's that day of the week again that allows for a little irresponsibility for those who have worked hard all week. Yes, you can be forgiven if you let your hair down this one day of the week and guzzle a drum but only if you are sure, you can walk  a straight line afterwards, must not slur your speech, must not topple over without support, must not fall asleep at the bar and under no circumstances should you disgorge the beans you ate at lunch within sight of men. You've been warned. Big brother will be watching.

Let's get on with it: Yesterday, a Hendon Magistrates' Court, in North-West London banned our adorable, sunny, Brazilian left-back from driving for the next twelve months with a £2,300 fine to boot after the court found him guilty of leading police officers on a merry old spin around London while driving at between 135mph-145mph which is double the 70mph speed limit. He eventually pulled up at the London Colney training center where he told the police officers he had been driving so fast because he was running late for training and his music had been so loud that he didn't hear the sirens while the officers were chasing him.

Giroud Breaks His Stubborn Metal Duck | Wenger Tells Walcott To Be Patient

I missed my very first game of the new season last night on a night Giroud broke that stubborn metal duck of his while the team over-ran Coventry 6-1 in the 3rd round of the Capital One cup. I wasn't alone in missing the game as the game was not televised in my neck of the woods or anywhere else for that matter it seems and Gooners from all over the world could only follow via live commentaries on the net, gamecasts and twitter updates.

For a competition that has largely been considered as low priority, it's amazing how much demand there was in Goonerland for updates and the excitement was palpable as news filtered through on Twitter that Arsenal had gone a goal up in the 39th minute from no other than Olivier Giroud. While Gooners around the world were happy that we were one goal up, we were even happier that it had come from the handsome Frenchman. That one goal many have touted that he needs to unlock the flood-gate of goals in him has finally arrived. The opportunity came sooner he expected to add to his tally in the form of a penalty but it wasn't to be -his well hit penalty was saved by the Coventry keeper so we have to wait a while longer to see how much water is behind the flood-gates.

Watch Wenger's Interview Ahead Of Coventry Game Tonight | Squad List Released

The League Cup -or better known these days as the Capital One Cup after its current sponsors- has kicked off once again. It's a competition that's considered low priority by the big clubs maybe because of the £100k prize money that is awarded by the Football League to the winners -WTF is that? £100k?

The big clubs see the competition as an opportunity to give younger players and fringe players a run out which usually paves the way for giants slaying by the smaller clubs who usually take it quite seriously since it may be their only chance to get their hands on a trophy and then provides a short cut to Europe to feature in the Europa League.

The Walcott-Wenger Standoff

Theo has spoken up about his contract situation and as expected it has generated quite an animated buzz in Goonerland. He's moved to squash speculations that his over-the-top demands for an improved package is the reason his contract extension has not happened yet.

"That speculation on the money side of it has never been me. That's not me. I'm not the sort of person who's influenced by money. I always make my decisions based on football and only football..."

The LP on which that song was recorded is worn out and all scratched up and the needle gets stuck in a groove all the time. It will keep repeating "not about money" if someone doesn't lift the pin. We've heard it over and over and over again. It is a tired tune.

Wenger's Views On The City Game

Wenger: 'A point was the minimum we deserved'


Dear Arsenal supporter,

I was pleased with Sunday's result because a point was the minimum we deserved when you consider what we put into the game.

I was happy also with the quality of our display and our spirit, but I was also a bit frustrated because I feel there was an opportunity to pick up all three points. We had early chances and very late chances, especially when Gervinho missed the target from the edge of the box.

Overall I hope that a result like this will reinforce our belief and confidence and reassure us about our potential in this league.

We conceded a goal from a corner and I take that criticism on board, but it's worth noting that Manchester City are the team who score more goals than anyone else from set pieces.

At the other end of the pitch it is true that we missed chances, and it's important to be clinical in games like this, but I believe that will come. When you have the basic quality that we showed on Sunday, the rest can improve.

Vito Mannone had another good game in goal. He looks very solid. He made a little mistake on the corner for Man City's goal, but I am happy that it didn't affect his game after that. I like what he is doing.

I can confirm that Thomas Vermaelen did not play because he had 'flu so we left him at home.

Laurent Koscielny had a great game and stepped in very well. We have a number of classy centre backs, and it is a very difficult choice. No matter who is left out, they will feel disappointed. But I will rotate the centre backs and take into consideration the strikers we will face.

Thanks for your support.

What do you think?

Follow on Twitter @naijaendgooner

Watch Arsene Wenger Press Conference Pre-Manchester City Game

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Jack Is Back | City Away Is Up Next | Some Startling Stats

Jack is back! Good news doesn't come better than this, does it? After one full year out of the Arsenal squad he resumed full training on Thursday. Yeah, I know it's a bit too early to get my hopes up considering that he's still a couple of weeks away from any attempt at full action but the first huddle has been crossed? It's expected that he will be eased back into the team gradually with some cameo appearances when eventually the manager deems him ready to play. One year out of the game is no joke so a bit more patience, guys and the man boy that English football is currently relying on for a return to glory will be ready for selection once again.

Watch Wenger Interview Pre-Man City

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